Because of personal reasons I haven't been able to achieve much today.
My jobs for the rest of the week are as follows:
Tuesday: - Catch up on missed modelling
Wednesday: - have a line test for my ident readied
Thursday: -So on
Friday: - And so forth
Monday 14 February 2011
Monday 7 February 2011
More of the E-Sting Thing
Work's continuing on developing concepts for our ident/E-Stings/whatever I should actually be calling them. I have a presentation tommorrow on my concepts which would be fine if... I had all of the concepts.
I'm quite sure the minimum is 3 ideas and so far I only have two, which I'll run over after a brief whingefest about how I keep coming up with ideas - it's not that I can't think of things, it's that I'm extremely picky about concepts and 98% of what I come up with is absolute rubbish. I just feel like there's this slight, slight little chance of me coming up with something halfway workable but I have to wade through all these random very dull ideas I've just pulled out of nowhere in desperation. So it really takes me a while to decide on things like this... I'll get there eventually. Brief enough of a whinge? Good stuff.
Moving swiftly on, my first concept.
It sort of popped out of a very unimaginative idea (packed with unimaginative messages of course) where there would be a dusty TV, something would happen, E4 logo pops up, suddenly the TV is dusted off and becomes funky or whatever. Dull? You bet'cha. But it sort of evolved into what I think would be a mildly decent idea with dust bunnies (yeah, those lumps of dust, but they would be cutout into little bunny shapes and it would all be very cute and that) which carry out an E4 logo and start praying to it or something. I was originally going to have them do a little Indian dance around it but I thought it might be a tad offensive. People can be sensitive about their culture after all... another variation would be where they'd put the E4 logo down and admire it a bit, then someone would pass the camera with a hoover in the background behind them, causing them to flee and leave the E4 behind. I thought perhaps this way I could make something a bit cute and pleasant to watch without being overtly obvious about the E4 thing (if you look back a post, I complained profusely about having logos shoved down my throat!).
The second idea I had which is probably my current favourite would be one of those clips where you think something is going to happen, and you anticipate it, but nothing ever does. There was one advert in particular I can remember where there was a cup in a gutter. Nothing happened, but at the end it said something like 'See? You will watch anything'. I've tried to find it again but because I don't actually know what it was there for it's been difficult. If anyone knows where to find this one, please let me know, because I'd like to take another look at it! But I find clips that use this sort of anti-climactic approach to be effective partially because of their contrast with everything else you see (because seriously, who wants television to be clogged with clips in which nothing happens?) and they're also bizarrely humourous. I don't even know what makes them funny, they just invert expectations so nonchalantly I can't help but love them.
So before I waffle on for even longer, the idea was to have an old lady standing under some apple trees - the apples, however, are E4 logos - and she's got her walking stick and she's trying to prod a particular E4 logo out of the tree. Occassionally other E4 logos just plop down from the other trees of their own accord, but she ignores them and just keeps happily prodding away at this same E4 logo. While I was considering having some other odd things fall out of the trees over the 10 seconds, the basic idea is that nothing happens. I'm oddly attached to this idea for some reason.
I'm going to have to come up with more concepts; I might try for a more abstracted third idea so that I'm getting a good balance of concepts, but I'll see. Priority is my presentation, though, everything else can wait until I've done that. Speak of the devil, I'll get back to my work on that right now.
I'm quite sure the minimum is 3 ideas and so far I only have two, which I'll run over after a brief whingefest about how I keep coming up with ideas - it's not that I can't think of things, it's that I'm extremely picky about concepts and 98% of what I come up with is absolute rubbish. I just feel like there's this slight, slight little chance of me coming up with something halfway workable but I have to wade through all these random very dull ideas I've just pulled out of nowhere in desperation. So it really takes me a while to decide on things like this... I'll get there eventually. Brief enough of a whinge? Good stuff.
Moving swiftly on, my first concept.
It sort of popped out of a very unimaginative idea (packed with unimaginative messages of course) where there would be a dusty TV, something would happen, E4 logo pops up, suddenly the TV is dusted off and becomes funky or whatever. Dull? You bet'cha. But it sort of evolved into what I think would be a mildly decent idea with dust bunnies (yeah, those lumps of dust, but they would be cutout into little bunny shapes and it would all be very cute and that) which carry out an E4 logo and start praying to it or something. I was originally going to have them do a little Indian dance around it but I thought it might be a tad offensive. People can be sensitive about their culture after all... another variation would be where they'd put the E4 logo down and admire it a bit, then someone would pass the camera with a hoover in the background behind them, causing them to flee and leave the E4 behind. I thought perhaps this way I could make something a bit cute and pleasant to watch without being overtly obvious about the E4 thing (if you look back a post, I complained profusely about having logos shoved down my throat!).
The second idea I had which is probably my current favourite would be one of those clips where you think something is going to happen, and you anticipate it, but nothing ever does. There was one advert in particular I can remember where there was a cup in a gutter. Nothing happened, but at the end it said something like 'See? You will watch anything'. I've tried to find it again but because I don't actually know what it was there for it's been difficult. If anyone knows where to find this one, please let me know, because I'd like to take another look at it! But I find clips that use this sort of anti-climactic approach to be effective partially because of their contrast with everything else you see (because seriously, who wants television to be clogged with clips in which nothing happens?) and they're also bizarrely humourous. I don't even know what makes them funny, they just invert expectations so nonchalantly I can't help but love them.
So before I waffle on for even longer, the idea was to have an old lady standing under some apple trees - the apples, however, are E4 logos - and she's got her walking stick and she's trying to prod a particular E4 logo out of the tree. Occassionally other E4 logos just plop down from the other trees of their own accord, but she ignores them and just keeps happily prodding away at this same E4 logo. While I was considering having some other odd things fall out of the trees over the 10 seconds, the basic idea is that nothing happens. I'm oddly attached to this idea for some reason.
I'm going to have to come up with more concepts; I might try for a more abstracted third idea so that I'm getting a good balance of concepts, but I'll see. Priority is my presentation, though, everything else can wait until I've done that. Speak of the devil, I'll get back to my work on that right now.
Saturday 5 February 2011
A Very Late Update (Complete with Excuses) - E-Stings
Well hello! Once again, a late update. This time I have excuses though - the bane of all computer users, the terrible Random Viruses That Popped Out of Nowhere. Though I've managed to save my computer from such a terror (I just wouldn't be able to go through another issue like last year where my computer exploded) I've been quite paranoid of the Macs used in college, because I think the viruses came from one of them. I had noticed that my memory stick had started to behave strangely; it has a small light that flashes red when information is being accessed which usually stops a few seconds after a file is loaded or saved. But when plugged into one of the Macs it began to flash non-stop and wouldn't eject. Eventually I just pulled it out and thought nothing of it, but my antivirus software later detected the viruses that I had almost transferred to my work PC.
So I ended up having to essentially delete all the data that had been transferred recently and replace the memory stick entirely (a bit over-the-top perhaps, but it's cheaper to replace the stick than to replace the computer, and I've had enough with broken-down computers. Some viruses are hugely destructive).
But now that everything's been taken care of, things should get back on track fairly quickly.
We're now looking at idents, specifically E4-themed idents. So I've trawled through Youtube and Vimeo, but it was the actual E4 site that provided these gems:
'Dirty Pidgeon' by Brunommf, 2009
This first E-Sting I like because of its use of pixellation (can't go wrong with that) but moreso because of its use of texture. If you watch the background there's a huge variation of shapes and textures - rusted corrogated iron, pipes, bricks, plywood, roof tiles, etc - that is directly contrasted with the images in the picture frame, which are fairly plain. Similarly, colours are contrasted in a similar manner - the bright greens and purples of the images in the picture frame and the duller tones of its background really help to make the animation's style feel collaged and interesting. Unlike some of the idents I've looked at, this is an example of it being fairly unclear about its purpose until the end, but is interesting enough with its mixed visual style that the audience is very likely to watch until the E4 logo is unveiled.
'Punch!' by thedmc, 2009
This second ident I like firstly because of its very basic, almost juvenile humour; it plays with the childish game of making someone else hit themselves with their own hand (and then ask then why they're hitting themselves) which is oddly very funny here. Though I'm not entirely sure why (perhaps its the sound for the person's voice - they sound very confused) it still really works for me and is good for a giggle. It looks like very simple cutout animation using photographs - real enough to make it more humerous (oh, we just love the suffering of fellow humans, don't we?) and yet cartoony enough to escape any possibility of being labelled inappropriate.
'Addicted to Light' by RDColey, 2009
This ident for E4 I find intensely cute (it's the voices that do it, bless them) and it's very good at making the audience aware of it being for E4 from start to finish without being too forceful about it. The most obvious use of the logo is in the lightbulb element, but the moths are also made of two E4 logos. When they fly into the bulb I believe they say 'E...E... E-E-E4.... E4' in what is possibly the cutest way ever. It's rare that an ident manages to reuse and reuse the logo in practically all of its assets without seeming either overtly obvious (to the point of it insulting your intelligence) or just generally trying too hard, but this one does it with a lot of tact which I thought was nice about it.
'A Ride of Some Sort...' by GeeTeeEff, 2009
Another one of my favourites (though I must admit a bias for traditional 2D animation) is this ident. It's interesting as the concept is unusual but the style isn't too unusual - which actually makes it stand out, oddly enough. Most idents either use 3D animation or much more abstract use of traditional animation if they use it (which is rare in and of itself), so using 2D for this ident really works for me. It's humourous, too - though the boy on the E4 ride looks like he's having a pretty horriffic time initially, he actually loves the ride (takes another penny out for it) which keeps it pretty tame as well. The use of colour vs. greyscale is a fairly easy way to draw the viewer's eye to the E4 logo as well. Overall, it's a classy and well animated little ident that isn't trying too hard - and amongst the hordes of idents that though well made feel like they are trying a bit too hard to drill the E4 into the viewer's heads, this one seems very charming.
'Recursive Culture' by Cyriak, 2009
As far as I can tell this ident is one of the most recent winners of the E-Stings competition. It's a highly creative affair and feels very collagey (is that even a word?), using what looks like a bit of live action, a bit of photomanipulation and a it of cutout animation (particularly the spider-robot creature) in what I think is a 3D environment. It's effectiveness is in how incredibly strange it is; you can't help but want to watch it several times over to try and figure out what exactly is going on and where each bit of building is coming from. What I said for the last few idents, as well, holds true for this one. Though the spider-robot starts popping E4 logos out of its pincer it never has to shoot the logo right into the viewer's face which always earns points with me. (Viewers aren't stupid. They don't need to have logos so close it hits their noses!)
I think I'm going to take a lead from a lot of the idents here where they're not overtly obvious about what they're trying to show you. I really do prefer the low-key approach. I prefer the logo to be visible, not huge, but involved in the activity going on in the ident rather than just have a semi-related animation play and then have the E4 logo just appear afterwards (sometimes, if done badly, it just seems random and tacked on). I particularly like 'A Ride of Some Sort...' for being brave and less abstract than some of the others (though to be fair, I do like the creativity in the abstracted idents too), so I think I may try for something quite simple and not too busy - and yes, perhaps a bit more predictably styled - than some idents initially and see where I go to from there.
So I ended up having to essentially delete all the data that had been transferred recently and replace the memory stick entirely (a bit over-the-top perhaps, but it's cheaper to replace the stick than to replace the computer, and I've had enough with broken-down computers. Some viruses are hugely destructive).
But now that everything's been taken care of, things should get back on track fairly quickly.
We're now looking at idents, specifically E4-themed idents. So I've trawled through Youtube and Vimeo, but it was the actual E4 site that provided these gems:
'Dirty Pidgeon' by Brunommf, 2009
This first E-Sting I like because of its use of pixellation (can't go wrong with that) but moreso because of its use of texture. If you watch the background there's a huge variation of shapes and textures - rusted corrogated iron, pipes, bricks, plywood, roof tiles, etc - that is directly contrasted with the images in the picture frame, which are fairly plain. Similarly, colours are contrasted in a similar manner - the bright greens and purples of the images in the picture frame and the duller tones of its background really help to make the animation's style feel collaged and interesting. Unlike some of the idents I've looked at, this is an example of it being fairly unclear about its purpose until the end, but is interesting enough with its mixed visual style that the audience is very likely to watch until the E4 logo is unveiled.
'Punch!' by thedmc, 2009
This second ident I like firstly because of its very basic, almost juvenile humour; it plays with the childish game of making someone else hit themselves with their own hand (and then ask then why they're hitting themselves) which is oddly very funny here. Though I'm not entirely sure why (perhaps its the sound for the person's voice - they sound very confused) it still really works for me and is good for a giggle. It looks like very simple cutout animation using photographs - real enough to make it more humerous (oh, we just love the suffering of fellow humans, don't we?) and yet cartoony enough to escape any possibility of being labelled inappropriate.
'Addicted to Light' by RDColey, 2009
This ident for E4 I find intensely cute (it's the voices that do it, bless them) and it's very good at making the audience aware of it being for E4 from start to finish without being too forceful about it. The most obvious use of the logo is in the lightbulb element, but the moths are also made of two E4 logos. When they fly into the bulb I believe they say 'E...E... E-E-E4.... E4' in what is possibly the cutest way ever. It's rare that an ident manages to reuse and reuse the logo in practically all of its assets without seeming either overtly obvious (to the point of it insulting your intelligence) or just generally trying too hard, but this one does it with a lot of tact which I thought was nice about it.
'A Ride of Some Sort...' by GeeTeeEff, 2009
Another one of my favourites (though I must admit a bias for traditional 2D animation) is this ident. It's interesting as the concept is unusual but the style isn't too unusual - which actually makes it stand out, oddly enough. Most idents either use 3D animation or much more abstract use of traditional animation if they use it (which is rare in and of itself), so using 2D for this ident really works for me. It's humourous, too - though the boy on the E4 ride looks like he's having a pretty horriffic time initially, he actually loves the ride (takes another penny out for it) which keeps it pretty tame as well. The use of colour vs. greyscale is a fairly easy way to draw the viewer's eye to the E4 logo as well. Overall, it's a classy and well animated little ident that isn't trying too hard - and amongst the hordes of idents that though well made feel like they are trying a bit too hard to drill the E4 into the viewer's heads, this one seems very charming.
'Recursive Culture' by Cyriak, 2009
As far as I can tell this ident is one of the most recent winners of the E-Stings competition. It's a highly creative affair and feels very collagey (is that even a word?), using what looks like a bit of live action, a bit of photomanipulation and a it of cutout animation (particularly the spider-robot creature) in what I think is a 3D environment. It's effectiveness is in how incredibly strange it is; you can't help but want to watch it several times over to try and figure out what exactly is going on and where each bit of building is coming from. What I said for the last few idents, as well, holds true for this one. Though the spider-robot starts popping E4 logos out of its pincer it never has to shoot the logo right into the viewer's face which always earns points with me. (Viewers aren't stupid. They don't need to have logos so close it hits their noses!)
I think I'm going to take a lead from a lot of the idents here where they're not overtly obvious about what they're trying to show you. I really do prefer the low-key approach. I prefer the logo to be visible, not huge, but involved in the activity going on in the ident rather than just have a semi-related animation play and then have the E4 logo just appear afterwards (sometimes, if done badly, it just seems random and tacked on). I particularly like 'A Ride of Some Sort...' for being brave and less abstract than some of the others (though to be fair, I do like the creativity in the abstracted idents too), so I think I may try for something quite simple and not too busy - and yes, perhaps a bit more predictably styled - than some idents initially and see where I go to from there.
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