I've just been looking through the old countdowns on various websites and I forgot there were actually five countdowns if you count the flags too, there were the big orange numbers, the london places with the numbers on the right (the one i forgot about), the one that's just gone, and the new one with the red in it. I think we've only ever seen the big orange numbers countdown in its entirety (and that was on BBC One at a handover), and in my opinion the best part of the countdown is the start of it - they should play the countdowns in full more often.
I've seen a few more of the countdowns since my last post, and I am still not impressed.
It lacks any real coherence (especially musically) to the rest of the pres.
Its self-promotion belies what appears to be a lack of confidence about what it is. We all know it uses satellite trucks, we all know it uses live scene links, so why point it out to us?
The music is crap, and the flicking betweeen filmed and videoed footage looks cheap, together with the countdown.
Fantastic presentation and great music remix, but it doesn't quite fit in. It makes the headline bed and main title music sound less immediate somehow.
But better than fish.
GM
nodnirG kraM
Yeah I agree the headline stab is much too weak now.
I think we've only ever seen the big orange numbers countdown in its entirety
I did manage to catch 88 seconds of the countdown that has just been replaced at 4am the other month. You're right, they should show more of the countdowns more often. I suppose they must see them as dead airtime, although they are obviously regarded as being of importance hence their relaunch and publicity
That's a point -- News24 could probably do if they really wanted to with a 15-sec countdown. Trails aren't that long, and could be used to buffer the news intro if they really wanted to. So they clearly consider it an important presentational asset.
There was a shot from North West Tonight's in the old Countdown, it was all of the cyclists going over the Bridge at Salford Quays in Manchester.
The young women out and about in Liverpool was in one of them too.
I've seen a couple of 10 secs and a 20 sec extract, so I don't feel I can say much, but I do feel that the music is much more upbeat and dynamic.
And I quite like the red beam (although a tiny bit of me thinks 'fish fingers 9 o'clock news titles')
I may have missed this earlier, but the start of the headline sequence sems to have News 24 much more emphasised: "The other headlines on BBC News 24", "Also this hour on BBC News 24"
Didn't we have a phase of this slight over-mentioning of the name of the channel about 2 years ago?
A friend at the BBC once told me the supposed reason for the inclusion of the bits of regional news titles in the countdown. Apparently shortly before the 2003 relaunch, someone noticed that the versions they were about to use had next to no women in them, and so they had to get some extra shots from somewhere at short notice.