I myself do think that's a
lot
of money for an idents package though, 50% more than the Dancers IIRC; but prior to this latest look I honestly expected the BBC to keep under the £1mil mark - so they would appear to think it more important than I had imagined!
The problem was they chose to film in Mexico and Croatia, when there was no real justification for doing so. I believe some of the 2s were also filmed overseas - and that's where the money went. The Daily Mail can sometimes be very unfair in its condemnation of the BBC but in this instance they were right to be so damning of the corporation.
If the new controller of BBC1 decides to rebrand again, we can only expect a similar bill for the new look and if the right wing press go ape about it I think that for once they will be right to do so.
Just a second - how do you know the associated costs of filming overseas? Equipment and crew costs can be significantly cheaper in some territories, and that's before you factor in the cost of "recreating" the type of location represented in the ident.
Out of the two of us I would sugget I have a much better idea how much things cost in the industry, but even I wouldn't be able to guess about the specifics of these idents.
So, do you actually have the budget breakdown for the package of idents or are you once again hazarding a guess and passing it off as fact?
You might consider working for the Mail if the latter is true - again.
At first I thought Neon was a little strange, and not what I expected from a funfair ident, but after a few viewings it's grown on me and is in fact quite quirky. As has been mentioned there's a lot that's happening in it so everytime you can notice something different.
In regard to the Christmas ident this year, I think that we should have a new one but also reuse last year's as well just to give some variety. Towards the end of the yellow era of BBC Two there was always variety because there were three idents in circulation not just one. It's the lack of variety, and the prolonged use, that makes the Christmas Idents tedious.
Just a second - how do you know the associated costs of filming overseas? Equipment and crew costs can be significantly cheaper in some territories, and that's before you factor in the cost of "recreating" the type of location represented in the ident.
Out of the two of us I would sugget I have a much better idea how much things cost in the industry, but even I wouldn't be able to guess about the specifics of these idents.
Indeed most of the time filming overseas is about costs (isn't Robin Hood filmed abroad somewhere?) I will bow to you knowing more about the subject than I do; but then, surely someone still has to be flown out to the overseas location even if local labour is being used?
In the case of BBC1's Moon ident, as was discussed at the time, Croatia was chosen for creative reasons (the excuse was our water wasn't as calm and still). But you could argue that particular issue could have been resolved by post-production trickery.
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So, do you actually have the budget breakdown for the package of idents or are you once again hazarding a guess and passing it off as fact?
I do know, along with many others here, that there have been significant jumps in the cost of successive BBC1 rebrands since 1991. From £150,000 for the latest globe incarnation then, to £500,000 for a hot-air balloon in 1997, hiking to £750,000 in 2002 and finally exceeding £1m in 2006. There are a number of possible reasons for this of course - it may as mundane as the way the cost of everything goes up over time.
Or, it could be the change in what is expected from a brand identity and the resulting increase in production values. For instance, the move away from a cyclical animation in 1991 to a hot-air balloon which requires someone to fly it, a crew to film it not to mention transport to the various locations; then in 2002 we needed real people all requiring appearance fees not to mention filming fees charged by the locations. From what you say the rising costs in 2006 might not be so much to do with overseas filming, but the fact that several different directors and production facilities were used, as opposed to just one director for the dance idents.
Quote:
You might consider working for the Mail if the latter is true - again.
Funny how the Mail was still bleating on about the £1.2 million cost of BBC1's latest look in Stephen Glover's editorial yesterday! I think we should sympathise with those who question the need to film the continuity symbol abroad especially at a time when cuts are announced to key programme areas. BBC1 needs to have a visually engaging on-screen identity, but the cost of the idents needs to be kept in proportion to the cost of programmes (the main reason people watch TV) and I am not happy with the excuses given for filming in Mexico and Croatia when post-prod might have been able to achieve the same effect in a UK edit suite for much less.
