A couple of years ago we had some fantastic pres on tv. The Carlton stars, Sky One millenium dome idents, BBC One balloon, BBC News flags etc. Its all just been replaced with very dull and very un-imaginative 'modern day' pres. The BBC One idents just scream 'political correctness' everytime they appear. Its no wonder TV Home closed, there is just nothing half decent anymore. However, the Channel 4 new idents are nice and at least have some thought put in to them. ITV is vastly improved from the tacky Celeb idents but could still be better. Should we take the last two as a sign of better pres to come or are we in store for more doom and gloom? Can anyone think of any other impressive pres from tv that could either be brought back or developed on further?
A couple of years ago we had some fantastic pres on tv. The Carlton stars, Sky One millenium dome idents, BBC One balloon, BBC News flags etc. Its all just been replaced with very dull and very un-imaginative 'modern day' pres. The BBC One idents just scream 'political correctness' everytime they appear. Its no wonder TV Home closed, there is just nothing half decent anymore. However, the Channel 4 new idents are nice and at least have some thought put in to them. ITV is vastly improved from the tacky Celeb idents but could still be better. Should we take the last two as a sign of better pres to come or are we in store for more doom and gloom? Can anyone think of any other impressive pres from tv that could either be brought back or developed on further?
Sky One millenium dome idents, i don't rember seeing them......
anyway, they had to scrap them as the millenium dome just has been used to house homeless people during the christmas period.
i would like to see an animated verson of the globe but with high quality animation that looks real.
i like the itv graphics and i think they should stay for a while longer and then replaced with a new logo without the 4 blocks
Yes, I'm afraid I have to agree with you there. I think the downfall started around the 1999/2000 period, when we were entering the new millennium. Back then we had: a BBC One globe balloon; a whole variety of BBC Two '2s'; a very strong generic BBC branding over trailers, slides and programme promotions; Channel 4 were in the early years of its promising boxed '4'; E4 had mischievious little...'E4s'; five was still named Channel 5 and had the number as its symbol; ITV (as it was then called, no '1' at the end) had its Hearts idents; Carlton had its Star; LWT was beginning with its impressive Video Wall; and Sky had the Millennium Dome.
Fast forward four or five years, and compare and contrast. We've had: the infamous BBC One dancers; an inferior BBC Two white robot '2' (probably the best of today's bad bunch); a sub-standard BBC brand, if it is a brand, with boxes, shutters and in-pointers everywhere; Channel 4 have got rid of idents for now, next and later; E4 have had people turning to the camera and now a ridiculous purple band; five has had...people doing stuff; ITV1 has had...celebrities doing stuff; Carlton and LWT have vanished; and Sky One is now called Sky Onc. The emphasis is very much on low cost, 'modern' idents featuring people rather than symbols, if anything. Otherwise it's just menus rather than idents.
Sorry to be very lengthy there and moaning on, but it is all true. No wonder TV Home has closed down and other ident sites show little activity!
I think part of the problem with pres today is also down to the fact its never left alone. Constant little tweaks and mini refresh's that end up in a mish mash of different themes all thrown together. BBC News is the prime culprit of this with the mess they made of the national news and the morning updates. GMTV have had the same backdrop from almost day one and only now is it really starting to look worn out.
Yes, I'm afraid I have to agree with you there. I think the downfall started around the 1999/2000 period, when we were entering the new millennium. Back then we had: a BBC One globe balloon; a whole variety of BBC Two '2s'; a very strong generic BBC branding over trailers, slides and programme promotions; Channel 4 were in the early years of its promising boxed '4'; E4 had mischievious little...'E4s'; five was still named Channel 5 and had the number as its symbol; ITV (as it was then called, no '1' at the end) had its Hearts idents; Carlton had its Star; LWT was beginning with its impressive Video Wall; and Sky had the Millennium Dome.
Fast forward four or five years, and compare and contrast. We've had: the infamous BBC One dancers; an inferior BBC Two white robot '2' (probably the best of today's bad bunch); a sub-standard BBC brand, if it is a brand, with boxes, shutters and in-pointers everywhere; Channel 4 have got rid of idents for now, next and later; E4 have had people turning to the camera and now a ridiculous purple band; five has had...people doing stuff; ITV1 has had...celebrities doing stuff; Carlton and LWT have vanished; and Sky One is now called Sky Onc. The emphasis is very much on low cost, 'modern' idents featuring people rather than symbols, if anything. Otherwise it's just menus rather than idents.
Sorry to be very lengthy there and moaning on, but it is all true. No wonder TV Home has closed down and other ident sites show little activity!
I agree 100%. You'd think pres would get better over the years! Even just before 2000, we had better presentation. The Scottish TV Thistle and the Central Cake are two ones I can think of.
I think part of the problem with pres today is also down to the fact its never left alone. Constant little tweaks and mini refresh's that end up in a mish mash of different themes all thrown together. BBC News is the prime culprit of this with the mess they made of the national news and the morning updates. GMTV have had the same backdrop from almost day one and only now is it really starting to look worn out.
Indeed, thinking back to BBC News bulletins from years gone by, they had the virtual era from 1993 until 1999 with only one tweak...changing the BBC News logo in 1997. Other than that, it remained consistent for 6 years. Some would say that's boring, but I think it makes the news more credible if you know exactly what to expect in terms of presentation. These days, you never know what gimmick is going to appear next. Going back further still, the pre-1993 Six O'clock News titles were used for nine years without any tweaks! These days they think of a year to 18 months as a long time to go without a change. Take, for instance, BBC4 News. That launched in 2002 and by late 2003 had its studio, music, astons and colour scheme changed completely. For a programme that's seen for 30mins per day, that's pretty rediculous.
I think part of the problem with pres today is also down to the fact its never left alone. Constant little tweaks and mini refresh's that end up in a mish mash of different themes all thrown together. BBC News is the prime culprit of this with the mess they made of the national news and the morning updates. GMTV have had the same backdrop from almost day one and only now is it really starting to look worn out.
Indeed, thinking back to BBC News bulletins from years gone by, they had the virtual era from 1993 until 1999 with only one tweak...changing the BBC News logo in 1997. Other than that, it remained consistent for 6 years. Some would say that's boring, but I think it makes the news more credible if you know exactly what to expect in terms of presentation. These days, you never know what gimmick is going to appear next. Going back further still, the pre-1993 Six O'clock News titles were used for nine years without any tweaks! These days they think of a year to 18 months as a long time to go without a change. Take, for instance, BBC4 News. That launched in 2002 and by late 2003 had its studio, music, astons and colour scheme changed completely. For a programme that's seen for 30mins per day, that's pretty rediculous.
Thats very true. The original BBC 4 news set had barely even enough time to collect a few particles of dust before it was in the skip. The best thing about the BBC News set from 1993-1999 was it looked fresh from day one until the end. The backdrop they currently use is so fake it just looks tired.