MM
1991 - 1997 was great era for BBC pres. Consistency and solid branding. I remember being amazed by the new globe symbol when it first aired. And even today when I view recordings of it, it still has a gravitas and timelessness about it that many of its successors lack. When BBC NI brought it back for their 90th anniversary celebrations, it looked fantastic in widescreen.
Even the trails during that era were more impactful than what we have today. Yes, there was a nice variety of stings to accompany them (which many people tend to forget due to the success of BBC Two's branding of the period) but I'm referring more to the way they were produced. The trail graphics were simple but the content was just so much more attention-grabbing and engaging than today's efforts; much more creative. There was such a range of voiceover talent too - even some big names such as James Earl Jones.
The COW globe was quite a leap forward for its time too and looked stunning. But I always felt that it was let down by the continued use of 35mm slides. When Quantel came along, the whole package seemed much more impressive. I know that many people - including some within BBC Pres - didn't much care for the 1991 replacement. Though I can't help but feel that those opinions were more based on the internal politics of the time and perhaps weren't an objective assessment. As a viewer, I certainly regarded the 1991 package as an improvement. And BBC Two's 1991 - 1997 speaks for itself.
I always think BBC Two's 1986 - 1991 package gets an unfair press. At the time, I thought it looked well and suited the channel. From a technical perspective, the kit that produced that symbol and clock was impressive for the time. And I rather liked the understated animation of the symbol. It had an air of sophistication about it. Just like BBC One, let down by the use of 35mm slides - but again, Quantel soon came along and all was good.
I thought the balloon idents were a great evolution of the globe concept. Whilst I understand the comments about some of the initial set being rather slow-paced (though we should remember that a number of the original set - which featured more dramatic and pacey opening soundtracks - were ditched), I still believe they were pretty solid idents. I didn't much care for some of the later additions, where the balloon was very obviously computer-generated. The edits of those later symbols weren't the best, in that (if memory serves me right) they looped (rather badly in some cases) after 15 seconds.
The dancer idents - I think many of us were rather unfair about those. After the initial annoyance at the demise of the globe, these idents did grow on me. The time was right to move on. BBC Two's yellow idents likewise got a bit of a tough time from some of us. I quite liked them. My only disappointment is that there could've been much more variety (i.e., more scenarios for the '2'). I didn't mind the yellow colour scheme.
Circles era: I thought it was decent enough. Wasn't a fan of the 2009 re-edits. But 10 years is a long run. That said, I'd rather have 12 years or more of the circles idents than what we have today. BBC Two's Window on the World idents - I don't think that concept was given a decent chance. It could've been taken so much further. Instead, they took things in the opposite direction and culled a load of the original set and never really added to the main set. And then of course, we ended up with our old friends from the 1990s/early 2000s. Was nice to see them for the 50th birthday celebrations but I feel they've long since outstayed their welcome.
Although there's been the odd glimmer of hope (e.g., last year's Christmas package) my expectations of BBC One and BBC Two - from a pres perspective - are low. The stuff that's getting to air on BBC One and BBC Two these days suggests we have some clueless people involved. Trail production is particularly disappointing - there's nothing special or memorable about the vast majority of them. Quite uninspired. But goodness only knows how many people are involved in the production of them! The BBC One trail endboards are a new low. The cynic in me sometimes thinks that Oneness and the lack of investment in pres on BBC Two etc etc is an attempt to see what they can get away with - i.e., how little can we spend on this type of thing, without it causing a load of complaints and not having any negative impact on programme viewing figures. Branding and graphic design has undoubtedly become more and more expensive over the years and perhaps there's now a feeling that the positive impact that such things have has been exaggerated.
When was the last time that a BBC One pres package was generally regarded as acceptable?
Oneness speaks for itself, the Circles decomposed after its first few years and vastly outstayed their welcome to the point where remnants of it still exists today, the Dancers were considered sacrilegious for abolishing the globe, and the Balloon idents had their critics because the logo and accompanying graphics were considered by some as being bland. Even the 1991 package could be scrutinised for being solemn and mute in an age where hardly anyone else did such a thing.
Oneness speaks for itself, the Circles decomposed after its first few years and vastly outstayed their welcome to the point where remnants of it still exists today, the Dancers were considered sacrilegious for abolishing the globe, and the Balloon idents had their critics because the logo and accompanying graphics were considered by some as being bland. Even the 1991 package could be scrutinised for being solemn and mute in an age where hardly anyone else did such a thing.
1991 - 1997 was great era for BBC pres. Consistency and solid branding. I remember being amazed by the new globe symbol when it first aired. And even today when I view recordings of it, it still has a gravitas and timelessness about it that many of its successors lack. When BBC NI brought it back for their 90th anniversary celebrations, it looked fantastic in widescreen.
Even the trails during that era were more impactful than what we have today. Yes, there was a nice variety of stings to accompany them (which many people tend to forget due to the success of BBC Two's branding of the period) but I'm referring more to the way they were produced. The trail graphics were simple but the content was just so much more attention-grabbing and engaging than today's efforts; much more creative. There was such a range of voiceover talent too - even some big names such as James Earl Jones.
The COW globe was quite a leap forward for its time too and looked stunning. But I always felt that it was let down by the continued use of 35mm slides. When Quantel came along, the whole package seemed much more impressive. I know that many people - including some within BBC Pres - didn't much care for the 1991 replacement. Though I can't help but feel that those opinions were more based on the internal politics of the time and perhaps weren't an objective assessment. As a viewer, I certainly regarded the 1991 package as an improvement. And BBC Two's 1991 - 1997 speaks for itself.
I always think BBC Two's 1986 - 1991 package gets an unfair press. At the time, I thought it looked well and suited the channel. From a technical perspective, the kit that produced that symbol and clock was impressive for the time. And I rather liked the understated animation of the symbol. It had an air of sophistication about it. Just like BBC One, let down by the use of 35mm slides - but again, Quantel soon came along and all was good.
I thought the balloon idents were a great evolution of the globe concept. Whilst I understand the comments about some of the initial set being rather slow-paced (though we should remember that a number of the original set - which featured more dramatic and pacey opening soundtracks - were ditched), I still believe they were pretty solid idents. I didn't much care for some of the later additions, where the balloon was very obviously computer-generated. The edits of those later symbols weren't the best, in that (if memory serves me right) they looped (rather badly in some cases) after 15 seconds.
The dancer idents - I think many of us were rather unfair about those. After the initial annoyance at the demise of the globe, these idents did grow on me. The time was right to move on. BBC Two's yellow idents likewise got a bit of a tough time from some of us. I quite liked them. My only disappointment is that there could've been much more variety (i.e., more scenarios for the '2'). I didn't mind the yellow colour scheme.
Circles era: I thought it was decent enough. Wasn't a fan of the 2009 re-edits. But 10 years is a long run. That said, I'd rather have 12 years or more of the circles idents than what we have today. BBC Two's Window on the World idents - I don't think that concept was given a decent chance. It could've been taken so much further. Instead, they took things in the opposite direction and culled a load of the original set and never really added to the main set. And then of course, we ended up with our old friends from the 1990s/early 2000s. Was nice to see them for the 50th birthday celebrations but I feel they've long since outstayed their welcome.
Although there's been the odd glimmer of hope (e.g., last year's Christmas package) my expectations of BBC One and BBC Two - from a pres perspective - are low. The stuff that's getting to air on BBC One and BBC Two these days suggests we have some clueless people involved. Trail production is particularly disappointing - there's nothing special or memorable about the vast majority of them. Quite uninspired. But goodness only knows how many people are involved in the production of them! The BBC One trail endboards are a new low. The cynic in me sometimes thinks that Oneness and the lack of investment in pres on BBC Two etc etc is an attempt to see what they can get away with - i.e., how little can we spend on this type of thing, without it causing a load of complaints and not having any negative impact on programme viewing figures. Branding and graphic design has undoubtedly become more and more expensive over the years and perhaps there's now a feeling that the positive impact that such things have has been exaggerated.
Last edited by MMcG198 on 28 April 2018 7:29pm - 2 times in total