[ViridianFan]

When I was teaching year 5/6 we did a unit “evolution of the media”. For the art that half term we looked at TV idents, with the idea of rhen creating their own version using the school badge. We spent an afternoon just watching idents and coming up with ideas how they were made.

They loved the 1991 - 2000 era. Their reaction to seeing them for the first time was amazing. There were times they were leaning forward in excitement and they seemed to go through a whole range of emotions. Notable reactions was to fly zapper where almost all jumped and some screamed. We also had a few jumps with Venus fly trap. They roared with laughter for some reason over the 2 popped up in the bath. There was a chorus of “awwww” when the little signet twos went floating by. The reaction I hadn’t expected was to the older set. They actually “wowed” when they saw powder, firecracker and silk. They loved the music to silk too.

What was brilliant was a few days later the twos came back and they were so excited about it.

There is on YouTube that a clip from “How did they do that?” (Sure it’s what it’s called) which showed the process they went through to make the idents featuring the one with water drops hitting the two and becoming steam and diary. The bit of the music is fascinating. The children did want to keep watching that.

It came as no surprise that the majority of them actually picked this ear base thier idents on. Ideas were brilliant execution was lacking as it failed us on the whole. We have cakes being smashed, cakes being eat. Paint poured.

A slight aside we took them to new broadcasting house. For many it was the time they had ever left Norfolk. Highlight was their faces when they realised that what they could see on the tv was being filmed live. We were waiting behind the trundle cam. We were coming up to the weather just before the TOTH. Matt was on the balcony presenting. So I pointed out to them the trundle cam was about to go which they found funny. Then one child pointed to the screen and asked how he was on the tv. That’s when the penny dropped. I think Matt caught the expressions on their faces as they pointed between the real him and the screen. They nearly exploded with excitement when the trundle came went past again.

[JACKLUFC1998]

I didn't seem them properly until when the second run (so 2014-2018 of course), but the Fluffy Dog and Car idents are my two favourites. I know in the second run, the Paint ident was seen on BBC2 NI only, bit wasn't there another version of it that was used (not just by NI, but by Network, Wales and Scotland also) to introduce Saturday Mashup on Saturday mornings?

[F4C]

I loved Wave and Optics. I’d have loved to buy the Fluffy Dog 2. Honourable mentions to the Paint, Duck, Silk and Paint Pot ones.

The Curve idents today are a decent replacement, not quite as iconic though.

[Neil Jones]

The Curve idents today are a decent replacement, not quite as iconic though.

The Curve idents are probably one of the better packages they've had since 1991.
The Personality series wasn't too bad, even if it was a bit yellow and in-your-face sometimes.
Less said about Window on the World, the better IMO, it all felt a bit flat there.

[F4C]

The Curve idents are probably one of the better packages they've had since 1991.
The Personality series wasn't too bad, even if it was a bit yellow and in-your-face sometimes.
Less said about Window on the World, the better IMO, it all felt a bit flat there.

The Curve idents are definitely a lot more creative than the Window ones, which felt a bit too static and bland. The Personality ones, like you said, were fine as idents for stuff like Top Gear. Not so much for Newsnight or more serious shows.

[Larry the Loafer]

Something that makes me scratch my head is the story behind Diary, and that the initial plan to have several "pages" fly away was too complicated. Assuming it's true that they repeated one page flying away over and over again, why do the pages appear to fly away in different directions? Did they tweak the speed/framing of the shots in post to look different from each other or something?

youtu.be 

[Spencer]

The Curve idents are definitely a lot more creative than the Window ones, which felt a bit too static and bland. The Personality ones, like you said, were fine as idents for stuff like Top Gear. Not so much for Newsnight or more serious shows.

The trouble with the Window on the World idents was the creative scope was very limited by the concept.

The original 2s concept shows you can make a solid 2 out of almost anything, and do almost anything to it, but the Windows limited the scope only to things which typically have holes in them. And when your logo is essentially the missing bit from a scene, there’s not a lot of interesting stuff you can do with it.

[Stooky Bill]

Something that makes me scratch my head is the story behind Diary, and that the initial plan to have several "pages" fly away was too complicated. Assuming it's true that they repeated one page flying away over and over again, why do the pages appear to fly away in different directions? Did they tweak the speed/framing of the shots in post to look different from each other or something?

youtu.be 

Funnily enough there was a show that asked, How Do They Do That?

youtu.be 

[Larry the Loafer]

It was rewatching that which made me think about it. The final result looks far better than one shot looped over and over again.

[Stooky Bill]

It was rewatching that which made me think about it. The final result looks far better than one shot looped over and over again.

I think it's several shots of two 2s edited mixed together into a longer sequence