For the channel branding brief I started by researching each channel in the categories we were given. We have to rebrand one of the channels with new Idents, Break Bumpers, Bugs, Menu Boards and Lower thirds. I was sketching out ideas and had some for the discovery channel to begin with. I was thinking along the lines of explorers of long ago, and this drifted towards inventors and then scientists. It was at this stage that I had the idea of the homage to the story of 'Frankenstien'. I wanted to use this for the Science channel though I suppose in hindsight that this could also apply to the Horror Channel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A selection of imagery that I am using for reference having decided to rebrand the Science channel.

 

 

 

I wanted to change the font used in the existing logo into something with a chrome or at least a metallic look. I also want it to be more square and engineered. I thought these images of chrome type might be useful for reference. I think the idea came from the existing logo's black reflective blob, which reminded me of Amish Kapoors 'Cloud Gate'.

 

 

Having created a new square logo I also decided that I should use this new font for the Menu Board. Naturally I underestimated the amount of time that this would take.

 

Template for the Menu Board before colouring in Photoshop.

 

 

The next step for the Channel Branding brief would have been the animatic for the Ident, only I had decided to change the script. Instead of showing the mad scientist in his lab, I decided just to give an indication of what's happening inside the room. I thought I could do this by showing light flashing on the stonework of the window opening, along with a buzzing sound, to give the impression of some electrical or chemical reaction taking place. This gives the viewer something to work out themselves, what's going on inside? The script had to be altered to make the clip about the bird. Now it's about the crow as we follow his attempt to shelter from the storm, then witness his surprise at the activity in the room, and finally his lucky escape as he flies away just before the scientists experiment goes horribly wrong. So what began as a clip about a mad scientists experiment going wrong, which would result in an explosion that would propel the channel logo from the castle window to a close-up at centre screen.

I had planned to create the whole animation for the Ident using the traditional hand drawn style that we are learning now, but realistically there wouldn't be enough time. So I decided to combine traditional animation for the crow, and I began experimenting with creating a 3d set using Cinema 4d. This would save a lot of time as each background frame would have to be a separate drawing as the camera would be zooming in or out for several seconds. It's really great what can be achieved with this software. I even managed to add a hand drawn look to the castle walls and roofs. Unfortunately my plan to export the set into After Effects for editing just wouldn't happen. The footage I'd created in Cinema 4d had to be exported as a png sequence to be imported into After Effects. I did spend a whole morning trying to do this but I was unsuccessful. By this stage time was getting scarce so I fell back to plan B. For this I draw the backgrounds and coloured them in Photoshop. I then scaled them up or down as needed when editing to indicate camera movement. This was my planned Ident for the presentation, but realistically it was more like an animatic of my intended piece.

Storyboard 1

The first draft of the script involved action inside the castle i.e. the mad scientist and his assistant and the experiment they're working on. Naturally this would involve lots of drawing and my time was limited. I like the camera angles and atmospheric lighting of this scene though and will try and create it at a later time.

 

Storyboard 2

 

 

The revised storyboard is a combination of original backgrounds and some of the crow drawings that were made for the traditional part. This revised version tells the story from the crows perspective and only suggests the 'Frankenstein' story.

Storyboard 3

 

Colour was added to the storyboard in Photoshop as I wanted to create a sort of dark or gloomy atmosphere. Ideally I would have included heavy rain in the animation but as usual time was running out, so I had to make an 'executive decision' and omit it.

 

                           

 

Channel Branding Animatic

 

Menu Board 

 

The new font style I made for the Logo was also used for the Menu Board and the Lower-Third Promo

 

 

Lower-Third Promo

 

 

Channel Bug

 

The Logo was transformed into a 3d shape in Adobe After Effects and given a random rotating movement for the animated Bug

 

 

Break Bumper

 

A clip from the Ident animation was altered, to include the Logo,for the Break Bumper

 

 

Channel Ident

 

I had previously experimented in 3d Modelling and was able to create the set in Cinema 4d. I then added the traditional hand drawn crows flight in Adobe After Effects. I was also able to create the exploding light at the end in After Effects. The 3d modelling was invaluable for saving time as it would have taken a lot of drawing had I stuck to the traditional method for the whole Ident animation.