Research and influences

As research for my sting I looked to E4 itself for some ideas that might influence me. i also took a look at some of the previous entrys to the estings competition.

http://www.e4.com/select/any.esting/video/latest/watch.e4

I also looked at other channels and what their stings commmunicated such as Nickelodeon, bbc and channel 4.

Channel 4 had this to say about the relevence of TV idents:

"In the expanding multi-channel world we have to position Channel 4 as the showcase for innovative and exciting television. We need to cement in viewers' minds the relationship between the quality of the programmes they enjoy and the channel which broadcasts and commissions them."

I also watched a documentary on the importance of TV idents, with the internet growing as an ever more popular way of watching tv shows as there s no schedule so you can watch things when you want, as apposed to television station's forcing you to watch something at the times they set. but with the tv idents viewers can asociate their favorate shows with that brand and then use that channels internet TV service if they have one. For example 4OD, BBC iplayer and ITV's online catch up service.


Influences toward my sting included works from Don Hertzfeldt, Boris Kossmehl and Jiri Trnka.

Don Hertzfeldt made a film called Rejected that involves a fake channel's ident that he was supposidly commisioned to do. Eventually these idents get worse and worse and because non of the idents are being used the whole world of the tv ident characters starts to collaps. As a hommage to this ident based cartoon, I included a man in a banana costume as one of the people at a fancy dress party.



Boris Kossmehl's film for Aardman, 'Not without my handbag'(1993) was of great influence in the look to my piece.



The skinny limbs are something that I had explored in my previous film and decided to further explore it with multipul characters and colours. I think this technique works well for cartoony pieces like this, but would not be approiate in a serious or more realistic animation as the heat shrink tubing i used over the alluminum wire arms isnt as flexable as I would like and causes folds in the joints.



Eastern european animator Jiri Trnka's cartoony look in Spejbl and Hurvinek, is counteracted with a chillingly realistic movement. These charactures derrived from marionette puppets.
I also liked how this film was lit. you can see a sample of this film here:

http://www.darkstrider.net/video/Spejbl.mov