I'm pretty hesitant to even comment on the new idents. In recent months I have noticed a real negativity on the forum towards pretty much everything – from TV shows, to presentation, to Red Nose Day, to everything else. I don't just mean people not enjoying things – it's the way stuff is phrased too. It's seems to just be out and out dismissive, reductive and really very armchair critic.
Reading this thread gives me an impression that this new set of idents is almost universally disliked, but the poll at the top indicates otherwise. This suggests to me that perhaps it's just a vocal minority. Some people have the tendency to make their negative point over and over in much the same way, not just here but across the forum.
I have to say, I really like this set of idents. It's a great concept, and as others have noted, reminiscent of the brilliant BBC HD idents. Yet the HD idents were a bit more bombastic, and I wonder whether seeing the lion/cat ident, for instance, several times a week for, say, four years would become quite grating. I also think that the whole purpose of this set is to reflect every day, quiet, day-in day-out activities. I get why others might disagree with that creative choice, but I think it's a bit unfair to somehow see it as a lack of confidence or laziness as has been implied. To me, it's a bit like criticising Turner for painting a quiet, reflective Margate scene and failing to capture the party going on on the beach. You wouldn't describe him as missing an opportunity, I think you'd just accept that he has a slightly different objective.
I find I really connect with these films. They beautifully reflect that cycle of life, and how we can all find joy, function or common ground within particular locations, even if we never meet each other. My local community centre that I use for pre-natal classes is also used by dancers later in the week. I'll never meet them, but it's nice to think that we're all just as welcome. I totally respect that others don't click with them like that, though I wish the tone of voice was a little kinder.
I do agree that even more locations would be nice, but it's worth remembering the huge cost of each new setting. It's true that trailers get money thrown at them, but there's a clear KPI there – hopefully more viewers for that particular show. With idents, it's hard to argue for 8 films rather than 6. So variants of each location is a nice 'win'.
Thoughts on what we can objectively conclude about the idents:
- There is a solid concept here – same location, different activites/events
- High production values – a well-crafted soundtrack, good camera work, good selection of locations
- Clear effort – there is a significant 'set up' for each ident: filming each at different times of days, getting lots of extras/actors involved, heavy use of advanced camera rigs
- More than the 'bare minimum' – each location has yielded multiple variants
I do wish that they could have launched back in October, as it would have made a nice impact being changed with the other presentation. But, complicated organisations have complicated politics. I do look at ITV and think 'they'd have never done it like this' – but they're also a company with many fewer outlets and the commercial factor comes first almost always. The BBC have to be much more careful, and we don't know the other factors involved in playing things.
There's also part of me that would like to see the circular device on screen for longer, to emphasise it. Yet undoubtedly they tried doing that, and decided against it. I actually think the gradual shift to a normal scene is really beautiful, and if it happened later in the ident it might get missed quite often. Sometimes minimal and subtle is best.
I do so often laugh at the hypocritical 'forum logic' (not that it's a homogenous view) – people reject 'marketing guff' (actually, narrative rationalisation is really important) and say 'why can't we just have something that looks nice'. When we have something that looks nice (in my view), we hear 'but what does it mean'?
Ultimately I conclude that they can never win, there will always be critics. And indeed there should be. But I find the joy of reading these threads has almost gone for me in recent years, because the ability to explain your view, ponder the decision-making process and come to a considered view – rather than post a simplistic one-liner – has became far from the norm.