My Station Ident

Recently for my first project, I had to design a Station Ident using 3D Max Studio. To be honest I found this one quite a challenge. This was because I have never used this software before, the closest to it-photoshop which is no comparison. I found it interesting and had the opportunity to design anything I wished. When practicing and learning how to use 3D max I learnt how to create "jumping jellies".
This is a rendered still frame:

By learning how to 'wind up and snap' I used this knowledge in my final station ident and also added a twist and changed the name. I changed the colours and added audio also. 

My station ident turned out like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogMivIGQlxU

My audio is not in perfect sync with the video however I think it worked in a way. I also created a flower in my station ident which I found interesting and learnt how to clone objects.  Since our station ident was to be based on ourselves I used my name and created a flower since poppy is my middle name.  Yes it is basic however was all I could manage at this stage. Hopefully I won't find the other two projects as difficult as this one was. And may be able to design something more complex. 

However, these three weeks have given me an insight into animation but I don't think I will be wanting to do it in my future career. What I am beginning to become interested in is screen writing for media. I have been doing some back ground research and it looks very interesting. 

I did some other research into station idents and came to the conclusion that the signifiers are the colours, logos, theme and audio put into the making of the ident producing a type of brand. Many of them don't really stay in the public eye for long, they dye off. Exceptions do occur as an example the Nokia theme tune ident. In my station ident I am obviously not trying to sell anything however it is a reflection of me and would look acceptable on social networking such as twitter, facebook or even fliker.  The semiotics included in my ident were feminine and light hearted. The signs were obvioulsy the wording, ALEX and the flying flower. Semiotics were not complex, they were rather basic. Roland Barthes was actually the person who influenced and designed the conception- semiotics in the late 1960s which is a broad term used. However, in my station ident I do not have a lot of semiotics used and my sound is also basic using two types of 'Boing' used to give the ident a bit of depth and character.

My station ident  does not have a noticeable genre, I think it is more of a social construct if it was to be put into a genre category. Obviously does not have a horror/thriller/romance/adventure etc. My ident is what it is really. Through more practice and time I am sure I would be able to grasp 3D max and produce a better station ident but was great introductory project in which i received help from my animation teacher.