WeatherGens

The WeatherGens were a group of twelve fictional human individuals representing the weather's various moods and televised as short segments at the conclusion of ITN news bulletins on ITV. They were commissioned by Tutssels from London on behalf of the British energy company Powergen (now called E.ON UK) and designed by the avant-garde company New RenaisSAnce. The WeatherGens made their television debut on 20 November 1996 and were last shown on-screen on 19 October 2001.

Overview

The WeatherGens were a group of twelve fictional human individuals broadcast as short segments at the conclusion of ITN news bulletins and were also used to introduce the ITV weather forecast.[1] Each character represented the various moods of the weather:[2] Nimbella (cloud and rain), Brellina (rain), Gilda (sunny), Shivera (cold weather), Crystella (snow), Florta (breezy), Norwin (wind and windswept), Cyan (cold weather conditions), Mirka (fog), Frice (ice and frost), Helios (cloud and sun), and Aurora (dry and hot).[1]

Production

Powergen (now called E.ON UK), a British energy company responsible for providing electricity and gas to homes in the United Kingdom, undertook a survey which indicated that approximately 12.6 million people watched the weather forecasts on television on a daily basis, and is a major topic of discussion in the country.[3] It subsequernly commissioned the London-based design company Tutssels to commission a new group of idents to introduce its sponsored weather forecasts on ITV.[1] Carolyn Corben and Harvey Bertram-Brown of New RenaisSAnce,[4] an avant-garde company that designs clothing, costumes, sets and pop videos, were responsible for designing the WeatherGens costumes and make-up.[1][5]

Corben said of the concept, "It was perfect for us. Our initial brief – well, it was like no brief at all to start with, we were told to go mad and not to rule anything out."[1] The project cost £500,000 and it took seven months to complete each of the fifteen second shots with six people from outside New RenaisSAnce employed to assist in the project.[1][4] It was filmed in the style of a television advert, a route considered "radical" by Corben.[6] Each shoot was completed in one day and the filming crew had to maintain stability of the costumes between shots in order to avoid injuring the models.[1] The models spent three hours a day undergoing make-up routines.[4] The WeatherGens were first broadcast on television after the 20 November 1996 News at Ten programme.[3]

Retirement

In May 2001 Powergen began reviewing its creative account for the ITV weather forecast with eight undisclosed agencies for a new brand of weather segments.[2] The company selected the marketing agency Soul to produce the segments, which depicted individuals and businesses undertaking a range of daily activities and the weather was utilised to represent its differing moods.[7] The new idents were first broadcast after the 19 October 2001 ITV Lunchtime News bulletin as the WeatherGens were retired earlier on the same day.[8]

Other uses

The WeatherGens were used by the international environmental network movement Friends of the Earth who distributed leaflets outside Powergen's annual general meeting at the ICC Birmingham on 13 July 1998 as part of its campaign to convince the energy company to increase its investment in renewable energy sources.[9][10]

gollark: +>hack into apiosystem
gollark: +>eval "eval"
gollark: β
gollark: +>eval 4
gollark: This is EXTREMELY.

References
  1. Lacey, Hester (2 March 1997). "What Heavenly Creatures". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 January 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  2. "PowerGen starts agency trawl for £1m ITV weather". Marketing Week. 17 May 2001. Archived from the original on 25 January 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  3. Clarke, Natalie (20 November 1996). "The Friceman Cometh; As Blizzards Bring Britain to a Standstill, A New Look for the Outlook.Breezing in, a Team to Brighten Up the Forecasts". Daily Mail. p. 3. Retrieved 18 May 2016 – via Infotrac Newsstand.
  4. "Rather unusual weather we're having these days". Sunday Mail. 30 March 1997. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  5. Simon, Jane (29 March 1998). "Outlook brilliant for the weather gems; Meet the People who make Every Forecast Fantastic". The Sunday People. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  6. Producing Films Whatever The Weather (Video production). United Kingdom: ITV. 1996. Event occurs at 00:01:50 – 00:02:01.
  7. Bashford, Suzy (18 October 2001). "Powergen moves to revamp idents". Campaign. Archived from the original on 25 January 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  8. Conlan, Tara (18 October 2001). "The updated ITV forecast: Showers and snow indoors". Daily Mail. Retrieved 25 January 2019 – via Infotrac Newsstand.
  9. "Protest Over Power Record". Birmingham Evening Mail. 13 July 1998. p. 4. Retrieved 25 January 2019 – via Infotrac Newsstand.
  10. ""Powergen: 'generating climate change whatever the weather' time to increase your renewables, says foe" (Press release). Friends of the Earth. 13 July 1998. Archived from the original on 21 January 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
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