Channel 4 demonstrated the beauty of a loose brief with 25 live-action, animated and computer-generated idents. The broadcaster enlisted 17 filmmakers and artists to create shorts exploring the themes of identity, the land, system, release and love.
The results put a magnifying glass up to the people, places and things that define the UK experience.
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The work debuted with a three-and-a-half-minute film looping all the idents together to the soundtrack of specially commissioned words of John Joseph Holt, writer and founder of the magazine Law. The Channel 4 logo is at the heart of the work: the camera pans through it between each scene.
Holt opens his monologue with the words: “Once a man, twice a boy. In this life, you’ll be. I used to look up to my dad. Now he looks up to me.”
The idents' eclectic representation of modern Britain features a corner shop, a choppy ocean, a teenager’s bedroom, a high street bustling with nightlife, and a playground on the last day of school.
The campaign's undeniable celebration of craft harnesses a ménage of media to interpret the brief. The diverse mix of characters and settings demonstrates the freedom of the brief and how Channel 4 clearly trusted the creatives’ visions.
After debuting the work in one film, showcasing the expansive efforts that went into the project, the individual scenes played out on Channel 4's channels to reinforce its positioning in British culture.
Channel 4’s work brought a refreshing twist to typical idents, which often passively play between ad breaks and fail to engage the viewer. On the other hand, these maintain a strong brand presence while offering intriguing bursts of storytelling.
±±¾©Èü³µpk10 selected the idents as its Top ±±¾©Èü³µpk10 and Top Film Ad of 2023. The idents won Best ±±¾©Èü³µpk10 at the ±±¾©Èü³µpk10 Big Awards and claimed six yellow Pencils at the 2024 D&AD Awards.
Agency 4Creative
Creatives Mike Skrgatic, Daniel Wolfe, Lynsey Atkin, Bafic Directors Saman Aminzadeh, Optical Arts, Bafic, Mike Battcock, Will Dohrn, Daniel Eatock, Mike Skrgatic, James Allen, Verity May Lane, Maria Lax, The Line, Louis McCourt, Justyna Obasi, Elliott Power, The Romantix, Dan Tobin Smith, Daniel Wolfe
Production company Art Practice
±±¾©Èü³µpk10 is selecting its Cannes Contenders for 2024: brand building, creatively inspired work it hopes will do well at the International Festival of Creativity.
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