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Channel 4 - 80s themed brand elements today

Ahead of episode 1 of ‘It’s A Sin’ (January 2021)

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JO
Jonwo
I wouldn't be surprised if they reuse these next year when Channel 4 celebrate their 40th birthday.
JO
Josh
Would have been nice if they kept it for the rest of the evening to promote the series on All 4 (The UK's biggest free streaming service, I believe? They haven't mentioned it...) but it's fair enough.
WH
Whataday Founding member
dbl posted:
Interesting convo on the continuity style today





I'm not sure I agree. 80's Channel 4 continuity could be just as pompous as what we've seen today.
BR
Brekkie
Yes, didn't sound too out of place to me and as C4 had two very different sides to it's identity I suspect the continuity reflected that too.
SC
Si-Co
In the first few minutes of this excellent (though not entirely comprehensive) compilation of C4 branding, you can see the seasonal trailers from which today’s idents were made - and the dates they were originally used.



And here are clean versions of some of today’s idents and graphics:

Last edited by Si-Co on 22 January 2021 11:52pm
AndrewPSSP, paul_hadley and Roger Darthwell gave kudos
IS
Inspector Sands
I only caught one ident yesterday and one thing that occurred to me is that it's so odd to see anything on TV these days that doesn't move, like the end of the old 4 ident.

Presumably there were a few alarms going off in various control rooms
AndrewPSSP, Roger Darthwell and Si-Co gave kudos
MA
Markymark
It looked utter crap. Grey background, and faux noise added. The quality of 80s PAL analogue was excellent, way better than whoever thought degrading the quality would be a good idea.


I think you're missing the point. It's meant to look old.


I'm not missing the point at all, the real clock in 1982 looked crisper and better than the recreation.
The main artefact of the era was missing, cross colour strobe.

Am I the only person left that was alive back then!?
Last edited by Markymark on 23 January 2021 7:40am
AndrewPSSP, jonO and Roger Darthwell gave kudos
WH
Whataday Founding member
It looked utter crap. Grey background, and faux noise added. The quality of 80s PAL analogue was excellent, way better than whoever thought degrading the quality would be a good idea.


I think you're missing the point. It's meant to look old.


I'm not missing the point at all, the real clock in 1982 looked crisper and better than the recreation.
The main artefact of the era was missing, cross colour strobe.

Am I the only person left that was alive back then!?


They were clearly going for the "VHS filter" aesthetic which is popular with the youth of today, rather than "TV pres fan realism".
AndrewPSSP, Roger Darthwell and chrisdafur gave kudos
MA
Markymark

I think you're missing the point. It's meant to look old.


I'm not missing the point at all, the real clock in 1982 looked crisper and better than the recreation.
The main artefact of the era was missing, cross colour strobe.

Am I the only person left that was alive back then!?


They were clearly going for the "VHS filter" aesthetic which is popular with the youth of today, rather than "TV pres fan realism".


Well, Mr Whataday, I think we can both agree on that 😎
SP
Steve in Pudsey
I only caught one ident yesterday and one thing that occurred to me is that it's so odd to see anything on TV these days that doesn't move, like the end of the old 4 ident.

Presumably there were a few alarms going off in various control rooms


There was a very subtle slow zoom applied to it after it formed up, presumably for that reason.
CH
channel4squares1
In VHS quality, all of today's Idents plus a junction featuring the classic promo style.

NT
Night Thoughts
Nice touch, I thought it was a shame they didn’t stick with the look for the rest of the evening. Perhaps referring people to the All 4 telesoftware downloads might have been a step too far.

The 80s-style trailer is really well done, down to that avuncular voiceover style which you don’t hear very much of these days.

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