Just a thought: Perhaps they don't air them because they are too long. That ident above was 43s long.
I was thinking that...during the ident, the announcement itself was only around 20 seconds or less, so it's not like a 43'' ident was absolutely necessary. They certainly aren't appearing relative to programme content
I wouldn't say it was too long. It's attention-grabbing - you'll have been not quite paying attention to the ad break, and there's a whole 18 seconds of a mysterious Tokyo street scene with sinister music and surreal visuals. You're going to sit up and wonder what the hell it is. And then as it slowly becomes clear that it's an ident, you still can't see quite where the four's coming together - then it does, just as the announcer says "four". And you realise how bloody clever this channel's branding is, and how it's smart, and not in your face, and doesn't try and force a 'lifestyle' upon you, and all is good in the world.
And then Big Brother starts, so you turn over to see what else is on.
I wouldn't say it was too long. It's attention-grabbing - you'll have been not quite paying attention to the ad break, and there's a whole 18 seconds of a mysterious Tokyo street scene with sinister music and surreal visuals. You're going to sit up and wonder what the hell it is. And then as it slowly becomes clear that it's an ident, you still can't see quite where the four's coming together - then it does, just as the announcer says "four". And you realise how bloody clever this channel's branding is, and how it's smart, and not in your face, and doesn't try and force a 'lifestyle' upon you, and all is good in the world.
For the first time you see it yeah. From then on it's too long
Just a thought: Perhaps they don't air them because they are too long. That ident above was 43s long.
I was thinking that...during the ident, the announcement itself was only around 20 seconds or less, so it's not like a 43'' ident was absolutely necessary. They certainly aren't appearing relative to programme content
I wouldn't say it was too long. It's attention-grabbing - you'll have been not quite paying attention to the ad break, and there's a whole 18 seconds of a mysterious Tokyo street scene with sinister music and surreal visuals. You're going to sit up and wonder what the hell it is. And then as it slowly becomes clear that it's an ident, you still can't see quite where the four's coming together - then it does, just as the announcer says "four". And you realise how bloody clever this channel's branding is, and how it's smart, and not in your face, and doesn't try and force a 'lifestyle' upon you, and all is good in the world.
And then Big Brother starts, so you turn over to see what else is on.
I never said the ident itself is too long, just stated another shorter ident could have been used in its place relative to the length of the announcement.
I agree with everything you've said, it's definitely attention-grabbing -- The first sighting of any new ident is great, but with some of these, there is indeed some added appeal when you're not entirely sure whether what you're witnessing is actually an ident (I should think the Tokyo sequence in particular could be mistaken for some odd advert).
I like that you've acknowledged the soundtrack; there is definitely a slight sinister mood, but most importantly it complements the literally bustling night time visuals perfectly to give it that gritty edge; percussion-led sparse beats, moody echoing chords for melody.
If anything, the Stage ident has more sinister (but still very appropriate) music. A lone piano key sets the tone into a rather desolate-sounding single, held, oscillating synth chord, completely devoid of any other notes or drums until, as the camera pulls back, an off-key amp feedback squeak joins in and takes over as the whole combination becomes increasingly distorted and "sour", teetering out as the '4' makes its appearance and halting after it has formed up.
I'll join in with everyone else's praise - Channel 4 is just superb, the pres is spot on - lets hope there are re-airings of the 2 new ones plus the mistery harbour ident - and here's to more variations in the future!!
Channel 4's idents really are the best in the business. I think they've taken over from BBC Three in having the most innovative, exciting and "concept-breaking" set.
I never said the ident itself is too long, just stated another shorter ident could have been used in its place relative to the length of the announcement.
True enough.
I didn't watch any Channel 4 last night, but I'm guessing this ident was into the second Big Brother show.
Junction timings, particulary when you've got a live event, and most likely your maximum amount of ads for the hour, can be a bit precarious, so a 45 second ident is a rather handy thing to have lined up to get your timings back on track again.
It's really strange the other two idents debuted in the dead of night and haven't been seen since - just why would they do that?
The US imports provide C4 with alot of opportunities to use extended ads to help them make a 42 minute programme fill an hour-long slot, though they have bought back the "20 Questions" promos to fill time too!
It's really strange the other two idents debuted in the dead of night and haven't been seen since - just why would they do that?
The stage ident was shown later yesterday evening before the first music programme.
You mean the Isle Of Wight Festival?
They showed it before tonight's coverage as well. So expect to see it next at 23:35...
Is it me or have they added more to the start of the soundtrack since Lee's capture?
EDIT: It is indeed different; compare the start of the audio on the original version (MP4; Thanks to Lee) to the latest version (RM) which preceded the Isle Of Wight Festival just earlier. Both files are over 5MB so might want to download rather than left-click.
