2. Does our documentary link with
Channel 4?
“The visual identity is the outward expression for Channel 4. It uniquely and
distinctively sets it apart from other channels.”
Channel 4 documentaries usually tend to deal with hard-hitting, intense themes and
important discussions. The increasing awareness of cyber-bullying is loitering our
society, therefore Channel 4 seemed to be the best distributor for our short film.
The logo is the primary element of Channel 4. However, other component parts play n
important role in establishing the Channel 4 visual style.
These elements are:
1. Colour
2. Typography
3. Imagery
4. Tone of Voice
3. Use of Interviews
1. Channel 4 documentary interviews look at peoples memories, they also offer a
personal thought throughout.
2. Interviews change locations throughout the documentary. The audience effect on
this is that the interviews portray their feelings which can emotionally attach an
audience member to the person or event.
1. Our documentary contains personal interviews involving challenging and important
subjects. Using Dave Smith as a subject was linking with Channel 4 branding, due to
Dave discussing about Hannah he opened up about his memories which then leads
the audience to personal thought.
2. We use different locations for the different effect we want on the audience. For our
‘subject X’, the use of background was to ensure she remained anonymous, but also
adding a sense of mystery for the audience. Dave Smith’s interview is in his home, this
is emotional for the audience as it brings about the reality of this case introducing the
devastation.
4. Dialogue
Dialogue within a Channel 4 documentary tends to be
informal, making it ‘easier to watch’.
In our documentary we use a voice over, who discusses
various facts about cyber-bullying.
Also, our voice over gives a short narrative before
introducing our Hannah Smith subject story, voiced by
her father Dave Smith.
5.
6. Audience
The audience aimed at by Channel 4 is usually middle class demonstrated by
the class of participators in the audience and realism of the everyday life
shown by them.
We target Channel 4’s middle class audience through our secondary audience of opinion leaders,
however it is expected to reach them through our review. We should have thought more over the
scheduling of our production, if we were to show it at 8pm on Channel 4 rather than 7pm, it is
more likely parents have control over the TV, impacting the audience as our secondary audience
of opinion leaders become our primary audience.
Our primary audience, teenagers, are more likely to access the documentary through different
lines of distribution. Such as PSHCE lessons educated at school, or YouTube. However, the latter
does reflect the shift from scheduled TV viewing to on demand viewing, which is much more
likely in the younger generation, so the primary audience are likely to interact with it in this way.
Channel 4 documentaries tend to target both genders, to widen the audience, just as we have. We can
spread are message further, and raise awareness by doing this.
7. We feel our documentary brand links with a
Channel 4 documentary brand through our
hard-hitting important topic and techniques and
choices in our video.
