film 4

Film 4

Film4 was originally known as Film Four and became Channel 4's second channel (after Channel 4 itself) when it launched on 1 November 1998.
It was a subscription-only service available on satellite television via the Sky platform, digital terrestrial via ITV Digital (until the platform went into administration in 2002), and most UK cable services. It cost £5.99 or £6.00 a month (depending on platform), eventually rising to up to £7.
The launch night, which was also broadcast on Channel 4, was hosted by Johnny Vaughan and the first film to be shown was What's Eating Gilbert Grape.
Later, additional channels were added, Film Four World and Film Four Extreme which operated on a timeshare and the time shift channel Film Four +1.
Film Four World and Extreme were discontinued in 2003 and replaced by Film Four Weekly, which screened four films across the week at the same time each day to make it easier to catch a film at least once. Film Four Weekly ceased broadcasting on 19 July 2006 when the subscription service ended.
Film4 is owned by channel 4. Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the station is now owned and operated by the Channel Four Television Corporation.
It has recently had a 50% rise in budget a year now having a budget of £15 million a year. This really helped them especially because of the UK film council getting shut down by the government; this meant they wouldn’t benefit from receiving extra money from them. The new budget is still very low for such a company, especially when comparing it to just one Hollywood blockbuster movie, when compared to Hollywood blockbusters this is an almost laughable budget, especially when they would share it between 6 movies they make a year.
Film4 has been involved in the making of many films, they haven’t only produced their own films, they have worked with other companies to help produce films, for example they worked in association with Wild Bunch, Optimum Releasing, and Warp Films when they produced four lions.
Four lions is a typical film4 movie; it fits their criteria because it is a comedy and drama genre with a low budget.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdFnLGKIDsE

Film4 have recently announced Anna Higgs will be the head of film 4.0. Film4.0 will be trying to find new ways to market and distribute and well as creating new ways of making and directing films. Along with this they will be trying to find new British actors with potential to make it as stars.

Although film4 are fantastic at making comedy’s they have a range of genres. This helps them gain audiences who enjoy many different genres. Their ideas are normally non-mainstream. They mainly gain a niche audience.

exam practise- editing

Parallel editing is used to show that the boy and girl are related and have a strong relationship. We can see through the parallel editing that they lead very different teenage lives, showing binary opposite characters. She is coming home; rebelling against house rules and he has been in his own bed. This conforms to Levi Strauss' idea that all narratives have opposites. The two narrative threads come together as she reaches the window and the cut aways show that she relies on him to cover up for her.

There is a sense of disequilibrium at the start, this backs up todorovs theory. Also action editing is used- they use short takes almost as a montage when he is doing his work out. This shows the pace of editing and is also used when the dad is shouting at the protagonist, the fast pace of the editing is parralel to the loud shouting of the father. This suggests that teenagers have a quick and almost hektik lifestyle.
Also there are binary opposites of the boy and girl aswell as between young and old. Shot reverse shot is also used to show the reaction between the conversations, for example between the father and boy, this shows the angeer and frustration on the father's face that the boy has caused him. this is shown in real time to make the audience feel the realism in the scene.

sound- exam practise

The dialogue between the father and the son shows a reversal in audeince expectations. We see the father shouting and swearing at the teenager, which is normally something we would expect to hear from the teenager. The father's aggressive reaction to the diegetic rock music plays to the stereotype that teenagers play loud music and are inconsiderate to older people. His reaction also plays to the stereotype that teenagers frustrate their parents.

We hear the diegetic sound of the alarm clock at the start of the clip, the protagonist is already awake, this shows that he is troubled, this then leads to non-diegtic music that is parrallel to him while he is working out -showing he also cares about his physical appearence playing on the stereotype of teenagers caring that they look good and are 'posers'. The music is to a beat showing he likes routine. This challenges the stereotype because most teenagers dont like or do routines.

camera examples

The idea that teenagers are curious about sex is reinforced through the over the sholder shot used when he is looking at the older woman getting dressed through the window over the road. The shot is hand held so that the audience can have the same experience as the teenage main character. The following close up shot shows a lack of expression suggesting that this is routine and he has become disaffected by the image. This conforms to the stereotype that teenagers' lives are surrounded by sex and it plays a big part of their life.


The relationship between the brother and the sister backs up the stereotype, this is because the brother looks out for the sister. This is expressed in the camera angles, they show a high shot looking down on the sister from his point of view showing he has the power to let her in without getting caught by what we assume as their dad. We also see a low shot to back this up, the low shot is also from her point of view allowing the audience to really feel the realism of this happening.

mise en scene examples

The mise en scene of the protagonists bedroom challenges and conforms to stereotypical views about youth culture. The establishing shot suggests that the series targets a teenage audience and it will follow the life and experiences of a teenager. The duvet cover shown is of a double bed with a naked man and woman, suggesting that this age group is sexually charged. The protagonist is positioned in the middle of the two bodies suggesting that he is sexually inexperienced. It could also be suggesting that he is alone and confused about his sexuality, which conforms to teenage sterotypes.In this shot natural lighting is used to give a sense of realism so the teenage audience identifies with the life of the protagonist.

The protagonists bedroom challenges the stereotype theory of teenagers being messy. This challenges it because the protagonist's bedroom was neat and organised, for example his draws were full with neat folded polo shirts, instead of just being chucked around his room, this being the stereptype expected, his sister contrasts him with this, whereas he is neat and tidy, she is almost the complete opposite, having an untidy bedroom and coming home late when she wasnt suppost to be going out at all.

green zone

Green Zone Working Title (1)

Audience