Channel 4 Idents

Shattering Room

Shattering Room is designed to be playful and visually striking, whilst its intention is to surprise and create an emotive response hinged on the fragility of human emotion. Drawing parallels with events that many of us will encounter in our lives, an unexpected moment is created to catch the viewer unaware and propel them from calm simplicity right into the heart of chaos and turmoil. But it also offers hope, as the box gives way we start to see beyond its’ spatial constraints, out into a much larger space, reflecting on future possibilities yet encountered.

Robotic Fulfilment Centre

This loop follows a series of automated robots preparing orders in an endless, timeless space. It questions the future of the human/machine relationship. In the gloominess of an infinite warehouse, hundreds of perfectly programmed robots are executing countless tasks without the need of any human beings.

Visually, the idea was to start almost abstract as if we were looking at a geometric composition made of coloured lines and blocks. As the camera dives into the scene, we progressively understand the geometry of the scene revealing a giant gridlike industrial perspective.

Dinner Party

This loop explores the textures and choreography of a moment in time, extended out using high speed film as the various elements from an old school establishment dinner party come together in violent chaos.

The dinner party ident was all captured in camera, using high speed film and motion control and custom SFX rigs. These elements all had to work together, within the motif of the repeating 4 movement, to choreograph a multitude of different objects, which starts peacefully and culminates in a moment of chaotic energy and violence.

Chemicals

Chemicals depicts a journey through a microscopic neural world as a surge of serotonin hits the brain. Travelling through this microscopic universe, the atmosphere is dark and cavernous, only lit by pulses of energy through the organic structures. The organism’s surfaces are rich and organic, as if they are being observed under a Scanning Electron Microscope.

To make this scene we designed a complex network of Neurons around the camera trajectory. We then used a procedural approach to create precise simulations to achieve the organic motion throughout the structures.

Digital Tracking

This scene tracks a busy city centre, through the eyes of a surveillance camera. It highlights the tracking systems around metropolitan areas - tracking our every move. Inspired by motion tracking systems, we witness a technological analysis of busy crowds in the same way scientific researchers would observe ant farms.

We used a timelapse effect to emphasise the intense activity of the scene. Playing with light and shadow movements we accentuate the feeling of the time passing. The scene was built entirely in CGI using references from iconic squares around the UK. This gave us all the flexibility to play with space and timing to create a choreography forming the C4 logo.