conventions of channel 4
TRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: Conventions of Channel 4](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062418/5552e6a8b4c90532498b5340/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Conventions of Channel 4 Documentaries
![Page 2: Conventions of Channel 4](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062418/5552e6a8b4c90532498b5340/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
Channel 4’s Mission Statement
‘Channel 4 will continue to encourage documentaries with social purpose, personal authorship and an international perspective’
This extract from Channel 4’s Statement of Promises shows that Channel 4 sees the relevance of highlighting niche topics as they have the power to give a mass audience an understanding of lesser known subjects.
![Page 3: Conventions of Channel 4](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062418/5552e6a8b4c90532498b5340/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
Niche Subjects Channel 4 often airs documentaries
which focus on very niche topics. They have a series known as ‘Three Minute Wonders’ which focus on very niche subjects.
A shot from a Three Minute Wonder on
street art
A shot from a Three Minute Wonder on niche
musicThree Minute Wonders helps to inform Channel 4’s mass audience of topics they wouldn’t normally study, possibly broadening their interests.
![Page 4: Conventions of Channel 4](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062418/5552e6a8b4c90532498b5340/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
Internal Perspective
As stated in their Mission Statement, Channel 4 promise to show documentaries with an international perspective. This gives audiences a wider knowledge of topics they wouldn’t usually get to study.
This is an advert for a Channel 4 documentary on the 2011 Japanese Tsunami and Earthquake. This shows that Channel 4 are producing high quality documentaries on international affairs.
![Page 5: Conventions of Channel 4](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062418/5552e6a8b4c90532498b5340/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
Productions Within Britain Channel 4 also produces a vast amount
of productions on British culture. As they are a British company, their audience will already have an understanding on their topics, meaning they can explore them in greater detail.
This production focuses on a figure of British history, meaning that non-British audiences may have initial confusion towards the production, but Channel 4’s British audience would already have at least a basic understanding of the subject.
![Page 6: Conventions of Channel 4](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062418/5552e6a8b4c90532498b5340/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
Targeting Opinion Leaders
Channel 4 often targets opinion leaders with their productions in order to spread the message of their production through social interactions.
I have followed this conventions in a sense as my secondary audience consists of older more educated people who act as opinion leaders because of this.
![Page 7: Conventions of Channel 4](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062418/5552e6a8b4c90532498b5340/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
Left-Wing Ideologies
Channel 4 demonstrate left-wing ideologies in their productions, an example being the series they produce called ‘Dispatches’.
I followed this convention as I purposely left my production so didn’t force the audience to pick either side. This lets the message of the production open to discussion and is based on personal interpretation.
![Page 8: Conventions of Channel 4](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062418/5552e6a8b4c90532498b5340/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
Talking Heads
A popular method of interview used within Channel 4 documentaries is talking heads. This can be seen in all their ‘Three Minute Wonders’. This involves interviewing your subject using a medium close up.
I followed this convention as my interviews with band members were all shot using a talking heads method in collaboration with multicam.