Film4

Infobox TV channel
name = Film4
logosize = 80px
logofile = Film4.svg
logoalt = Logo of Film4
launch = 1 November 1998
share = 1.0% (0.2% for +1)
share as of = July 2008
share source = [http://www.barb.co.uk/viewingsummary/monthreports.cfm?report=monthgmulti]
slogan = "Great films for free"
owner = Channel 4 Television Corporation
country = flagicon|UKUnited Kingdom
flagicon|Ireland Ireland
former names = FilmFour
(until 19 July 2006)
sister names = Channel4, E4, More4, 4Music
web = [http://www.channel4.com/film Channel 4 - Film4]
terr serv 1 = Freeview Multiplex D
terr chan 1 = Channel 32 not nationwide
sat serv 1 = Freesat
sat chan 1 = Channel 300
Channel 301 (+1)
sat serv 2 = Sky Digital
sat chan 2 = Channel 315
Channel 316 (+1)
sat serv 3 = Astra 2D
sat chan 3 = 10729V 22000 5/6
cable serv 1 = Virgin Media
cable chan 1 = Channel 444
Channel 445 (+1)
cable serv 2 = UPC Ireland
cable chan 2 = Channel 323
Channel 324 (+1)
adsl serv 1 = Tiscali TV
adsl chan 1 = Channel 230
adsl chan 2 = Channel 231 ('Film4 on Demand')

Film4 is a free digital television channel in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, owned and operated by Channel 4, that screens films.

Prior to 20 August 2007, in addition to the main channel, Film4 also operated a one-hour-timeshifted variant, Film4+1, on satellite, cable and Freeview. This channel was dropped on Freeview to make way for Channel 4+1 yet continues to be broadcast on Sky, Virgin and Freesat services [cite web |url=http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,,2119529,00.html |publisher=Media Guardian |date=2007-07-05 |accessdate=2007-07-05 | title=Channel 4 launches '+1' timeshift service |author=Chris Tryhorn] . Tiscali TV offers the non time-shifted channel along with a Video on demand service, "Film4 on Demand".

Programming

Film4 broadcasts from 1:00 pm to about 3:30 am. Unlike its rivals, Film4 does not focus on broadcasting blockbusters. Instead, it aims for a more niche and highbrow market by showing a mixture of old and new independent, arthouse, British, foreign language and specialist cinema, along with some critically-acclaimed Hollywood films. The channel frequently has themed nights or seasons in which a number of films centred around one genre, director or actor are shown. As Channel 4 also owns a film production company, Film4 Productions, it shows many of its products.

Occasional non-film (but film-related) programmes are also shown.

Wherever possible, films are shown unedited and in widescreen, and many films appear in their correct aspect ratio. No digital on-screen graphics are superimposed.

History

Film4 was originally known as "FilmFour" 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 Digital 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, FilmFour World and FilmFour Extreme which operated on a timeshare and the time-shift channel FilmFour +1. FilmFour World and Extreme were discontinued in 2003 and replaced by FilmFour 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 [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/entertainment/film/2902801.stm FilmFour moves mainstream] , BBC, 21 March 2003] . FilmFour Weekly ceased broadcasting on 19 July 2006 when the subscription service ended.

The subscription service ended on 19 July 2006 and the channel re-launched (under the slightly modified name of Film4) as a free-to-air service a few days later on 23 July. When the channel became free, it also returned to digital terrestrial as part of the Freeview brand, and became completely free-to-air on satellite television. Due to the change, the channel's availability increased from 300,000 (subscribers) to 18 million households. It also changed its broadcasting hours to 3:00 pm - 3:00 am, and commercial breaks were included during films for the first time. The first film broadcast under the new format was the British non-subscription television premiere of "Lost in Translation". It remains the only free film channel available on digital terrestrial television.

Relaunch advertising campaign

To alert the public to it going free-to-air, Film4 launched a massive campaign directed by Kevin Spacey featuring major celebrities advertising Film4 in odd ways. The slogan of the campaign was "FILMS FOR FREE". Examples include:

*Judi Dench in a lobster costume, operatically singing the words "Film Four!"
*Lucy Liu in a banner plane, insulting Ray Winstone and Christian Slater who have incorrectly erected a 'Film4 is free' sign, whilst her own banner is displayed upside-down.
*Ewan McGregor in a tomato costume, talking to Judi Dench about whether he is a fruit or a vegetable.
*Gael Garcia Bernal putting leaflets, advertising Film4, onto cars and setting off their alarms. To which he then throws the remaining leaflets in the air.
*Willem Dafoe saying to one of the advertising campaigners (played by Mackenzie Crook), "First day? It'll get better."
*Rhys Ifans advertising the channel door-to-door, but often having a door slammed in his face.

Film4's rival, Sky Movies, has countered this with a new advertisement. Sky's advert shows a shot of a tomato and a lobster sitting next to a small sign with the words "FILMS AD FREE" appearing on it, a sly play on the words of Film4's own slogan. The ad then shows clips from films starring the above celebrities, all of which are available on Sky Movies. Unlike Film4, Sky Movies does not broadcast adverts during films (although it does show adverts between films). However, Sky Movies can only be viewed as part of a subscription package with a minimum cost of £34 per month. Sky Movies had also been advertising its World Cinema strand, which competes with Film4's speciality of independent and foreign films.Fact|date=October 2008

Film4 seasons

tudio Ghibli

This season showed the best of Hayao Miyazaki's Japanese anime studio Studio Ghibli [The first run of films was dubbed in English the second in the original Japanese with subtitles.] . The films were introduced by Paul Kaye.

* Castle of Cagliostro
* Kiki's Delivery Service
* Princess Mononoke
*
* My Neighbour Totoro
* Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
* Porco Rosso

Brilliant Korea

This season showed some the best of South Korean thrillers.

* Lady Vengeance
* Oldboy
* A Tale of Two Sisters
* R-Point
* Brotherhood
* Tell Me Something

High School Comedy

* Billy Madison
* Ferris Bueller's Day Off
* Fast Times at Ridgemont High
* Get Over It
* School of Rock
* Clueless

ci-Fi Season (2007)

* The Day After Tomorrow
* I, Robot
* Cypher
* Equilibrium
* Close Encounters of the Third Kind
* Independence Day
* Vanilla Sky
* Solaris
* The Core

Thriller Season

* Phone Booth
* Confidence
* The Firm
* Out Of Time
* Primal Fear
* Memento
* The Talented Mr. Ripley

New Hollywood

*
* Sideways
* Garden State
* The Good Girl
* Lost in Translation
* Napoleon Dynamite
* I ♥ Huckabees
* Brick
* Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Crime Season

* The Italian Job
* Entrapment
* The Transporter
* Transporter 2
* Collateral
* Brick
* Road To Perdition
* Natural Born Killers

ci-Fi Season (2008)

This season showed triple bills of Sci-Fi films for two weeks, taking up the 7PM, 9PM, and 11PM slot.

* 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
* The Abyss
* Beneath the Planet of the Apes
* Fantastic Voyage
* The Fifth Element
* Cypher
* Star Trek Nemesis
* Fantastic Four
* Jason X
* Memoirs of an Invisible Man
* The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
* Big Trouble in Little China
* Explorers
* Alien vs. Predator
* Alien
* Predator 2
* The Core
* Underworld
* Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
* I, Robot
* Thunderbirds Are Go
* Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
* Timeline
* Resident Evil
* Congo
* Evolution
* The Fly

Anti-Heroes Season

This season saw an anti-hero film every night after the 9PM film for a fortnight.

* Fight Club
* Underworld
* From Dusk 'til Dawn
* L.A. Confidential
* The 51st State
* Big Trouble in Little China
* Oldboy
* Six Degrees of Separation
* The Fifth Element
* Bad Lieutenant
*
* Bullitt
* Batman Returns
* The Watcher
* My Cousin Vinny
* The Deer Hunter
* Straightheads
* The Libertine

Comedy Season

* Zoolander
* School Of Rock
* Clueless

ee also

*50 Films to See Before You Die

Notes

External links

*Channel4.com|id=film|title=Film4