Channel 4 sports XTV sequences

XTV started work last weekend on title sequences for two Channel 4 sports programmes, which are scheduled to go live in early May.

The project, worth a combined £100 000 fee, is to design titles for the channel’s cricket and horse racing programmes.

XTV is designing a series of five sequences for Channel 4 cricket and is filming the England cricket team in New Zealand this week, where they are touring.

The titles will feature mock supporters watching an apparently real Test Match from the pitch itself, inches from the players. They are designed to be a visual interpretation of Channel 4’s cricket coverage strapline, Closer to the Action, and air in May for the new season.

The sequences are devised by XTV creative Morgan Sendall, directed by Daryl Goodrich, creative director of Chrysalis Creative and produced by XTV producer Anne Davies.

‘One of our ideas, which eventually won, involved a tricky shoot and we were keen for [Goodrich] to direct it,’ explains XTV executive producer Richard Markell.

Channel 4’s racing coverage will be run by racing brand At The Races, which is managed by a consortium including Channel 4, BSkyB and Arena Leisure.

The programme will be called Channel 4 At The Races. The brand also incorporates an on-line betting capability and interactive racing channel on Sky.

The single sequence, directed by Goodrich, will involve a simultaneous camera track from starting gate to the winning post, seen from both sides of the racecourse during an actual race.

It was filmed at Doncaster racecourse last weekend, directed by Goodrich and created by Sendall.

Both projects were won following creative unpaid pitches in January. XTV pitched against one other consultancy for the cricket titles. For the racing sequences, XTV pitched with Chrysalis against five unnamed rivals.