Culturebox

Credits

Descriptions by
Oranim

Video captures courtesy of
Retrogamer28 & MRT TV

Background

Culturebox (spelled culturebox in lowercase) is a french website dedicated to cultural events created by France Télévisions in 2008, along with a show of the same name on France 3 then France Info. Since 2021, it is also the name of a television channel created during the COVID-19 pandemic due to the closure of all theaters and cinemas. Originally a temporary channel, the success of both it and France 4 during the pandemic allowed both channels to keep airing. As such, Culturebox moved from France Ô's vacant slot on channel 19 to France 4's night-time hours on channel 14, with the daytime hours handled by the Okoo programming block.

Just like its website counterpart, Culturebox showcases cultural events in addition to inviting artists of various backgrounds and practicing different forms of art on its main show, Culturebox l'émission. During the Cannes Festival in 2022, Culturebox also broadcasted the temporary channel TV Festival de Cannes late at night.

(2021-)

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  "Sponsored by..."
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  First birthday
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  Christmas 2022

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  Félix Farjas from Ecole Estienne
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  Sébastien Huertas from Les Gobelins
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  Anaïs Cambou from Ensaama Olivier de Serres
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  Clara Mele from Lisaa Paris
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  Tianying Zhang & Xiaoning Liu from ECV Paris
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  Henri Lauriano from Lisaa Paris
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  Lucie Raijasse & Léo Becquet from Les Gobelins
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  David Bakralic & Thierry Duong from ECV Paris
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  Justine Dussard from Lisaa Paris
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  Romanne Brunet, Noémie Fambonne & Alliance Razafimahefa from ECV Paris
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  Théo Aguila, William Desruels & Gabriel Gutierrez from ECV Paris
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  Emma Colongue-Bourgeois from ECV Bordeaux
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  Audrey Beziat from ECV Bordeaux
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  Bradley Morrissey from Lisaa Paris
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  Mathieu Le Gal from Lisaa Paris
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  Emma Colongue-Bourgeois from ECV Bordeaux
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  Axelle Coustham & Emmanuel Monnoyeur from Lisaa Paris
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  Gaspard Courrier from Lisaa Paris
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  Nicolas Le Bas from Ensaama Olivier de Serres
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  Tianying Zhang & Xiaoning Liu from ECV Paris
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  Pauline Fuchs & Félix Fournier from Les Gobelins
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  Camille Bardaux from ECV Paris

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  Pauline Condomines from Les Gobelins
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  Mathieu Hôte from Lisaa Paris
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  Lucas Lecenes from Lisaa Paris
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  Laure Choquet from Lisaa Paris
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  Axelle Maurel from Les Gobelins
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  Perrine Pirio from Lisaa Paris
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  Léa Boscardin from Les Gobelins
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  Johanna Choultz & Matéo Grill from Les Gobelins
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  Iliana Nadjar from Les Gobelins

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Logo: We see the culturebox text on a black background. The right half of the X gains momentum as the rest of the text fades before it hits the left half, inverting the x into a diamond, leading to a trailer.

Variants:

• While the branding of the channel is handled by Gedeon, young artists and art students have also done idents for the channel. Their names and the name of their school would be displayed on the bottom right during each ident. These sequences can showcase three idents at once or only a single one.
• Depending on the program that's about to begin, one of the idents can be used to lead into it. The diamond then cuts the sequence, showing the "culturebox" text above the type of programming, the latter flashing in different colors before both fade out. This type of sequence is also repurposed for the 2021 holidays, 2022 New Year celebrations with unique idents and for types of programming with their own intros.
• Before showcasing a sponsor, a brief sting plays with the two sides of the X moving to the center (the right side having a bit of delay), the "culturebox" text just below them. The word "avec" ("with", or "is sponsored by" in this context) fades in under "culturebox" as the right side of the X flashes in different colors. The background is a blurred frame of the sponsor's own sequence.
• For Christmas 2022, the sequence takes place on a red background with white abstract snowflakes. The two sides of the X close to form the eyes of a laughing face before morphing into a happy face with Santa-esque beard. The X opens again before showing the full logo, then it segues into the regular sequence.
• Before a France TV Slash documentary, the sequence plays normally. The diamond leads into the word "documentaires" as two circles fly around the center of the screen, showing footage of a woman walking towards the camera (possibly from one such documentary). As they converge together into one, two halves of a light blue circle move in diagonally, with the France TV Slash logo in its center. The circle then fills the entire screen. The sequence is reversed at the end of the documentary, with footage of three people in front of their computer screens, playing together.
• Similarly, during Culture Prime programming, the sequence plays out like before with the diamond leading into Culture Prime's own intro: the apostrophe on the C moves to the right, revealing the word "Culture" before the screen flashes twice. On a screen split in 4, the apostrophe moves in times with the beat, along with the words "sur le canal 14" ("on channel 14") underneath. The animation from before plays again as a circle is drawn around the logo, its colors inverting. The providers's logos (which includes France TV) are shown at the bottom of the screen, while the Culture Prime logo takes on its shortened form with the last beat.
• For Culturebox's first birthday, the right side of the X opens up to reveal artists performing, along with duplicates of the right half of the X flying around in multiple colors. When it closes, the word "culturebox" fades away while "fougueux" ("firey") fades in the same way. In-between the two halves of the X, "1 an" ("One year") is stacked vertically, flashing in different colors. The duplicates also reappear the moment the X closes.

Trivia: The colors taken on by the right side of the X are the colors of each of France Télévisions's channels (red, blue, purple, green, yellow). The only color that doesn't represent any of France Télévisions's channels is cyan.

Technique: CGI, both 2D and 3D depending on the variant.

Music/Sounds: A jazzy tune through the use of bass, trumpets, drums and claps.

Music/Sounds Variants:

• While the main theme itself remains the same, it is often cut in various ways depending on the ident and the overall length of the sequence.
• The 2021 holidays and 2022 New Year celebrations use an upbeat pop theme with male and female voices as well as saxophones. This theme is also cut in different ways depending on the ident.
• The Christmas 2022 theme also uses a jazzy tune, with saxophones and dings.
• An 8-bit remix of the main theme is also used for the Gaming special of Culturebox l'émission.
• The Culture Prime sequence transitions from the main theme using finger snaps and beats.

Availability: Archival websites have been covering a majority of the channel's branding.

◄ France Ô (channel 19)

Culturebox