Soyuz Video (Russia)

Background
Soyuz Video is a VHS and DVD publishing subsidiary of the Soyuz Group. It's one of the largest video publishers in Russia nowadays.

1st Logo (1997-2003?)


Nicknames : "The Stack of VHS Tapes", "The VHS-Pro Emblem", "100% Quality Control", "The Early Filmstrip Tree"

Logo : On a background with a dark skyline, we see various VHSs stacked together. All of these start to fall down and reveal an even more bigger VHS, which spins. Fireworks are seen shooting on the background. A red circle (which looks like the one from the Mattel logo) spins in. The word "100%" zooms out to the red circle, and the words "контроль" and "качества" (which mean "control" and "quality") move in from the left and zoom out. A color-changing Soyuz logo (a bunch of filmstrips making a tree) zooms out spinning. The Soyuz logo places at the left, and the other words place next to it. "VHS-PRO" also zooms out and places itself below the other Russian words. An arc of other Russian words then zooms out and places on the top area of the circle. After everything's placed, a white normal circle appears behind the emblem. The Soyuz logo keeps on changing colors for a short while.

FX/SFX : The VHSs falling and rotating, the circle spinning in, the parts of the emblem zooming out, the Soyuz logo changing colors, the white circle behind the emblem fading in.

Music/Sounds : An explosion sound (which is actually "Explosion, Plastic - Plastic Explosive: Charge 01" taken from the Sound Ideas Series 1000 sound library, and it was later reused in Microsoft PowerPoint), followed by a synth arp that then brings up an eurodance theme (which is actually made with Dance EJay, specifically the first version). Just after "100%" appears, we hear a man whispering some words that repeat four times until the emblem's formed. The words being whispered by the man are 100% контроль качества. Some explosion sounds are heard when fireworks explode.

Availability : Seen on early Soyuz tapes. It may come after the following logo when it was debuted.

Editor's Note : This logo is kind of a '90s relic with its eurodance music and use of VHS tapes as an aesthetic, though it is a pretty stylish one.

2nd Logo (1998-2003)


Nicknames : "Filmstrip Tree", "The Volcanic Tree"

Logo : We zoom by some mountains and spot what looks like a fireball/explosion or something in adark blacksky. After passing by the mountains we see that it's a cloud or something in adark red/bright orangesky. Some sparks fly up and a 3D CGIgoldenSoyuz logo (a bunch of filmstrips making a tree) rises up toward us. The background fades to a city skyline with anorange/yellowsky andblackclouds, and the text "СОЮЗ" in CGI letters flies in from the right in front of us and then back to the center along with the corporate logo. Then the logo fades out and the CGI words "VHS-PRO" and "PRODUCED ON SOYUZVIDEOTAPE" (in Russian) fly in from the right into the center which changes colors: gold, red, blue, andgreen; the third row of the text changes from green to red.

FX/SFX : The mountains moving by, clouds rolling, sparks flying, and filmstrip mass statue and letters moving and shining.

Music/Sounds : A stock thunderclap is heard as we go by the mountains, then the 2nd Image Entertainment jingle (including some of its whoosh sounds) plays.

Availability : Can be seen on Russian VHS's since the late 90's. Not sure if this is seen on any DVDs.

Editor's Note : Not a badly-animated logo, though the usage of the Image logo music is somewhat questionable.

3rd Logo (2003-)


Nicknames : "Russian Medusa", "Filmstrip Tree II"

Logo : On a blue computer-generated background with other lights, we see many whirling filmstrips, which rise up and form a Soyuz corporate logo in a black rectangle. Below, the words "СОЮЗ ВИДЕО" (Soyuz Video) in a squashed red font slide in from the left (a la Universal) and place themselves below the logo. The background then turns into a white gradient background via "iris" transition.

Variant : There is a version used on Blu-ray discs where the logo is in widescreen with cheaper CGI animation, and "high definition" zooms out below the logo letter-by-letter.

FX/SFX : The swirling filmstrips making the logo, and sliding words.

Music/Sounds : Film projector sounds, then a light synth theme with some quiet whooshing.

Music/Sounds Variant : In the logo's earlier years the synth theme was different.

Availability : Very common on localized DVDs in Russia, which are almost unavailable outside said country. The HD version is rare since it only occurs on Blu-Ray. Almost rare for VHS's.

Editor’s Note : This is a very nicely-animated logo that's somewhat reminiscent of the 1998 Medusa Emotion Picture logo.