ReteMia (Italy)

1st logo

(March 21, 1988-November 30, 2000)

Nicknames: "The Yellow Bar", "Space, Ocean, Mountains", "Traveling Through The Landscapes of Windows 95 Computer Games", "Keyboard Accompaniment Music"

Logo: We see an open starfield, including the sun on the top right corner. A yellow rectangular bar slides gently from the sun towards the center of the screen. This segues into a spinning Earth, inside of the same starfield. The camera reverts to the yellow bar again, in a different position sliding towards the bottom left. The spinning Earth from before is shown again, slowly receding to the left. The yellow bar sweeps into the Earth, and the camera shifts to perspective view into the earth where the yellow bar is headed. We then see the ocean (with a purplish sky, containing a few clouds in the distance). The yellow bar slides in towards the viewer. The yellow bar is then headed for a computer-animated mountainous island (in a different perspective, away from the viewer). The yellow bar slides across the screen with a different view of these mountains. A ghosted trail appears onto this ocean from before, and settles onto the ground. This trail forms the country of Italy. The yellow bar flies into Italy, rotates it vertically, and turns it yellow. There are markers showing each station where Rete Mia broadcasts, and a satellite flies over. Italy flips into horizontal view, and there is a flash. It forms two white lines that separate to the left and right of the screen. After this, we see blue three-dimensional letters appear one-by-one in a staircase form. These letters say "RETE". The word "MIA", in the same font as the previous letters, swings in along with the "RETE" text. The lines that were the product of Italy "exploding" return as angled shapes. The logo faces the viewer and shines for a bit.

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: Passable, ambitious late 1980's CGI that just wasn't ready yet. Though the animation quality is good for its time, there are many minor flaws including uninspired textures. The music, as described below, also sounds unprofessional and low-budget.

Music/Sounds: A catchy but cheap-sounding synthpop tune that starts off dramatically but ends in a hokey sort of way. It sounds like a preset off of a Yamaha keyboard.

Availability: Extinct, since the channel is not in operation.

Scare Factor: None to low. The beginning could get to a few, and some people may not like the constantly switching perspectives, including the yellow bar flying into their face. This is a favorite of many Italians.