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

(1998-2004)

Nicknames: "Filmstrip Tree"

Logo: We zoom by some mountains and spot what looks like a fireball/explosion or something in a dark black sky. After passing by the mountains we see that it's a cloud or something in a dark red/bright orange sky. Some sparks fly up and a 3D CGI golden Soyuz logo (a bunch of filmstrips making a tree) rises up toward us. The background fades to a city skyline with an orange/yellow sky and black clouds, 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 "MANUFACTURED BY SOYUZ VIDEO" (in Russian) fly in from the right into the center which changes colors: gold, red, blue, and green; 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.

Cheesy Factor: Choppy animation. It also seems like the mountains were taken from 2D shots. What's more, this logo can be a candidate of the "logo theme thieves" list because of the use of Image Entertainment's music.

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.

Scary Factor: Low to medium, due to the sudden appearance of the mountains and distant fireball (looks like an erupting volcano), along with the thunderclap and dramatic theme.

2nd Logo

(199?-200?)

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

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 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.

Cheesy Factor: The animation looks somewhat cheap-looking and the design of the logo looks more like something from an announcement than a simple one. And also, why is the voice whispering instead of saying the speech like normal? The voice repeating for the rest of the logo's animation sounds pretty cheesy, too.

Music/Sounds: An explosion sound (which is taken from the sound library of Microsoft PowerPoint), followed by a synth arp that then brings up an eurodance theme. Just after "100%" appears, we hear a man whispering some words that repeat four times until the emblem's formed. Some explosion sounds are heard when fireworks explode.

Availability: Seen on early Soyuz tapes. It may come after the 1st logo.

Scare Factor: None to minimal. The whispering voice would surprise people if the logo is played at a high volume.

3rd Logo

(2004-)

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 (aka Universal) and place themselves below the logo. The background then turns into a white gradient background via "iris" transition.

Variant: An HD variant exists where the animation and gamma are MUCH better. Even the name is done more carefully, and HIGH DEFINITION zooms out below letters-by-letters.

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

Cheesy Factor: While the effects are actually good, the logo is cheesy. First, after watching the marvelous 1997 Medusa Distribuzione filmstrips logo, this logo acts like a more uglier low-grade ripoff of that logo. Second, the words "СОЮЗ ВИДЕО" seem to be cheaply plastered in, especially in the SD version. Third, the result looks something simple that can be done in BluffTitler in 3 minutes.

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.

Scare Factor: Minimal. The animation can cause a small headache for someone.