Background: "Взгляд и Другие" (or "Vzglyad i Drugiye") (translation: Glance and Others) was founded in 1987 by co-founders of the Vzglyad (Glance) TV program: Vlad Listyev, Alexander Lyubimov, Andrey Razbash, and others. Listyev wanted to use az symbol as the company's symbol, and his wife offered to try the death mask of Taoist philosopher Guo Xiang with a three-footed toad on its head in the Museum of Eastern Culture. When the museum forbade using it as a logo, Listyev modified it with CGI (and led to some...unique results). Tragedy struck in March 1995 when, not long after becoming head of the ORT network (now Channel One), Listyev was mysteriously shot dead in his apartment. To this day, the murderers have never been found or identified. For a whole day, ORT and many other Russian channels went off the air and only displayed a photo of him with the text "Vladislav Listyev has been killed". In October 2017, in order to start shifting from television to digital media, VID rebranded itself to VIDgital (ВИDgital) and debuted a completely new logo.
1st Logo
(1990-2002)
Nicknames: "The Scary Mask", "The Russian Mask", "The Mask of Doom", "The Stone Mask", "The Angry Mask", "VID Mask", "Soviet Scary Face", "SSM (Super Scary Mask)", "The SSF from Russia", "BИD Mask", "In Soviet Russia, Mask Wears You!", "The Mask of Guo Xiang"
Logo: On an off-white background, we see a thick black line wipe onto the screen from the left side, going right. It begins vibrating as it continues moving, and then a white ball comes from off-screen left and begins bouncing along it at a fast pace. It then falls off as the line stops moving. Then we cut to a large close-up of the ball as it zooms away from us and disappears. The black outline of a circle zooms in, immediately followed by a entirely black circle that fills the screen, creating a black background, and then a creepy-looking stone mask with a mean-looking expression on its face fades in. Then "ВИD" fades in and shines underneath in large bronze letters, which is Russian for "VID". It kind of looks like "BND".
Variants:
- There is a variant of the full logo with the mask disappearing and gray text saying "представляет" appearing afterwards.
- A sub-variant, found on the very first episode of Поле Чудес (Pole Chudes, the Russian version of Wheel of Fortune) that aired on October 25, 1990, exists, in which the logo quickly accelerates at the point where the ball falls into the center and quickly decelerates back to the normal speed when "BND" fades in, possibly due to an editing/compression error.
- An abridged variant was also used at the end of some programs, in which the the ball-and-stick segment was cut and the logo started with the zooming circles. Only the five-note fanfare is used here.
- There is another abridged variant that was used on Темы in 1992 where the ending theme plays and the last note of the fanfare then plays when the mask appears.
- A "presentation" variant was used sometimes before the beginning of a special program. The variant consisted only of the mask and the company name fading in and the company name shining. Instead of the standard music, Andrey Razbash says "телекомпания ВИD представляет..." ("VID Production presents..."). In 1999, this replaced the standard version due to concerns of epilepsy.
- There is an extended version before Wait for Me! on July 17, 1998, where it has only the mask for 8 seconds, and the animation continues normally.
- A silent version of the presentation variant has white text saying "представляет" under the mask, with or without the "ВИD" above it.
- Another version of the presentation variant has the 5-note fanfare, which soon gets cut off by Razbash saying "представляет" when the "ВИD" appears.
- In 1999-2001, a special Christmas variant was used that featured the mask fading in and slowly zooming in. As it zooms, it slowly grows a beard and Santa hat complete with a happy grin. Below the mask, it reads "C новым годом!" ("S novyn godom!," meaning "Happy new year!") in the slab-serif font, and "год" in the word "годом" changes to "ВИD" in the corporate font. The music is a menacing chord fading from the closing theme.
- From 1998 to 2000, another Christmas-themed variant of the presentation variant was also used, with snow falling around the mask and company name.
- In 1993-1997 before L-club, the VID mask would morph into the face of Leonid Yarmolnik and open its eyes, jiggling his eyebrows in the process.
- At the end of a 1994 L-club episode on April Fools Day (this was reportedly done as a joke); the face on the VID mask faded into a different face with eerie eyes and a tongue sticking out (as if to mock the viewer). This variant sometimes appeared at the end of other L-club episodes as well.
- A spoof of the logo was seen on Оба-на! beginning with Russian actor/comedian Evgeny Voskremensky superimposed over the ball/line animation, panicking and freaking out over it, and then sliding down as the ball falls off the line. It then proceeds normally, until a few seconds after the mask is seen, it then fades into a gray-scale version of the face of Russian writer/comedian Igor Ugolnikov, whom says in an electronically-distorted voice in Russian, "VID, VID. Nothing is viewed from your view!" and then smiles as we hear an opening theme.
- Before Otdyhay! in 1992-1994, the standard variant plays out as normal, but the "ВИD" wordmark fades in with the mask (which is in the posterized monochrome tone used for the 4th logo, but colored gold) and the mask says in a high-pitched voice "Hey! Relax, though!" before smiling. Everything, except for ball-and-stick segment, is animated with computer graphics.
FX/SFX: The line forming, the ball bouncing, the circle zooming and background color change, and the mask and "ВИD" fading in and shining.
Cheesy Factor: The animation of the ball bouncing and the line isn't very detailed, looking like it was made in the 1950s.
Music/Sounds: Starts out with an industrial whirring/jackhammer/film projector-like stock sound effect during the ball and line animation, and then when the black circle zooms in, a loud, dramatic 5-note fanfare, composed by Vladimir Ratskevich, is heard, ending with some ominous synth whirring as the text appears and shines.
Availability: Rare. It's seen before VID-produced programs in Russia such as Поле Чудес (Field of Wonders) and Ищу тебя!/Жди Меня (Looking for You!/Wait for Me). Since VIDgital's YouTube channel has started uploading episodes of these programs, it's become easier to find.
Editor's Note: The logo is possibly the most famous Russian logo of all time, and has been both been feared (and memed) in the logo community due to the extremely creepy mask, zooming circles, and the 5-note fanfare, and is declared as one of the scariest logos ever made. The April Fools variant's mocking face is also seen under this light, as well as its several other variants, but they're slightly tamer. However, it has developed a cult following, especially in Russia.
2nd Logo (1992-1993)
Nickname: "The Shawl"
Logo: We see a black room with projectors and an off-white shawl with Jin Chan part exposed. A man comes to the shawl, greets everyone, saying "Я снимаю!" ("I'll take it off!"), and starts to take the shawl off. The VID mask is under it. When the shawl is removed, the man goes off screen and the removed shawl turns into the word "ВИD". The projectors disappear and the name zooms in further.
Variant: There's an extended variant, where it starts with the white background fading in, then it crossfades to the off-white fabric background, and we zoom out to reveal that the background is actually a part of the shawl and the animation continues normally.
FX/SFX: Only the background turning black and "ВИD" zooming. Almost everything was live-action and flashing spotlights are done with computer graphics.
Music/Sounds: Crowd noises throughout, the man talking, ripping noises when the man takes the shawl off, and a 3-note fanfare near the end.
Availability: Probably extinct, unless there's retro networks in Russia, as this logo only lasted for about a year.
Editor's Note: One thing to note is that several of the logos below will look a lot like the 1st logo.
3rd Logo (1993)
Nicknames: "Claymation Mask", "The Mask of Plasticine"
Logo: On a black background, with the video of the moving, tinfoil-like plasticine background surrounded by the shining orange outline, the words "Вы смотрите" (meaning "You Are Watching") in orange writes on the top inside the rectangle, while the gray claymated mask and "ВИD" below, forming from the background. Then the background stops moving and we zoom on the mask and the text, and everything flashes with colorful lights, making the picture more brighter and colorful, making the mask beige, then the plasticine background and the wordmark irises out until it reaches the mask, revealing the black background with the same wordmark as the 1st logo, and the claymated mask becomes gray and posterized, and we finally zoom on the rectangle, while the mask becomes normal. The finished product is the last frame of the 1st logo, but with "Вы смотрите" above the mask.
FX/SFX: The background, the formation of the words, the formation of the mask.
Cheesy Factor: The stop-motion animation is fine, but the clay mask becoming the normal mask is really bad.
Music/Sounds: A fast-paced techno beat accompanied by scribbling sounds when the mask forms from the plasticine background, ending with the reversed cymbal crash and the brass hit.
Availability: Ultra rare to near extinction.
4th Logo
(1994-1995)
Nicknames: "The Countdown", "The Monochrome Mask", "Saint Petersburg's Mask", "The Other Russian Mask of Doom"
Logo: On the black background, the number in the Times font, counting down from 3 to 0, then the number "0" morphs into the posterized monochrome mask, and finally "ВИD СПб" ("VID Saint Petersburg") fades in below.
Trivia: The monochrome mask itself is actually VID's print logo, and can be found at the bottom-right corner of VID's website (surprisingly still the same despite changing their logo and name).
FX/SFX: The numbers appearing, the zero forming into the mask, the text appearing.
Music/Sounds: The low sonic tone with the wind blowing in the background, quiet pings in timing the number counting down, followed by the rearranged, more dramatic version of the 1st logo fanfare.
Availability: Seen before two concerts: ВИD-АнтиСПИD (VID Anti-AIDS) in 1994, and Центр циклона (The Center of the Cyclone) in 1995.
5th Logo (May 1996-2002)
Nickname: "The Wonder Screen"
Logo: On the dark cloudy sky with the Spasskaya Tower on the right, several small searchlights scanning the sky, three projectors project the sky with the spinning circles divided into six pieces, and some gray zeppelins passing by, we see a huge TV-set with a large screen and the stage lighting truss with 9 spotlights hanging from it, where frames from VID programs: Один на Один, МузОБОЗ, Час-Пик, Взгляд, Поле Чудес, Тема, and Угадай Мелодию, are flashing, and the camera is moving. When the screen displays the VID mask, the screen "wipes" to the gray gradient background with the silver wordmark. Everything fades to black, and the word "ПРЕДСТАВЛЯЕТ" appears.
Variant: There was a still variant used at the end of programs with a copyright notice down below. The screen is frozen on the mask.
FX/SFX: The background details moving, the screen of TV-set switching. Decent CGI.
Music/Sounds: 30s style patriotic music, similar to "The Sing Helps Us to Build and to Live" from the Soviet film Vesyolye Rebyata.
Availability: Was ultra rare, but since VIDgital's YouTube channel started uploading 1996 episodes of Взгляд (Sight) the logo is becoming easier to find. This logo first appeared around May of 1996.
6th Logo
(January 17, 2000-March 2, 2013)
Nicknames: "Modern Mask Of Doom", "The Tame Mask"
Logo: Against the black background, a gold line stretches outwards horizontally in the center of the screen, resembling a CRT television powering up. The line opens up and glows, containing the word "телекомпания" in a black font (this word is also seen scrolling in faint large letters within the bar); this then shrinks into a dot, from which arises a thin black ring, containing within it the infamous stone mask. The mask stops in the center of the screen, much smaller than before, and the ring fades to the glowing ring. The word "ВИD" appears in gold Times New Roman font, some lines close in around the mask, and a faint gold line appears at the bottom-right; the word "представляет" is laid there upon in black Courier New font. All of this happens in a span of about five seconds.
FX/SFX: Some modern graphics & effects.
Music/Sounds: Same as the presentation variant of the first logo, except an echo effect can be heard on the announcer's voice.
Music/Sounds Variants:
- Before Жди меня, there is a different announcer (Aleksey Neklyudov) saying more than usual with some text appearing over the Russian flag (probably a text proving, that the show is financially supported by FAPMC). This is also sometimes used for the next logo below.
- Sometimes, the announcer's words are "spaced out further" while being said.
Availability: Seen on some VID's TV programs (Взгляд, Поле Чудес, Жди меня, Звёздный час, Мой серебряный шар, Служу Отчизне!, etc.) produced between 2000 and 2013. The shortened version of the 1st logo was used at the end of TV programs until 2002.
7th Logo (March 7, 2013-September 30, 2017,February 8,2019-)
Nicknames: "3D Mask Of Doom", "The New Mask"
Logo: Same concept as before, but modified a bit. Against the cerulean gradient background, a gold line stretches outwards horizontally in the center of the screen, resembling a CRT television powering up. The line opens up and glows, the word "телекомпания" is scrolling in faint large letters within the bar; on the center of the screen, the new brown 3D version of the mask appears out of thin air instantly and zooms in and a thin black ring pulsates like a ripple. The mask stops in the center of the screen, as in the previous logo, and the circle reaches an optical gold circle. The word "ВИD" appears in the same typeface used in the first logo, some lines close in around the mask, words "телекомпания" and "представляет" appear over and under the mask respectively. Some light illuminates the mask from the right.
FX/SFX: Modern 3D graphics and effects, the 3D mask.
Music/Sounds: Same as the last logo, though both words are "spaced out further" while being said.
Availability: No longer current. First appeared on March 7, 2013 before Поле Чудес, this logo was used until September 30, 2017.
8th Logo
(October 5, 2017-)
Nicknames: "Toad on the Mask", "The Redesigned Mask", "Calm Mask", "Friendly Mask"
Logo: A toad walks on top of a brown sculpture, which turns out to be a brand new version of the mask logo (with a less scary look), particles fly around the mask as it smiles. The word "ВИDgital" appears in a brand new typeface.
FX/SFX: CGI animation.
Music/Sounds: A hip-hop beat, or a rather dramatic theme with synths that begins with some banging sounds.
Availability: Current, seen before TV programs Служу Отчизне!, Жди меня which is aired on NTV since October 27, 2017.