4Front Video

Background

4Front Video was an imprint of the UK division of PolyGram Video that focused on budget VHS releases. It was retained after the rebranding to Universal Pictures Video and continued to be used until 2002. Starting in 2002 with the UK VHS release of About a Boy, the 4 Front Video logo was phased out and replaced with the Universal Pictures Video logo.

(1991-2002)

Logo: On a black background, a large red spark draws out a very scratchy number 4 in the same color. The 4 then shrinks and relegates itself to the left of the screen. A white spark writes out the word "Front" on the number 4. A large white spark then flashes behind the half-finished logo, changing the background from black to white. Once the background has been changed, a black box containing the word "Video" is visible to the right of the 4.

Variant: On Channel 5 Video UK VHS tapes during 1997, the logo fades out to black. This variant also appears on later UK VHS tapes from 1998 to 2002.

Technique: The sparkler effect drawing out the logo.

Music/Sounds: An extremely loud jet noise followed by an abridged version of the 1991 PolyGram Video theme.

Availability:

• Tapes from the company are very easy to find, though some videos containing the logo's symbol on the sleeve may not feature the actual ident (for example the release of Robocop).
• Seen on the releases of Braindead and Django.
• It also appears on UK VHS releases such as The Amazing Adventures of Morph, Paddington Bear: Bear Hugged and The Gnomes Great Adventure, among others.