Austria Wochenschau

Background

Austria Wochenschau was a publicly owned newsreel company in Austria that was present in Austrian cinemas from 1949 to 1982.

The founding of Austria Wochenschau in Vienna VII, Siebensterngasse 19 was based on a basic agreement of June 1949 between the Austrian federal government and the four Allied occupying powers. The federal government wanted to promote Austrian patriotism and emphasize domestic reconstruction efforts. The first managing director of Austria Wochenschau was Ernst Marboe.

The majority owner of the company was the state with 52%, with the SPÖ-affiliated Viennese cinema chain KIBA and the ÖVP-affiliated Sascha Film, each holding 24%. The political system of proportional representation that prevailed between 1945 and 1966 was thus institutionally expressed in Austria Wochenschau. However, it was also noticeable in the design of the film contributions with their deliberately finely balanced reports between "red" and "black". An Austria Wochenschau program lasted from 8 to 10 minutes. From 1954 to 1971, a second, more internationally oriented newsreel, Das Welt-journal, was also produced.

In 1954, before the onset of competition from television, around 300 copies were circulated each week. From the 1960s onwards, however, the newsreel fell hopelessly behind as a current affairs medium. The once popular newsreel cinemas became deserted and were closed. As supporting programs in regular cinemas, however, newsreels with less topical themes were able to survive for a while. The triple change of signage and logo of the Austria newsreel during the 1970s was already an expression of a profound crisis and desperate modernization efforts. The music contributions dedicated to Austropop by Austria Wochenschau and its successor, the magazine "Scope" (from 1982) proved to be quite successful and today represent a valuable contemporary document (they can be regarded as a prefiguration of the video clip). From 1985 to 1994, only Hallo Kino was produced, a society magazine with movie trailers.

1st Logo (November 11, 1949-May 15, 1955?)

Visuals: On a cloudy background is a spinning Earth globe settled below where there is the tall "AUSTRIA" arched atop of it. Underneath are 9 coats of arms, in which crossfade to the word "WOCHENSCHAU" with a white glow surrounding it.

Technique: Live-action and model work.

Audio: None known.

Availability: Appeared on earlier newsreels, which none are known of as of this period. A snippet of it is shown on here.

2nd Logo (May 15, 1955?-1971?)

Visuals:

Opening: On a blurry starburst background full of subsequent scrolling amounts of text reading "AUSTRIA-WOCHENSCHAU", the spinning Earth globe is shown towards the center, with a dark glow engulfing it. Shortly after, "AUSTRIA" suddenly appears out of focus and closer to the screen, before backing out and focusing. It settles in front of the globe, as the "Wochenschaú" script wipes in underneath.
Closing: On said sequence, "ENDE" appears in place of the latter and is adjusted to the center. The "Wochenschaú" script is omitted.

Variants:

On the day Austria gained independence, the logo is in color albeit in different shape. The background is striped and in the colors of the Austria flag, and the Earth globe is in a navy-teal tint. The words are slightly tilted.
For Das Welt-journal issues, the scrolling texts are replaced with "WELT-JOURNAL", same goes for the remaining texts, in which "WELT" is in place of "AUSTRIA", and the "Journal" script in place of "Wochenschaú".

Technique: Model work with practical effects.

Audio: A proud triumphant fanfare.

Audio Variant: For Das Welt-journal issues, a different triumphant fanfare is used. A German man can be heard shouting "Das Weltjournal" twice. The closing omits the latter.

Availability: Shown on newsreels from the period.

3rd Logo (1971?-1975?)

Visuals: On a black background, a thin, rounded "q" shape draws in, followed by a thick "a" shape drawing in place of said shape. The background suddenly changes to marching footage. The two shapes together zoom towards the screen with the "q" shape containing the Prague Spring footage from 1968 circled in, engulfing it. The two shapes together reappear shrunken at the upper-right corner, zooming forwards onto the middle. The "q" shape contains footage of a 'presumed' horse race on a grass field with crowds on the background. The shapes reappear zooming in as it stands onto the upper-left corner, with the footage fading onto footage of an auto racing. Two rows of stacked text "austria wochenschau" zoom in from the lower-right corner, and stand next to the shapes. Shortly after, the shapes and text abruptly disappear.

Technique: Cel animation with live-action footage.

Audio: A moderate-sounding triumphant fanfare.

Availability: Shown on newsreels from the period.

4th Logo (1975?-1980?)

Visuals: On a black background, the shapes as mentioned above, is shown in a shrunken size before rotating forth to the screen in a residue trail. When closer enough, it slightly backs out and stands at an upper-left portion. An "a" sticks out of the shape sliding to the right portion, where "ustri" fades when the letter's settled in. "wochenschau", emitting intensely lightened rays, slides towards the left and stands to the middle. This changes to another sequence featuring chroma-keyed footage of a tiger moving randomly in white, sliding from the left with a residue trail. This is followed by two more, three soldiers with the middle carrying out a flag, and an infant with a crying expression. The footage for the last one freezes onto the middle, where a scrolling filmstrip suddenly zooms back from the screen and freezes in front of said footage, revealing an inverted portion from the middle containing the cut-out background of the footage. Said footage abruptly changes to footage of a ballet. The filmstrip reappears as said footage fades out, followed by footage of a man of what appears to be strangling another man. The footage fades, and the filmstrip zooms forth with a residue trail. The said shapes zoom in with said trail, as they fade upon impact, with the shapes and "ustria wochenschau" fading after that.

Variant: There are snippets of varying colored variants of the logo surfaced back then, also shown on here.

Technique: Scanimate animation.

Audio: A different moderate-sounding triumphant fanfare.

Availability: Shown on newsreels from the period.

5th Logo (1980?-1982)

Visuals: On a black background, the screen passes through a dark opal tunnel with sights of light from the distance that flicker. The screen shifts forth, revealing the shapes and "ustria wochenschau" fading in, slightly separated, passing between the words.

Technique: Slit-scan animation.

Audio: An eerie, rising held synth note ending with an ascending whoosh.

Availability: Shown on newsreels from the period.

Austria Wochenschau

Scope

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