BFS Video

Background

Unknown.

1st Logo (1989-1996)

Logo: On a blue space background with white stars zooming towards us, “BFS VIDEO”, which consists of “BFS” in bold Helvetica font with segmented lines on the bottom half (like in the CBS-Fox logo), and a thinner “VIDEO” font, zooms out to the bottom-right corner of the screen, tilted on its side. It then zooms back in towards us and rotates slightly and then settles in place. A few seconds later, the logo shifts up, and a warning message starts scrolling below the logo.

Technique: Simple animation.

Music/Sounds: A dramatic synthesized orchestra fanfare with a "tinkling" sound at the end.

Music/Sounds Variant: On some tapes, the music is a shortened version of the track "Challenges" from Network Music Ensemble.

Availability: Can be found VHS releases of BBC (i.e. Blake's 7) and ITV’s shows from the UK, as well as the 1990 made-for-TV adaptation of The Old Man and the Sea, among others.

2nd Logo (1996-Early 2000s)

Logo: Against a green marble background, a close up shot in between the letters "BFS VIDEO" in red, pan across from left to right, and then they zoom out and turn into place, where a gray sphere fades in. The letters are in a 3D font that seems to shoot out toward us toward the top and bottom. The letters then shine and the logo shrinks to the top of the screen, where a warning message scrolls up like before.

Technique: The panning of the text, the fading, the shining.

Music/Sounds: A shortened version of the stock track "Sunny Daze" from Network Music Ensemble.

Availability: Maybe on later releases of BBC's and ITV's shows.

3rd Logo (2000's)

Logo: On a black background, we zoom out from inside a letter B, and then pan over the top of three red colored letters, we then pan to the left until we stop in the center, where we see an F. The text then zooms out to reveal the letters "BFS" in red, and in the same font as the previous logo. The company name zooms out at a quick pace, but stops midway as the byline "ENTERTAINMENT & MULTIMEDIA LIMITED", flash on screen above a red line. After two seconds, the byline disappears via a flash effect, as the BFS logo zooms toward us, as a warning message appears on screen. Unlike the previous logos, the warning text does not scroll up.

Technique: Too much to mention, but the animation has really improved when compared the last two logos.

Music/Sounds: A dramatic orchestral fanfare, ending with two synth notes as the text zooms out.

Availability: Appears on later BFS releases, most of which are on DVD, including The Worst Witch.