Canal+ Sport

Credits

Descriptions by
Oranim

Video captures courtesy of
TOP GENERIQUES, Touria Ouizgane, Les P'tits Créateurs, DevilfishCreative, Znělky Z TV a Rádio and Retrogamer28

Background

Canal+ Sport (formerly known as Canal+ Vert) is a premium sport channel part of Canal+'s offerings and the fourth main Canal+ channel to be launched after Canal+ itself, Canal+ Jaune and Canal+ Bleu on August 31, 1998. It is the first sport-oriented channel to be launched by Canal+, later joined by Canal+ Sport 360 and Canal+ Foot in 2022. The main channel does broadcast sporting events as well from time to time.

Similarly to the latter two, Vert's programming was a mix of television shows, documentaries and movies. However, while Bleu focused on the former two and Jaune focused on movies, Vert itself was centered towards sports which were often broadcasted in prime time, representing the channel's main event.

As such, on November 1, 2003, as part of a revamp across all of Canal+'s channels, Canal+ Vert was renamed Canal+ Sport, to better identify its programming amongst its sister channels. In contrast to Cinéma (which changed from yellow to blue) and Confort (which changed from blue to red/orange), Sport kept its original green with the rebrand which it still uses to this day on its official logo, as of the 2023 logo refresh across all Canal+ channels.

In addition to Sport 360 and Foot, Sport has a number of other sister channels, such as Foot+, Rugby+ and Golf+, part of the Multisports service, and several online-only channels covering specific sports or events.

Canal+ Vert

Contents   ID (August 31, 1998-October 31, 2003)

Canal+ Sport

Contents 1st ID (November 1, 2003-March 4, 2005) 2nd ID (March 5, 2005-August 30, 2009) 3rd ID (August 31, 2009-2015) 4th ID (2015-)

Canal+ Vert

ID (August 31, 1998-October 31, 2003)

• 
  Waiting screen
• 
  Sign-on

• 
• 
• 

Visuals: Similar to the opening sequence of the 1995 Canal+ ident, with the border now colored green. The original border can also be briefly seen before the first cut.

Closedown Sequence: The closedown variant, which is similar to that of the 1995 ident, except that it has a green border around it and that in the transition from the horizontal black stripe to the gray bottom, a green screen becomes visible.

Variant: All intros before the program begins now use a green border. However, during the first seconds of the sequence, when the screen flashes and the Canal+ logo fades in, the border is in its original color.

Technique: 2D computer animation done with a Quantel Paintbox by Étienne Robial.

Audio: A violin composition with a choir at the end, plus sounds of flashing, bubbles, chirping birds and drinking, composed by Philippe Eidel and Arnaud Devos.

Availability: Archival websites have the opening sequence along with the intros for fiction and cinema (two versions for the latter). The intro for Rions Un Peu... is also preserved but uses the main channel's style after the ident, which is in Vert's style.

Canal+ Sport

1st ID (November 1, 2003-March 4, 2005)

• 

Visuals: Red and green squares move from the sides, while blue and yellow squares move from the top and bottom. The moment all 4 squares converge together, the Canal+ logo appears with orange and blue squares behind it. The background turns green before cutting to a green square moving from the right with the Canal+ logo once again appearing once it settles next to it, causing a smaller blue square to appear over the green one. The background then switches from green with a white rectangle to its original color with the Canal+ logo and then with the two squares next to it with the final note.

Technique: 2D animation by Étienne Robial.

Audio: 3 high-pitched descending xylophone notes, then one in normal pitch at the end.

Availability: In regards to archival websites, only the Cinéma intro has been preserved for this specific branding.

2nd ID (March 5, 2005-August 30, 2009)

• 
  2008/2009 waiting screen
• 
  2008/2009 sign-on

Visuals: Similar to the 2003 Canal+ ident, except with green squares on a black background.

Sign-On Sequence: Green squares fly from the left to the right on a dark green background, then another set move from the top to the bottom of the screen. They repeat their movements together, before two sets of squares fly across the screen: one from the left to the right and another from the bottom to the top. After a small flash, squares are seen converged in the middle of the screen before moving away in all four directions. Two sets of squares then move in, right to left and top to bottom. The four sets that split earlier converge back into the center of the screen, causing the Canal+ logo to appear, before once again splitting to all four sides, the background turning to black. The first set shown flies in again, as the word SPORT in white appears, blinking a few times as squares fly in from the sides and the bottom back and forth twice. They slow down the fourth time as the screen flashes, causing them to change directions yet still going back and forth. The third time, they speed up as squares fly upwards and to the left. Bright green squares slowly slide across the screen, as the CANAL+ SPORT text then fades out.

Variant: As with all Canal+ channels, this branding was updated in around 2008/2009 when the channel began broadcasting in 16/9.

Sign-On/Closedown Variant:

• The sign-on itself was updated as well. Unlike Canal+ Cinéma and Canal+ Décalé which both kept using squares and rectangles, Canal+ Sport's updated sign-on for this specific branding used ovals. Much faster-paced than the original, the sequence starts with an oval before quickly cutting to a set of 4 of them as the larger one disappears and reappears. The sequence cuts to a number of ovals appearing and disappearing quickly, giving the illusion of movement, on top of 4 larger ovals and an even larger oval that also disappear and reappear. It then cuts to a green background with three ovals moving before a flash brings back to the black background with the same ovals from the beginning. One single oval moves on its own, with more joining quickly. The screen flashes, showing yet another arrangement with smaller ovals moving, overlapped by much larger ovals. With each flash, a new but similar arrangement is shown. After around 4 flashes, the starting ovals are shown yet again. In time with the music, the green background reappears, with an oval in its center before cutting back to the black background with three ovals overlapping before showing the starting ovals once more. This is repeated once more, with the sequence cutting with only two overlapping ovals. Four ovals are then shown, appearing on by one and overlapping each other. The fourth one disappears before the screen flashes in green, cutting a static arrangement of three ovals. The Canal+ text then blinks in the bottom of the screen, causing the "Sport" text to appear next to the +, which itself causes the text to blink once again. As the ovals fade out, the word CANAL fades to grey, leaving +SPORT in white. The entire text then fades out.
• The closedown is the same as the sign-on. Instead of cutting to the four ovals before the CANAL+ SPORT text however, the ovals from the beginning appear before fading out.

Trivia: These ovals weren't used just for the channel however. They could also be found as part of the UI on some Canal+/Canalsat set-top boxes at the time. Ovals were also used for the intro to Radio+ on the main channel.

Technique: 2D animation by Étienne Robial.

Audio: A rock synth theme with xylophones. The 2008/2009 update would add intense violin notes. The 2005 leitmotif is a deep bass remix of the regular one, while the 2008/2009 leitmotif uses one deep guitar note to spell "SPORT" after the initial 3 notes.

Availability: Most of what's preserved on archival websites is from the 2008/2009 update, including the sign-on, closedown and several intros.

3rd ID (August 31, 2009-2015)

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Visuals: Similar to the 2009 Canal+ idents, there is footage from 4 separate screens. All using backgrounds of various shades of green, silhouettes of people practicing various sports are seen, with each screen providing a different angle of the same scene. Those silhouettes also use varying shades of green, blue and red. At the end of the sequence, the + symbol forms from the four sides of the screen, with the word "SPORT" appearing on its right.

Variant: The main Canal+ channel would also use this branding for its own sport-related broadcasts, but with a black background.

Technique: CGI from Devilfish.

Audio: There is no actual soundtrack, only the sounds of people practicing. The moment the + symbol forms, the sound of someone breathing out is also heard.

Availability: Several idents, commercial break bumpers and intros have been preserved on archival websites. An ident and the intro for Boxing matches from this specific branding were recorded in 2020, even though the 2015 branding was already in place at that time.

4th ID (2015-)

• 

Visuals: Across a black background illuminated by neons of different colors, different people practicing various sports are seen. Unlike the previous branding however, they are shown in full, not just as silhouettes, and the screen isn't split in four. At the end of the sequence, the + symbol forms by itself from the center of the screen, with lines shot out of the + in all four directions reaching for the sides of the screen. Following the right line, the word "SPORT" appears to the right of the +.

Variants:

• An extended version is used as a breakfiller early in the morning.
• This branding also serves as a base for some of Canal+ Sport's sister channels, in regards to their own brandings. However, some are more straightforward variants than others.
  • On Canal+'s online-only channels (Canal+ Top 14, Premier League, Formula 1, etc), this branding is recolored and adapted to each channel's logo and programming respectively.
  • Canal+ Foot also reuses the same setup as the online-only channels, but with its wordmark integrated in the sequence.

Technique: A mix of CGI and live-action.

Audio: Long synth notes. The sounds of people practicing their various sports are still present, as well as the sound of someone breathing out the moment the + appears.

Audio Variant: A softer arrangement is used for the extended version mentioned above.

Availability: Idents, commercial break bumpers and intros to various programs are available on archival websites.