Centerpoint

Credits

Descriptions by
Logophile

Captures by
Camenati

Video captures courtesy of
Broken Saw

Background

Centerpoint was a production company formed in 1981 by the Sentry Insurance Co, with offices in Los Angeles and New York. In 1985, Sentry sold the company to Bill Ellis, Centerpoint's president, and went under that year when its expensive TV series, OceanQuest, flopped.

Logo (October 31, 1983-September 15, 1985)

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Visuals: On a black background, a 4-pointed star flashes briefly, rotating clockwise before it disappears and 2 white streaks of light zoom in, with them converging towards the center of the screen. More streaks come in above and below the center lines before the trails retract from the center, forming 10 white lines that flash briefly. In the larger gap in the middle, "CENTERPOINT" appears inside of it.

Variants:

• A more common short version later introduced had the logo appear when the streaks are finished. The logo also noticeably gets darker.
• Sometimes, the lines will be gold.

Technique: Motion-controlled animation done by Produce, S.A. in Spain.

Audio: A lush 8-note synthesized tune with the last note sustaining itself and twinkles playing, which is shortened to the last 3 notes on the short version. Usually had the closing theme of the program or no music.

Availability: Can be found on several TV movies from the 1980s, such as Sadat, Dreams, The Last Days of Pompeii and The Toughest Man in the World. Also seen on OceanQuest and the first season of Night Heat. The original long version only appeared on The First Howie Mandel Special.