Draft:CTV National IDs

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum




Background

The CTV Television Network is a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media, a division of BCE Inc., that first went on the air on October 1, 1961.



1st Ident (October 1, 1961-1966)

Visuals: A large stylized "C" with a curved rectangle in the middle is shown. In that rectangle, there are the letters "CTV".

Technique: A still graphic.

Audio: A male announcer says "[SHOW] is produced for the Canadian television network, CTV".

2nd Ident (1975-1985)


Visuals: Multiple white lines are drawn in a reversed "L" shape as the logo (which consists of the shapes and a black curved-edge square) move downward to the centre along with the shapes. As it goes further into the center, the shapes spread out more and the corresponding letters CTV zoom in to their shapes.

Variants:

  • A still version exists.
  • An Olympic variant also exists, which consists of different shots of a mountain. As soon as we transition into the 3rd shot, the logo appears, starting from the circle, to the square, to the triangle to the corner shape leaving a trail behind, with all the first three shapes having their corresponding letters. The camera then zooms into the C as a cartoon rotating globe appears.

Technique: Scanimate.

Audio: A trumpet fanfare, or an announcer saying "This is the CTV Television Network."

3rd Ident (1985)


Visuals: On a purple/lavender gradient background, the logo, which appears in 3D, zooms out from the bottom and turns to face towards the audience. Coming out of the shapes are its corresponding letters, which zoom out after the shape turns upward. A black box with the same grey corner shape zooms in as the camera pans downward to face that part of the shape almost immediately after the letters land on the shapes. Three lines in the company's colours are drawn on said shape during the panning.

Technique: CGI animation.

Audio: A jazz-esque tune with an announcer saying "This is the CTV television network".

4th Ident (1985-1988)


Visuals: Against a brown background, the camera pans over a circle, square and triangle in that order with C, T and V placing themselves down in the respective shapes. As they do so, a low-opacity trailing is seen between the letter and shape in red, blue or green. At the same time, three lines, red, blue and green, slide down in a right diagonal shape as the shapes fill with any of the three colours before turning to face the screen.

Technique: CGI animation.

Audio: A synth orchestra fanfare, with a male announcer saying "This is the CTV television network". In its later days, a different synth horn fanfare was used.

5th Ident (1988-1990)


Visuals: Over a sky background, three of the dashes from the last logo turn to face us as they zoom out, alongside the shapes and letters. Both the dashes and shapes have a mirror appearance before filling with colour as they zoom out. The text "the Choice of CANADIANS" in the company's colours also zoom out on the bottom right corner.

Variants:

  • There is a variant without the byline. Said variant also has the shapes turning instead of just zooming out.
  • An extended version exists.

Technique: CGI animation.

Audio: A trumpet rock fanfare with an announcer saying "This is the CTV television network" or "This is CTV".

6th Ident (1990-1992)


Visuals: Over a black background, there are the shapes with lines across them and "Tuned in to You" in white. There are also white lines moving upward or downwards. The camera pans to the left as the text slides to the bottom and the shapes move to their respective positions. Once this is done, a "light" effect occurs as the letters appear on the shapes, eliminating the black lines. The white lines continue to shift at any vertical side.

Variant: There's a version that has a multiplying effect at the start.

Technique: Computer animation.

Audio: A chorus singing "Turn us on! Turn it up! CTV, we're tuned in to you!".

7th Ident (1992-1993)


Visuals: A circle, square and triangle are briefly being "drawn" over each other before the spreading out as various other shapes are formed and drawn. At the top, the CTV logo forms itself whilst the shapes at the bottom become three different rectangles: a large red rectangle with two small blue and green ones (the blue one being the smallest). The text "Tuned in", "TO" and "You" move into the red, blue and green rectangles, respectively.

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Audio: A chorus singing "CTV! We're tuned in to you!"

8th Ident (1993-1998)


Visuals: Not necessarily a single "logo", but rather a collection of idents that all use unique graphics.

Variants:

  • Morphing letters: In the company's colours, various "copies" of the letters are seen moving around and morphing before the shapes zoom out and turn to make the company logo. The curves from the start are seen rotating.
  • Rectangles: Multiple parts of the logo are "scattered" across the rectangles as they move around to form the logo.
  • Swirl: The logo, in which the letters/shapes are "merged" with rings around it, is seen spinning and rotating.
  • Machine: A total of three extreme close-up shots of a machine is shown. The final shot shows the logo placed atop a wavy metallic circle as the camera pans to the right.
  • Metal: The camera pans across what appears to be a wall of metal with light bouncing around it. The logo is "stamped" onto the metal one by one, changing the angle of the camera.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: Depends on the ID. All idents (with the exception of Swirl) have a male announcer saying "This is CTV".

  • Morphing letters: An ambient synth and percussion piece which ends with a reversed cymbal crash.
  • Rectangles: A tropical-type tune with a whistling sound.
  • Swirl: Two rapid drum hits, followed by a faint drumroll with a loud wind blowing sound overlapping it, ending with an additional drum hit.
  • Machine: A light, uplifting fanfare.
  • Metal: Starts with a faint metalling clang, followed by a deep rumble of a machine and three loud clangs that accompany each part of the logo being stamped in.

9th Ident (September 21, 1998-August 29, 2011)


Visuals: The sequence starts with a red ribbon covering the screen. It moves up to reveal a sunrise in a wheat field. The ribbon is then seen flowing through the field, surrounded by large reflective spheres. The spheres then show various CTV shows on them. Now, the camera goes to a large cliff with an ocean below. This time there is a blue ribbon surrounded by cubes. The cubes then show news anchors. Then, the camera goes to the Canadian Rockies, where there is a green ribbon surrounded by cones. Sports athletes appear inside the cones. After this, all three ribbons come flying in, and cover the screen one by one. The sky changes from blue to orange as the ribbons come from the top of the screen. Finally, in the wheat field from earlier, the ribbons meet in the middle, forming the CTV logo. The ribbons flow behind the logo, and the text "CANADIAN TELEVISION" appear below.

Variants:

  • A slightly truncated version exists without the shapes showing programming.
  • There is an updated version where the entire logo is letterboxed, the content in the shapes are different, and "CANADIAN TELEVISION" appears in the bottom letterbox.
  • There were teasers leading up to the launch of the new branding, with one of the locales featured, and the words "21 september" next to a CTV logo without text and the other two shapes being outlined.
  • Sometimes, only the end result is shown, and the logo is slightly bigger. This would become the basis for the 1998 CTV Productions logo.
  • Another short version exists, showing either the wheat field, cliffside, or the mountains, and then the ending logo.
  • 2000: To commemorate the year 2000, a special bumper was created with a silver "2" and the CTV shapes without the text and the word "Celebrate" below.
  • The ribbons can sometimes be seen around famous Canadian landmarks. At the end of these bumpers, the CTV logo with ribbons appears, with "CANADIAN TELEVISION" appearing in the bottom letterbox before 2001, and below the CTV logo with the Bell Globemedia byline on the bottom right starting in 2001.
    • Ship: The green ribbon and cones are seen around a ship at sea.
    • Castle in the Rockies: The red ribbon and spheres are seen around the Castle in the Rockies.
    • St. Joseph's Oratory: The red ribbon is seen around St. Joseph's Oratory.
    • Niagara Falls: The green ribbon is seen on top of Niagara Falls.
    • Centre Block: The blue ribbon and cubes are seen around the Centre Block on Parliament Hill.
    • CN Tower: The blue ribbon is seen around the CN Tower.
    • Vancouver: All three ribbons are seen around the skyline of Vancouver.
  • In this bumper's later days, a warp speed/enhanced version exists starting from the three ribbons coming from the top. The words "CANADIAN TELEVISION" are omitted in this specific variant.
  • From April 1, 2011-August 28, 2011, the warp speed variant was seen with the Bell Media logo zooming out on a TV. The announcer says "CTV, a division of Bell Media."

Technique: A combination of live action and CGI, created by Pittard Sullivan.

Audio: A synth choir with woodwinds that eventually leads into a D&B song with horns. It ends with a high synth choir note, with Lee Marshall saying "CTV: Canadian Television." and the sound of the ribbons flowing. The warp speed variant has the woodwinds from the 2004 CTV Productions logo.

10th Ident (September 1998-August 30, 2011)


Visuals: This bumper mainly revolves around a celebrity from a CTV show on a red ribbon background interacting with the CTV logo in various ways.

Variants:

  • Alias: Sydney Bristow is looking up at the camera whilst spinning a red ribbon. She then hits the circle in the logo, to which a C flashes on it.
  • Ally McBeal: There are three different variations of this ident:
    • Nelle Porter pulls off her hairtie and shakes her head. She spins before tossing her hair as the logo fades in on the right.
    • John Cage cautiously approaches the logo's circle, which has been blurred. He breathes on his right hand and wipes the circle, which distorts the circle into becoming visible again.
    • John stumbles onto the set before the red sphere rapidly flies towards his left hand. It "bounces" off to the top-left corner, where the rest of the logo fades in before he shakes his head and points two fingers up as he turns his back and walks off.
  • The Associates: Two variations of this ident exist:
    • A closeup shot of the logo's sphere (which is held by Amy Kassan) is shown, before it moves away from the screen. The screen flashes white before Amy tosses the sphere behind her back. She turns to her left as the rest of the logo fades in on the right.
    • Sal Da Silva walks towards the screen, slightly turning on an angle as he does so. The sphere flies from the left side of the screen to the right before reappearing, placing itself in front of Sal. Once its in place, the rest of the logo fades in.
  • Committed: Liz is seen sitting on an animated red sphere, while the rest of the family run by, causing the sphere to spin around, making the rest of the logo appear. Another variation has Bob who runs and jumps on Joe, who's sitting on an armchair.
  • Criminal Minds: TBA
  • CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: There are two shots of Warrick Brown turning to the right, with the second one being zoomed out and revealing the logo that is missing the C. He then snaps his fingers, to which the aforementioned letter flashes on.
  • Degrassi: The Next Generation: Charlotte Arnold
  • The Drew Carey Show: There are two variants of this ident:
    • Lewis Kiniski is holding a large remote control. He lifts the remote, which causes the screen to flash white and reveal the main cast of the show waving at the screen. The logo is on the bottom, in front of everyone.
    • Drew is walking from left to right, waving at the screen. Behind him is the sphere, which bounces and hits him on the back, knocking Drew over. Drew manages to catch his footing as the rest of the logo forms behind him before walking off.
  • ER: Mark Greene walks towards the screen, holding a clipboard. The sphere flies from the left and curves upward next to his face, in which it stops. The rest of the logo fades in as Mark writes a note on the clipboard.
  • General Hospital: TBA.
  • Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Two versions of this ident exist:
    • Olivia Benson, Donald Crager and Elliot Stabler are seen in the distance. Unknown.
    • Olivia and Elliot are both onscreen. Unknown.
  • Open Mike with Mike Bullard: There are two different variations of this ident:
    • Orin Isaacs turns around to face the camera before the screen flashes. He then drums the logo (which is placed in front of him) twice, causing each of the shapes to be pushed down before rising back up.
    • The logo's sphere is seen spinning at a rapid speed. Mike walks onto the set and spins the triangle over before doing the same thing to the square. He then puts his finger on the sphere, which stops it whilst the square keeps spinning and the triangle slows to a stop.
  • Philly: Terry Loomis draws a circle, where a white outline follows his finger's directions. One the circle is drawn, it fades into the C sphere and is placed mid-air on the center-right. As its being placed, the rest of the logo fades in.
  • Scrubs: There are two different variations of this ident:
    • J.D. is sstanding and swinging on the sphere, tightly holding on to a red ribbon attached to it. The rest of the logo, which is placed on the bottom, remains still.
    • J.D. and Christopher Turk are fighting over the sphere before unknown.
  • Talk Daily: Ben Mulroney unknown.
  • Third Watch: Maurice Boscorelli appears from the right side of the screen before the sphere flies in from the same side, zooming in thrice. Maurice winks at the audience as the rest of the logo fades in before letting out a chuckle.
  • Weakest Link: Anne Robinson appears on a rising platform, saying "I will tell the whole world, you ARE the weakest link!" As this happens, the sphere flies from behind her and places itself on the right before the square and triangle fade in.
  • Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: This variation uses a white background and has Regis Philbin speaking.
  • Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Wayne Brady is seen looking up, putting his hands up to guard himself as the red sphere falls down next to him. The rest of the logo fades in.
  • A Christmas variation uses a red background with a Christmas horse reindeer.

Technique: A mix of live-action and CGI.

Audio: Depending on the variant, it usually ends with a six-note woodwind jingle.

11th Ident (August 29, 2011-September 23, 2018)


Visuals: On a blue city background, a red ribbon appears from the right side of the screen and fills the sphere red. As it does so, the camera rapidly zooms out as the remainder of the logo forms with the ribbons flying outward.

Variants:

  • Sometimes, the logo zooms out to reveal the Bell Media logo, with the CTV logo playing on a TV.
  • For the signoffs, a still-shot version of this logo is used.

Technique: CGI animation.

Audio: A slightly altered version of the 2004 generic music, with Lee Marshall saying "CTV, a division of Bell Media."

12th Ident (September 23, 2018-)

Visuals: The shapes rapidly zoom in from the left side of the screen as the letters draw themselves in their respective shapes.

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Audio: A quiet boom sound.

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