Draft:VTM

Credits

Video captures courtesy of
rdc, Stijn De Wint, LTPTLB Network, DeeJay PT, Jane Zingone, ptvrt3, Femke "Cyrilfangirl" Schraepen, Line29, Alex Maruta, ostad alfa and Kevin Deamandel

Background

VTM was the very first commercial television station in the Flanders Region (the Dutch speaking region of Belgium), launched in 1989. The group would later go on to create other networks, including Kanaal 2, Vitaya, VTM Kzoom and JIM TV following the success of this channel.

1st ID (1989-1997)

• 

The opening ident

Ditto, but with the choir

The closedown ident

Visuals: The sequence starts with a flowing body of water. Yellow, green and red stripes appear on the water's surface, dividing it into a grid, with each grid corresponding to the motion of waves. Then, three of the squares start emitting a green, yellow and red light each before rising. The letters begin growing from the bottom and horizontally turn clockwise, revealing the letters V, T and M. Once he letters arrange themselves, three diagonal light beams (green, yellow and red in that order) shoot down, placing themselves atop the M.

Variants:

• In some variants, a singer, at the end of the song, would sing VTM, at the rhythm and moment of the three light flashes.
• There is a closedown variant, in which the stripes detach themselves from the logo and the letters rotate horizontally, just as they turn into cubes and flatten themselves into squares as they place themselves back into the flat surface, reforming the sea. The camera pans up to reveal the moon, then three meteors in the colors of the stripes (green, yellow and red) fall from the top-right part of the sky and pass by the moon one by one.

Technique: CGI animation by Match Frame Computer Graphics made with Cubicomp Vertigo software.

Audio:

• Startup: A synthesized tune that wouldn't feel out of place in a SNES/Sega Genesis game.
• Closedown: A choir singing "VTM", followed by a bluesy trumpet remix of the opening theme. This is concluded with the choir singing "VTM" once more, in sync with the streaks passing the moon.

2nd ID (1989-1990)

• 

Visuals: On a dark brown background, there are multiple translucent blue pads, which shrink and move away, aside from the middle one, which turns into a parallelogram. Three lights fly in and form the sticks as the "VTM" wordmark appears on the parallelogram.

Variant: There is a still variant, with the logo shining being the only animated sequence.

Technique: CGI animation.

Audio: An ascending four-note synth theme.

3rd ID (1990-1993)

• 

Visuals: On a dark blue background, there are several glass-like rectangles rotating upwards. The letters appear, with V and M sliding from the left and right sides, respectively, and T zooming out, then, the aforementioned three colored lines fly from the top left corner and place themselves over the M.

Variant: Some variants depict the rectangles remaining static.

Technique: CGI animation.

Audio: Same as the previous logo. On occasion, the ident may use a remixed version of the music.

4th ID (1994-1995)

• 

Visuals: This logo has 4 variants depending on the season. The VTM logo flies around inside a glass cylinder in front of a sky background with a seasonal item shown in the background and bottom left corner.

Variants: Each seasonal variation has the following:

• Spring: White flowers in the bottom and a dog cathing one of the three flying frisbees.
• Summer: A girl in a pink swimsuit swimming in the water (bottom left) and a person diving in the water (background).
• Autumn: A flock of birds flying, with a closeup shot of a flying bird on the right half of the screen.
• Winter: Snow falling with a blue aurora in the background.

Technique: A combination of CGI and live-action.

Audio: A synth theme that's arranged differently depending on the variant (jazzy in spring, light in summer and somewhat melancholic in autumn and winter).

5th ID (1996)

• 

Visuals: Again, depends on the variant and season:

• Winter: People are shown ice skating on an ice rink with the VTM logo on it.
• Spring: Unknown
• Summer: People are shown swimming in a VTM logo-shaped swimming pool.
• Autumn: The wind is blowing while geese fly in the sky, and some people walk towards the VTM logo in the sky. A woman can be seen jumping and feeling the air.
• Christmas: Same as the winter variant, but some ice skaters wear Christmas hats while snow falls from the sky.

Technique: A combination of CGI and live-action.

Audio: A three-note harp theme. The Christmas variant adds sleigh bells.

6th ID (1997-2000)

• 

Visuals: Butterflies are shown flying around in a meadow, with the clouds in the shape of the logo. A woman may be seen dancing around in the background.

Variant: In the closedown, there are more views of the dancing woman separated by clips of some programmes that aired on the channel, before it fades into the final product where the VTM logo is formed by the clouds, with the final line "Kleur je dag" (color your day) being written down near the bottom right of the screen.

Technique: A combination of live-action and CGI.

Audio:

• Normally, it's a three note harp theme.
• During the closedown, there is a longer song, with the following lyrics:
  • Dutch: Weer een dag voorbij, voor VTM en mij. Morgen zie ik je weer, ik wil meer en meer. Je kleurt mijn dag VTM.
  • English: Again a day goes past, for VTM and me. Next morning I see you again, I want more and more. You color my day VTM.

7th ID (2000-2004)

• 

Visuals: There are a series of short clips which are transitioned via a fade effect. Then, two transparent squares (one blue, one green) expands from the top left and bottom right corners, respectively. Once they meet, the sequence is transported to a grassy field with white ducks in the foreground and a wooden fence and horse in the background. The VTM logo is seen in the center, with a green, yellow and red line expanding underneath it, followed by "kleurt je dag" fading in underneath.

Technique: Live action and overlayed computer animation.

Audio: A short piano tune.

8th ID (2006-2008)

Visuals: Unknown.

Technique: A mix of CGI and live action by Gédéon.

Audio: Unknown.

9th ID (2008-2012)

• 

Visuals: The sequence begins with displaying a series of vertical stripes, all showing a unique video clip. The stripes expand, slide and contract before a singular related video clip is shown, with the VTM logo appearing in the center via a sliding effect. The clips include:

• A park with a lake and a group of people walking, fishing, relaxing or rowing in boats.
• A school with students walking, playing or talking to one another.
• A public pool with people resting on sunchairs, putting on sunscreen or swinning in the pool.
• A carnival at dusk with a spinning ride machine, food stalls and games set up.

Technique: Live action and computer animation by BDA Creative.

Audio: A three-note jingle the plays twice, once at the start and again towards the end. A varying tune plays after each jingle.

10th ID (2012-2018)

• 

Visuals: Set on a yellow background with a vignette, the conjoined letters "vtm" quickly flash black, red, yellow and red. Then, the space between the v and t is filled with white before a white-gray gradient rectangle with "Jet beleeft het hier" in it flips downwards beneath the logo. The rectangle briefly swings for a bit before the logo flashes black, pink and green.

Technique: 2D computer animation by Gédéon.

Audio: A short drum tune and a brief sharp creaking sound, followed with a female voice singing a five-note jingle.

11th ID (2018-2020)

• 

Visuals: The VTM logo in white is shown on a black background. The "m" and "t" disappear as the "v" slides to the center and "thickens". Once it reaches the center, it turns a pink-orange gradient and expands whilst tilting to the left before quickly spinning clockwise. The "v" detracts and zooms back towards the left as the "t" and "m" reappear in their respective places.

Variants: Unknown.

Technique: 2D computer animation by Gédéon.

Audio: None.

12th ID (2020-2024)

• 

Visuals: On an orange background, there is a 3D model of a tweaked version of the "vtm" wordmark, passing through a glowing streak, with its position starting from either the left or the right. A 2D version of the wordmark then forms as the streak deforms.

Variants:

• An extended version of the ident exists: A white diagonal streak draws itself over a black background, with a light seeping through the left half. Once it crosses the center, a "v" slides out to the left and the letters "tm" from the right. Then, an orange background with a diagonal opening zooms out, with a triangular white light shining from the right half. The background seals itself shut as the letters slide out of the light streak in the same manner as before. Once the logo is in place and the background is shut, the "v" emits a light from the top.

• There are multiple later variants which involve the logo and multiple light streaks on an orange gradient background:
  • Six glowing streaks draw themselves in, surrounding the logo from the top and sides. The camera then zooms out as the streaks deform.
  • Eight diagonal streaks form from left to right and deform one by one as the VTM logo zooms out.
    • A reversed version of this variant exists as well.
  • A vertical light streak expands from the center. Then, several more appear on opposite sides and detract as the camera zooms away.

Technique: CGI designed by Gédéon.

Audio:

• The early variant has a woman singing the channel's three-note jingle, followed by a sting.
• One of the later variants feature an accoustic guitar rendition of the jingle, accompanied by several wooshing sounds.
• Another one of the later variants use an electronic rendition of the tune accompanied by a female singing the channel's name.
  • The reversed version of this variant uses an echoed electronic sting.
• Another later ident uses a different electronic theme played on a synth, which is followed by a short, synthesized trill.

13th ID (September 20, 2024-)

Visuals: The camera zooms away from a diagonal silver ribbon, which twists from the bottom to reveal a purple-orange gradient. Another shot of the silver ribbon is shown, this time with it rising from the bottom and the aforementioned gradient rising up it. The ribbon twists from the bottom once more and zooms out rapidly, revealing it to be the left half of a silver-purple "v". The "v", which has a silver slanted top and slightly curved right half, zooms out a bit before it turns to a purple-red-orange gradient. Then, it slides to the left as "tm" (now separated) appears next to it, in the same gradient as the "v".

Technique: CGI animation.

Audio: A reverbed rendition of the three-note jingle, with a synthesized fanfare playing th third note, followed by a short, rapid crescendoing tune and a sped-up synth rendition of the aforementioned jingle, concluding with a deep, electronic blip.

External Links

Official website

VTM on Wikipedia