Filmauro

Background

Filmauro is an Italian media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films, founded in 1975 by the father of Aurelio De Laurentiis, Luigi De Laurentiis. The company's catalog counts over 400 movies. The company owns also a number of cinemas in Rome under the My CityPlex name, and the Serie A football club SSC Napoli.

1st Logo (October 24, 1985-February 6, 2004)

Logo: On a black background, we see a golden abstract outlined "A" zooming out. The words "FILM" and "URO" wipe in from their left and right sides of the letter, to read "FILMAURO".

Variants:

• On films distributed or licensed by the company, there is a superimposed credit wiping down, that says: "LUIGI e AURELIO DE LAURENTIIS presentano" (the verb wipes from the left). The credit would disappear during the formation of the logo.
• Sometimes, the word "una distribuzione" would appear on the top left or the top center.
• On Maccheroni (the first film to have this), the logo is colored in white and animates faster. The word "presenta" wipes in.

FX/SFX: The zoom-out and the wiping.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Appeared on the company's first Italian films. Last appeared on Le Barzellette (2004).

2nd Logo (2004)

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Nicknames: "Particle Storm", "Abstract A"

Logo: On a yellow misty background, we see a storm of gold particles flying all about, forming the logo from before, turning the background black.

FX/SFX: The particles, the background. It was made by Proxima and rebelThink S.r.l.

Music/Sounds: Unknown.

Availability: Unused, and known as a piece of lost media. As of 2022, no video footage has been found, although it's available only as images that can be found on Rebelthink's website. You can check out at this link: http://www.rebelthink.com/html/filmauro.html

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3rd Logo (September 17, 2004- )

Nicknames: "Fairy Alien", "Fallen Fairy Alien from Space", "Stellauro", "Abstract A II", "The Fairy of Serenity", "Happy 30th Anniversary, Filmauro", "30 Years of Filmauro"

Logo: In a forest at the nighttime, a shooting star falls from sky onto some trees and explodes, the camera moves towards the trees into a lake, we reveal that the star is a white fairy alien with three pointy tendrils of energy on her head, fallen, who plays with the pond. The alien briefly becomes shocked and tells us to be quiet (she says "Shhh!"), before going into the flight, the abstract "A" fades in rotating while she flies behind it and the background transitioning into the night sky via the "radar" wipe, and the rest of the letters to spell "FILMAURO", slide in from sides of "A", then the background fades to black.

Variants:

• There's also a prototype variant used only on Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, where we zoom out to reveal the abstract "A" rotating. The remaining letters zoom to complete the logo, which shines.
• At the end of international prints of the aforementioned movie, the fairy part was replaced by a longer rotation of the "A". Then the animation continues normally, but the logo appears zoomed-out.
• During the logo's first year, it has "30th" zooming out to the top of the logo, but when the background fades to black, the word "a n n i v e r s a r y" fades in below it.
• The logo was enhanced with better, more realistic graphics during 2017. This time the fairy alien is brighter than the normal version, and the logo text is also shinier against a slightly different space background.

FX/SFX: Excellent CGI made by, again, Proxima and rebelThink S.r.l.

Music/Sounds: Cicadas chirping, some crystal chimes and a whoosh when a shooting star falls, then, an epic and soothing orchestral fanfare composed by Giacomo Vitullo, that sounds similar to the 1st Feature Films for Families logo, which pauses when a fairy alien is being in shock, then resumes after she tells to be quiet, some swooshes when the fairy alien flies, and ending the fanfare with the ding.

Music/Sounds Variant: The 30th Anniversary variant has no additional sound effects.

Availability: This ident was first used as a prototype variant in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, while the normal one was shown during the premiere of Christmas in Love, on December 17, 2004. This appears currently on all Filmauro movies since that time.

Legacy: Some might say that the short scene with the alien is unnecessary, but it's still a soothing logo.