Herald Videogram

Credits

Descriptions by
RarityLand, heart1994, Gilblitz112 and SnowflakesOmega

Editions by
Henrynguye5 and MysteriousSoundSystem‎

Video captures courtesy of
menocu87, Pepsi9072's Alternate VHS and Logo Account, LogosGalore and VHSlover

Background

The home video publishing arm of Nippon Herald Films Co., Ltd., which was a famous movie distribution company in Japan. The company was eventually folded into Kadokawa Pictures in 2006.

1st Logo (1983-1986)

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Logo: On a light blue background (that fades in from black), we see four green curvy shapes appear (two of which on the right are divided into into more shapes). After a couple of seconds, the words "HERALD VIDEOGRAM" in the same color as the shapes fade in in the middle of the logo (between the shapes), forming an abstract "H".

Technique: Simple animation.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Rare. Was found on a 1984 LaserDisc of Big Wave, and can be found on the 1985 Japanese LaserDisc of The Evil Dead.

2nd Logo (1986-1990)

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Logo: On a blue background, two curved lines (one of which is divided into more lines) come from the top and bottom of the screen forming an abstract H, with a shining CG rectangular box coming from the bottom of the screen. As the side of the box with the text "HERALD VIDEOGRAM" faces the screen, the logo flashes white. The background then turns a pure white, and the logo and text turn blue.

Technique: Simple animation.

Music/Sounds: A very peaceful piece of music plays, and grows louder ads the logo turns white briefly.

Availability: Seen on the Japanese VHS and LaserDisc releases of films such as Light of Day, The Running Man and the infamous Mac & Me.

3rd Logo (1990-1997)

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Logo: A gray background with a small red dot quickly fades in, as a backwards lowercase h is drawn in black. The text HERALD (all capital letters) then slowly rises out of the middle of the screen and rests below the dot.

Technique: Simple smooth animation.

Music/Sounds: A calm, peaceful little tune plays as the entire logo plays out.

Availability: Used as a de-facto home video logo on the company's releases. For example, this was seen on both the 1995 Dolby Surround and 1997 Dolby Digital LaserDiscs of True Lies. Japanese releases only.

4th Logo (1998?-2006?)

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Logo: On a very dull sky blue background, a little red globe zooms out of the camera as the curved "h" from the previous logo slowly spins around to line up with the globe. The "HERALD" text then zooms out of the camera and lines up next to the curved "h". The text "日本ヘラルド映画株式会社" (translation: Japan Herald Film Corporation) is then wiped onto the screen below the logo, with the screen then fading to black.

Trivia: This logo is the same as Nippon Herald's 3rd logo, though without any video indicator.

Technique: CGI and 2D computer animation.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 3rd logo.

Availability: Used on titles from the company up until they were folded into the Kadokawa corporation. A couple notable releases are True Lies DTS Edition and Kikansha Sensei.