Korean April 25 Film Studio

Credits

Descriptions by
naxo-olé, Logoarto, BlueMickey634, Henrynguye5, and ttb618

Captures by
naxo-olé, Logoarto, Yukabacera, MizukiAccent48, Henrynguye5 and ttb618

Editions by
Henrynguye5 and BlueMickey634

Video captures courtesy of
Peakpasha, LeIDBasher, Logoarto, Virginia Martin, PFS2021Channel, and ttb618

Background

Korean April 25 Film Studio (originally known as Korean February 8 Film Studio) is a major studio in North Korea, although not well-known as the much larger Korean Film Studio. Founded in 1959, it's mainly focused on making military-themed movies, thus, their movies contain propaganda evoking the Korean People's Army and its branches. The original "February 8" in the name referred to the day of foundation of the Korean People's Army (February 8, 1948). It was replaced with "April 25" around 1995, since the day of foundation of the KPA officially became April 25, 1932, which was the day when the KPA's predecessor, the Korean People's Revolutionary Army was formed. The KPRA was one of various guerrilla armies that fought in Manchuria against Imperial Japan, but also the original army that has been led by Kim Il-sung. Despite being a separate entity from Korean Film Studio, its opening ident uses the "Korean Film" name.

1st Logo (1959?-1968?)

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Visuals: First, there is a sky background with sun rising (a la Mosfilm), with a statue depicting a worker-soldier-peasant trio, and Paektu Mountain at the upper left corner of the screen. The background then turns into a afternoon sky after the statue is turning. "2.8" in a transparent font with white outlined appears. Sometimes, there is a different version of this very early logo, but contains the company's full name, translating to "Korean February 8 Film" and the text are in all plain white.

Technique: Live-action and rostrum camera.

Audio: The opening theme, or silent (including the very early ones).

Availability: May be seen on early films. ^[Examples?] Information on these lesser known studios is much more scarce.

2nd Logo (1968?-)

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Visuals: On a sunset background with a drawing of the Paektu Mountain on the top left corner (similar to the Korean Film logo), there is a statue depicting a worker-soldier-peasant trio turning 60 degrees. Below it, the text "조 선 화 인" (the same from the Korean Film logo) fades in.

Variants:

• On early films in B&W, the mountain drawing is also slightly different, and the sky background maybe vary on some films. Also, the worker-soldier-peasant trio monument and the company name animates at normal.
• In The Fate of Kum Hui and Un Hui, the background is purely red and the statue is off-centered.
• Depending from the widescreen film, the characters can be more spaced or maintain their original spacing.

Technique: Live-action and rostrum camera.

Audio: The opening theme, or silent (including the very early ones).

Availability: Probably common during its films in the 60s-90s with the re-airings of its movies on KCTV. You can find it on A Traffic Controller on Crossroads, Wolmi Island, Order No. 027, and a few more. As stated before, information on these lesser known studios is much more scarce.

3rd Logo (April 12, 2022-)

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Visuals: A novel CGI rendition of the classic "peasant-soldier-worker" trio found during the production company's earliest films is slowly panned with the studio's wordmark below it which is bathed with blue and orange-colored spotlights on both sides slowly pointing towards the three figures in the end. A starry sky slowly appears against a black background simultaneously as the figures on the center appear, culminating in the appearance of Mt. Baekdu's silhouette on the background.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A generic MIDI-like fanfare containing a digital piano.

Availability: As of 2022, the new logo has only been featured on the film One Day, One Night which premiered in the country in 2022, one of the studio's first films to have been released after a decade's worth of inactivity, with the same fate as its sister studio.