Lauren Films

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum


Background

Lauren Films was a production, distribution, and film company founded in 1980 and based in Barcelona. It started as the exclusive distributor of Golden Harvest, and later Orion Pictures in Spain, expanding itself and entering the production world (its major feature being Pedro Almodóvar's Mujeres al Borde de un Ataque de Nervios, nominated for an Academy Award in 1989). They held the theatrical distribution rights of Miramax Films, Summit Entertainment, Good Machine, Artisan Entertainment, and some Hong Kong companies, as well as all Walt Disney films dubbed in the Catalan language. Formerly, they handled United Artists and New Line Cinema rights as well.

In 2006, Lauren Films signed a business agreement with Filmax, which handed the latter company home video distribution rights to the aforementioned libraries. In 2007, American film company Media 8 Entertainment acquired Lauren Films, along with fellow distributor Araba Films; the two companies subsequently stopped producing and distributing films, and focused on their cinema theater businesses until they became dormant in the mid-2010s.



1st Logo (1984-1986?)


Visuals: On a space background, some white "stars" zoom to the screen and fly out. Eventually, the Golden Harvest "Rectangle G" flies in from the left, pulsing in the process. The logo then twirls to the left and morphs into a stylized eagle with six sprocket holes on the tail. Inside the eagle, ''LAUREN FILMS" fades in, and then "presenta" on the right fades in.

Technique: Traditional animation.

Audio: Same as the 1978 Golden Harvest logo.

Availability: Appears on early theatrical and home video prints from the company, such as The Terminator, The Woman in Red, Remo Williams, Wheels on Meals, and Code of Silence.

2nd Logo (1986?-Late 1980s)

Visuals: On a space background, some kind of incomplete triangle/teardrop shape in yellow, which strongly resembles the top half of Screen Gems' "S From Hell" logo (minus the center dot) flies in several times in sync to the music. Then the symbol zooms in, and the text "LAUREN VIDEO HOGAR presenta" flips in and zooms from the center of the logo.

Technique: Computer animation.

Audio: Same as the previous logo.

Availability: Seen on several 1980s video tapes from the period such as Hannah and Her Sisters.

3rd Logo (Late 1980s-1995)


Visuals: On a grey background, a shining silver filmstrip shows multiple screens featuring clips of some of the company's films, 26 in total. After showing them, the filmstrip fades out to make place to a logo another filmstrip, forming the same teardrop shape from before, accompanied by segmented letters reading "LAUREN VIDEO HOGAR". The whole thing zooms in and shines.

Trivia: The 26 films: Remo Williams, Wheels on Meals, Terminator, and The Woman in Red are among the 26 clips used in this logo. If anyone recognizes more of them, please put them in this section.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A very catchy '80s pop theme, played with an organ, electric guitar, and beatbox. This is actually a music library piece as it has also been used in an Australian commercial.

Availability: Found on old VHS tapes put out by the company such as The Nightmare Before Christmas, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, The Silence of the Lambs, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), and Cinema Paradiso, among others.

4th Logo (1995-2006)


Visuals: On a space background, a golden comet flies towards the back of the screen, followed by a golden filmstrip with rotating letters on it. The strip turns left and suddenly folds, causing the letters to jump and take their place at the bottom of the strip to form the words "LAUREN FILMS". The filmstrip keeps on folding until it forms the finished logo from before. The letters shine.

Variants:

  • On DVDs, the official DVD logo in gold fades in under the logo after the whole thing is complete.
  • There is an early variant used for VHS releases, where the comet is smaller and the word from the filmstrip is just "LAUREN" that shines. The "VIDEO HOGAR" text slides from the sides.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A whooshing sound when the comet appears, then an excerpt from Johann Strauss II's "Perpetuum Mobile. Ein musikalischer Scherz op. 257", ending with a louder whoosh when the letters shine. The "Video Hogar" version omits the ending whoosh and there's a synth cymbal crash sound for the comet.

Availability: Appears on releases from Lauren Films until its demise such as The English Patient, American Pie, Good Will Hunting, Requiem for a Dream, Malena, Toy Story, Life is Beautiful, Scary Movie, and Cop Land, among many others.

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