National Film Board of Canada

Background

The National Film Board of Canada ("l'Office national du film du Canada" in French and commonly referred to as NFB ONF) was established in 1939 by John Grierson. It has produced over 3,000 films and has earned 5,000 awards since it's inception, although despite this impressive feat, they have faced budget cuts in recent years. No logo was used until 1969.

1st Logo (1968-1991)

Nickname: "Man Seeing"

Logo: On a black background, a pair of thick green legs and a body are drawn in from below. A dot for a head appears and 2 arms, both curved upwards, are draw in, forming a human figure. The arms then extend over the head to form an eye symbol, forming the logo. The logo then zooms out to the bottom left of the screen, with both the full English and French names appearing to the right of it, stacked in lines of 3 and colored green.

Note: The logo was designed by Georges Beaupré and was selected among 53 submissions assembled by Commissioner McPherson and his committee. It was meant to represent "the NFB’s focus on the human being’s vision of humanity." (Source: https://blog.nfb.ca/blog/2019/04/24/history-nfb-logo/)

Variant: The names may be switched so that the French name takes priority. This is obviously found on French-language films.

FX/SFX: The drawing.

Music/Sounds: Usually silent or the opening theme of the film.

Music/Sounds Variants: Three music variations exist:

• Street Musique (1972) by the late Ryan Larkin had a bright-sounding Moog synthesizer tune.
• Another music variant had an electronic synth fanfare that turns "triumphant" at the end.
• On Get a Job! (1985) and Every Dog's Guide to Complete Home Safety (1986), cartoon sound effects were heard throughout the logo.

Availability: Common. Seen on almost every film during 1968-1979, and appeared scarcely in the years following it. As the official NFB Youtube channel holds almost the entire library during that period, it's real easy to find.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1979-1993)

Nicknames: "Color Trail", "Man Seeing II"

Logo: On a black background, a orange version of the NFB logo appears, sans the eye/head, and starts spinning around while leaving copies of every frame behind. Thed man then changes colors to red, then to purple as the green eye zooms out from above. The logo then zooms in, turning blue, before the eye stops and the logo turns green. The movements get a bit smoother before stopping and the trails disappear. No text is seen throughout.

FX/SFX: The zooming, spinning and trail.

Music/Sounds: Same as before. On a 1988 reissue of Log Driver's Waltz (1979) by John Weldon, it had a mystical sounding synth fanfare with a whoosh for the eye zooming out.

Availability: Uncommon, as the above logo was used in tandem with this. Much like the previous logo, it can been seen rather easily thanks to the NFB Youtube channel.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (1989)

Nicknames: "CGI Man", "Man Seeing III"

Logo: On a black background, a CGI shape comes in from the left side of the screen. On it is a reflection of Canada on a globe, with a plain-looking USA under it. As it moves out, the NFB logo comes in from the right, also in CGI, and the object rotates up and turns magenta, revealing itself as a italicized "50". Both then swing into position, facing slightly to the right, as the French and English names slide in below in white capital letters, with the French name on top of the English name.

FX/SFX: The moving of the logo and number, the text sliding in.

Music/Sounds: The sounds of a coin being inserted and a jukebox starting up.

Availability: Very rare, as this only appeared to be used on Juke-Bar. It is easily findable, though.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (1993-2003)

Nicknames: "The Frame", "Man Seeing IV"

Logo: On a black background, a sketchy version of the NFB logo is drawn as it zooms out. While it zooms out, it reveals there are more of them on a filmstrip, contained inside a modified version of the NFB logo (the eye shape is more compact) made out of green-tinted glass. As it zooms out, it rotates to the side, revealing another one besides it, as well as revealing a green projecter light from the pupil/head and and has a bar under divided into black and white sections, with "ONF" in white on the left, and "NFB" in black on the right. The logo finishes by a green lens-like shine, turning the man opaque and brightening up the logo.

FX/SFX: The man drawing, the block rotating.

Music/Sounds: A ominous ambient tune with projecter sounds and some others, with a whoosh heard at the end.

Availability: Uncommon.

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo (2003- )

Nicknames: "Many Colors Of A Man, "Man Seeing V"

Logo: On a black background, a green square fades in and zooms out, with part of the NFB logo moving inside it. A pink square then appears adjacent to it's lower right corner with the logo moving up, and the green square fades out. Several more square fade in and out, all in various colors and the man moving in several different directions, and even including some letters. They all stop zooming out when the squares form up the man, albeit in a close-up fashion off to the right, and some letters are seen present behind it. The logo then slowly fades to white, with the man and letters fading to black, before they quickly separate out and becoming white. The letters have "ONF" rotated 90 degrees to the left and "NFB" rotated to the right.

FX/SFX: The squares, the sliding.

Music/Sounds: A film projector sound, followed by a rising string theme and several taps that sound like squeaky hinges. The theme stops in its tracks as the squares turn white, and then ends with a "rewind" sound followed by a deep note.

Availability: Current. Much like the rest, their Youtube channel is a easy spot to find it.

Editor's Note: None.