Odesa Film Studio

Credits

Descriptions by
EnormousRat and AlmightyKingPrawn

Video captures courtesy of
Peakpasha

Background

Odesa Film Studio (Ukrainian: Одеська кіностудія художніх фільмів, Russian: Одесская киностудия; also spelled in English as Odessa Film Studio) is one of the oldest Soviet film studios. It was founded by M.Grossman as Kino-Atelier Mirograph in 1907 and got current name in 1938. It was evacuated during WWI and returned to work only in 1954. The studio remains a major production unit in Ukraine and one of two remaining film development services (the others being Dovzhenko Studio and now-demised Yalta Studio). Their logo showing the copper ship has been one of the best known trademarks in USSR.

1st (known) Logo (1950s-1960s)

Logo: This is nothing more than a text disclaimer, which can be arranged in various positions, and literally reads this: "Odessa Filmstudio of Artistic Films <year>".

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: An opening theme.

Availability: Seen on Soviet films of the era.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1969-1992)

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Nickname: "The Yacht"

Logo: On a blue (or other sea-color) background, we see a copper yacht and the two curved words ОДЕССКАЯ and КИНОСТУДИЯ around the vessel. The Ukraine version is mostly the same but with the words ОДЕСЬКА and КІНОСТУДІЯ around the vessel in Ukrainian.

Variants: On early films, the yacht would zoom in, followed by the text fading in.

FX/SFX: Just the text fading in. This was designed by Vsevolod Vladimirovich Schlemov.

Music/Sounds: Two bell tolls from the yacht were heard.

Availability: Common.

Editor's Note: It's a popular logo among Ukranians.

3rd Logo (1995-2009)

Nicknames: "The Yacht II", "CGI Yacht"

Logo: On a black background, two beams of light merge, flashing into a gradient blue background with a CGI version of the yacht as the company name in its usual position fades in. The flags of the yacht wave.

FX/SFX: 2D and CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: May be seen on films from this period starting with Без нашийника and Ворожея being one of the last films to use this logo.

Editor's Note: A nice re-imagining of the classic yacht logo.

4th Logo (2018- )

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Logo: On a cloudy night with a full moon, we pan to the right across the ocean as a blue light also moves to the right diagonally from the sky. A shoreline is seen, which has a lighthouse with a rotating light similar to the logo for Castle Rock. The blue light arcs around and joins with the light of the lighthouse, where it is revealed that it is in fact the yacht, flying and glowing blue. The yacht lightly hits the water, causing small ripples instead of the huge splash one would likely expect. The yacht floats as we zoom out. A blue and white compass, with north marked in red, appears around the yacht, as the background zooms away and the yacht turns less detailed and all yellow. The white text "ODESA FILM STUDIO" zooms out below in a glow of blue light.

Variant: In 2019, a 100th anniversary variant was used, with the text "SINCE 1919" appearing alongside and below "ODESA FILM STUDIO".

Trivia: This was directed by Yuri Grinevich. Yuri Vashchenko was the head of animation.

FX/SFX: Nice CGI animation by Odesa Animation Studios.

Music/Sounds: Composed by Eduard Tsiselsky, we hear a "magical" twinkly theme, which turns more dramatic when the yacht lands on the water. We end with the famous two bell tolls.

Availability: Current.

Editor's Note: A nice reimagining of one of the most famous Soviet logos.