Prozhektor Perestroyki

Credits

Compiled by
NotPurpleHoodieBoi

Editions by
KosMir

Video captures courtesy of
Мастерская КОМПРОС

Background

Prozhektor Perestroyki was an informational and analytical television program in the USSR from the late 1980s.

The program was created during the period of Glasnost and was intended to cover and criticize the reforms taking place in the country, called "perestroika". The program premiered on August 3, 1987, with its 10-15 minute episodes airing after Vremya. From the end of 1987 to 1989, the Second Program of the Central Television of the USSR Stateeleradio was broadcast with sign language translation.

On June 16, 1989, the program was shut down by news director Eduard Sagalayev (1946-2023), who believed that it had begun to sound like television's Pravda. In May 2008, Channel One began airing a program that played off the name of that program, Prozektorperishilton.

Intro (August 3, 1987-June 16, 1989)

Visuals: On a black background, a red-gold diagonal gradient colored rectangle with usually an inner-cut rounded rectangle cutout as to resemble a "TV frame", zooms from one of the upper-left corner portions, and appears to be adjusted in an upper-left perspective, where shortly then a transparent cornflower spotlight fades and intersects through the inner hole of the rectangle. The Cyrillic "ПРОЖЕКТОР" appears to be adjusted diagonally as it zooms away from the screen and settles on the upper-left portion atop of the "TV frame", right after "ПЕРЕСТРОЙКИ", where it also appears to be adjusted diagonally as the latter, then starts to zooms away from the screen and settles underneath the latter word.

Technique: Analog computer animation.

Audio: Part of "Where's the Walrus?" by The Alan Parsons Project, sounding as if it were transposed by -1 semitone.