Seven Arts Pictures

Logo captures by Eric S. and V of Doom Editions by Bob Fish, Eric S., kidinbed, and Shadeed A. Kelly Video captures courtesy of MachineryNoise, Eric S., and DudeThatLogo

Background

Seven Arts Pictures was a low-profile/B-movie distribution company established on July 19, 1990 as a joint venture between Carolco Pictures and New Line Cinema, and was headed by Mario F. Kassar. Today, the entire Seven Arts' library is now owned by StudioCanal. This studio is not to be confused with UK's "Seven Arts Entertainment" and its division "Seven Arts International" and Ray Stark and Eliot Hyman's "Seven Arts Productions", who merged with Warner Bros. Pictures in 1967 forming "Warner Bros.-Seven Arts".

1st Logo (September 14-28? 1990)

Seven Arts (1990)Seven Arts (1990) - "Repossessed" trailer

Nickname: "7A", "Peaceful 7A", "Relaxing 7A", "Starry 7A"

Logo: On a black background, we see many stars forming a blue box with a stylized "7A" inside it, with "SEVEN" above and "ARTS" below. Then we see the byline "THROUGH NEW LINE CINEMA" (with its print logo) on the bottom right of the screen.

Variant: On the trailer for Repossessed, a 2-D version appears in grey, with the byline in a whitish color.

FX/SFX: The stars forming the name.

Music/Sounds: Starts out with some tinkles when the stars form the logo, then 7 synth-horn notes and a descending, relaxing synth theme.

Music/Sounds Variant: Some prints of Repossessed have the Carolco jingle instead.

Availability: Rare. Seen on Repossessed. It may have been seen on theatrical prints of King of New York, but home media releases have no logo.

2nd Logo (February 1-September 10, 1991 or November 1991?)

Seven Arts (1991)

Nicknames: "7A II", "Peaceful 7A II", "Relaxing 7A II", "Shining 7A", "Zooming 7A"

Logo: On a black background, we see a shiny blue "7A" zooming out. The Seven Arts text is then seen at a certain point. The logo shines, and the New Line byline fades in.

Variant: There is a version without the "Through New Line Cinema" byline.

FX/SFX: The zooming, shining, and byline fading-in.

Music/Sounds: A peaceful synth choir theme.

Music/Sounds Variant: A French VHS of The Dark Wind presumably overlaid the film's French audio track onto what was supposed to be a U.S. theatrical print (it went straight-to-video in America). As a result, the Seven Arts jingle is replaced with that of UGC, the film's French distributor.

Availability: Rare. Seen on Rambling Rose. Also seen on a Canadian VHS of Queens Logic. The bylineless version is seen on Dice Rules (not the screener VHS, though). It may have been seen on some theatrical prints of Defenseless, Get Back (The Paul McCartney concert film), and Sweet Talker, but the home video releases show no evidence.

3rd Logo (March 13-June 12, 1992)

Seven Arts Pictures "Cloudy 7A" (1992-1995)Seven Arts (1992)

Nicknames: "7A III", "Not So Peaceful 7A", "Cloudy 7A", "Laser 7A"

Logo: Over an orange or purple cloudy background, a 3D cube rotates into view from the top left, when it is facing the screen and in the center, lasers etch the "7A" logo, then the etching explodes, leaving behind the standard "7A" logo. The "Seven Arts" text appears, and the New Line byline fades in below.

FX/SFX: The clouds moving, the cube rotating, the lasers, the cube exploding, and the logo forming.

Music/Sounds: A synth trumpet leading into a synth orchestra fanfare when the logo explodes. Some laser zaps are heard when the lasers etch the logo.

Availability: Rare. Seen on Light Sleeper and Aces: Iron Eagle III.

Editor's Note: This logo can make people jumpy with the dark atmosphere and the lasers, but it has a clean, professional look.