Star Video

Credits

Descriptions by
mr3urious

Video captures courtesy of
Logo Archive, Eric S., and FLEMISHDOG

Background

Star Video was established in 1980 as the home video division of Publishing and Broadcasting, Limited. It was one of the Magnificent Seven home video distributors. The label was phased out by 1984.

1st Logo (1982-1984?)

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Nickname: "The Rainbow Grid"

Logo: We first see a blue wireframe grid stretched out into the horizon against a black background. Then, the background fades to pink, and some lasers from the lower-left area of the grid shoot out from underneath it, causing it to flash blue, green, red, and yellow, in that order. Then, a "sparkling" rainbow rises up from that area, and as it continues to rise, the background changes between three different cloudy skies, then a space background (ergo, the background changes depending on altitude). Then, the rainbow curves 90 degrees to the right and flashes brightly as the background cross-fades again to light-blue. This reveals the words "STAR VIDEO" at the end of the rainbow, which "sparkles".

Variants:

• Some tapes end with the Star Video logo on a white background zooming in (with a motion blur effect) to fill the screen.
• At the end of a 1984 VHS of Breaker Morant, the logo plays in the bottom right and cuts out the rainbow forming the words. Instead a blue and white box appear with the words "STAR VIDEO" fade in halfway through the animation. It is accompanied by the words "DISTRIBUTED IN ASSOCIATION WITH" in the top right corner of the screen and the Australian Video logo in the top left corner.

FX/SFX: The lasers, the rainbow rising, and the rainbow "sparkling".

Music/Sounds: An ominous synthesized bass with 3 "popping sounds" as the lasers strike the grid, culminating in 2 bombastic synth notes, with the last note held up to the warning screen (though sometimes fading out early). The closing variant plays over the ending theme of the movie.

Availability: Only seen on Australian videotapes distributed by PBV under the Star Video label, such as the 1971 TV movie Sweet, Sweet Rachel, or In Broad Daylight.

Editor's Note: The music and animation may be very jarring, but it's just extremely cheap (and painful to look at) and a product of its very short life. It also doesn't have a star as its logo.

2nd Logo (1983?-1984)

Nickname: "The Laser Star"

Logo: On a black background, six lasers fly in from the right, forming a segmented neon blue star with smaller lines trailing in from the right, representing a shadow. "STAR VIDEO", in an italicized Helvetica or Arial font in the same color, zooms-out as some little stars flash on the big star. The logo shines.

FX/SFX: The lasers forming the star, and the logo flashing. Far better than the previous logo.

Music/Sounds: 8 laser zaps, followed by a dramatic synth bass theme with 4 synth "chirps".

Availability: Appears on later Star Video releases, such as the PBV release of The Executioner's Song.

Editor's Note: The laser zaps and dark animation may make it unsettling to some viewers, but its a lot cooler and sadly short-lived.