United Photoplay Service
IDENTfan111
Background
United Photoplay Service was a company registered in March 1930 in Hong Kong by Luo Mingyou (Law Ming-yau) and his partner, director Li Minwei (Lai Man-Wai).
1st Logo (March 14-April 5, 1931)
Visuals: On a black background, there is a frame containing a triangle below, which contains a man holding a camera. Inside the frame is the cloud background. As the cloud background moves, the lifebuoy zooms in with a plane flying through the cloud background while the lifebuoy zooms out. After seconds of flying, "聯華影片" appears one-by-one and "A UNITED PHOTOPLAY SERVICE" wipes in. After that, the plane flies into the a space between "聯華影片" and "A UNITED PHOTOPLAY SERVICE" with "華聯" appearing in each wings and "UPS" appearing at the tail. After that, the entire thing crossfades to a cloud background with the plane in the center and the lifebuoy zooms in. The Chinese characters appears one-by-one at the side of the lifebuoy.
Technique: 2D cel animation.
Audio: None.
Availability: It was only known to appear on 銀漢雙星 and 戀愛與義務.
2nd Logo (1934?-1937?)
Visuals: On a cloud background, the plane flies toward the screen. Once it engulfed the screen, the entire screen crossfades into a lifebuoy with Chinese text on side of it. Later, "聯華出品" fades in.
Technique: Live-action.
Audio: Plane noises and a triumphant fanfare.
Availability: So far seen on 漁光曲 and 慈母曲
3rd Logo (1935)
Visuals: On a pillar background, there is a "華聯" at the center. Later, the text become opaque and the company name with the translation below it fades in.
Technique: 2D cel animation.
Audio: The opening theme of the film.
Availability: It was only seen on 天倫.
4th Logo (1937)
Visuals: On a black background, there is a plane in the center of the circled Chinese text with circle border. "華聯" appears in front of it.
Technique: A still printed image.
Audio: The opening theme of the film.
Availability: It was know to be seen on 人海遺珠 and 聯華交響曲.