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Standard (1995-2005)
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DVD version used on widescreen DVD releases (2000-2005)
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The "DVD Video" screen seen after the VCI logo on fullscreen DVD releases (1999-2005)
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{{About|the British home video company|the unrelated American home video company|VCI Entertainment}}
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Video Collection International (VCI) was a UK-based video company formed in 1984 and established in 1985 as The Video Collection. Originally part of the Prestwich Group, based in New Southgate, London, it was subject to a management buyout headed by Steve Ayres as CEO and Paddy Toomey (ex-Woolworths) as MD. The vision of "Sell Through Video" was born with the strong Woolworths association driving the retail sales. After becoming a standalone company the following year, The Video Collection would go on to become the largest home video distributor in the United Kingdom. They also operated two European divisions - Vídeo Colección, S.A. in Spain, Vidéo Collection France in France, as well as Strand VCI Entertainment/Strand Home Video in North America (sold in 1994 to The Handleman Company).
The Video Collection was commonly allied with ITV and Channel 4, and distributed many of their titles from their franchises; they also operated the Cinema Club budget label.
The company was renamed to Video Collection International in 1994 due to financial difficulties (the name change was applied on-screen the following year), and in 1999 the company was sold to the Kingfisher group. Kingfisher demerged the company into the Woolworths Group in July 2001.
In July 2004, The Woolworths Group announced to form a joint-venture partnership with BBC Worldwide (BBC Video) known as 2 Entertain, in-which both their home video units would merge into. The deal was completed in September 2004 and Video Collection International was renamed as such; however, the VCI logo continued to be used on the packaging of DVDs and VHS until June 2005, and on-screen in September 2005.
Visuals: On a grey background, several white lines wipe in from the right. A black rectangle with "COLLECTION" in a tall white font at the bottom flips up from the bottom of the screen, and "the" descends and pastes itself at the top at a sharp diagonal angle. Then "Video" in a red rectangle, written with "V" in a black serif font and "ideo" in a skinnier, white italicized serif font, swoops from behind the "COLLECTION" box and plasters itself on it, positioned into the same angle as "the". Shadows also appear behind the logo when the pieces get into position.
Technique: CGI.
Audio: A 13-note synth theme, accompanied by four deeper synths and three synthesized chords when "Video" appears.
Audio Trivia: The fanfare is actually from the Bruton Music library titled "Video Fanfare", composed by Brian Bennett. It was also used as a weather jingle by TVS at the time, as well as the 2nd Scand Video logo. If one listens really closely, the very beginning of the jingle is slightly warped in comparison to its original source.
Availability: Seen on releases from the company from the time period, even after the second logo's introduction in 1986 until this logo was retired in 1989.
Visuals: Cutting in from black, a grey floor with light and dark grey "marble" scratches and a light grey grid is seen slowly shifting towards the upper right, as a red triangle zooms out from the top left edge and moves towards bottom centre with a shadow effect. An angled grey rectangle with a black front face then "opens" up and several more pieces appear around it, forming up a TV-like monitor with a satellite dish on top. The device rotates around a full 360 degrees as several pieces fly off it, then reattach, and then zooms in while tilting violently until the black screen takes up the whole area for a brief moment. It then cuts back to the floor, although its now stationary, and a red rectangle takes up the middle via a "blinds" effect before retracting on the sides. The rectangle then flips around once and rotates up, as a black "V" spins in as well and the background fades to black. It then plasters itself onto the red rectangle as the rest of the white text "the ideo" fade in and white lines drop down from the rectangle. A grey background fades in, with a tall black rectangle remaining with a shadow effect, and the white lines contort into the tall white text "COLLECTION". The end result resembles the 1st logo.
Variants:
Technique: CGI.
Audio: A quiet beeping sound, followed by a synthesised swoosh and some metallic clunks when parts forming the television, then a little synthesised organ-like tune. It ends with a sparkling chime and two timpani drum beats.
Audio Variant: On both the "New Catalogue" and "A Galaxy of Entertainment" promos from 1986 and 1987, respectively, an announcer can be heard.
Availability: Seen on releases by the company from the time-period until September 1995.
Visuals: In front of a black background with a grey wire frame globe, a bright light emitting godrays in the top left of the screen and some grey mist below, a metal object flips in, along with a red sphere. This is later revealed to be the "C" in "VCI" in the Futura Medium font, which flips around as it zooms out (with the sphere in the centre). The letters "V" and "I" would later spin in and arrange themselves vertically.
Variants:
Technique: CGI animation.
Audio: A synth chime theme is heard alongside some whooshing sounds, with mechanical sounds for the VCI text arranging. Near the end, there are two deep synth notes, ending with a clang and a final chime, all of which is in a similar melody to the Strand VCI Entertainment logo. The key starts in E♭ minor, but changes to C# major when the "C" is revealed.
Availability: Seen on VCI releases in the UK from the time-period until September 2005.
Legacy: This logo was seen as ominous in past years (thanks to the bold atmosphere, the music, the gigantic text and the logo ending with a long period of silence). Recent years have seen it become a favourite among VHS collectors, however.
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