CNR Video

Background

CNR Video, later known as CNR Film & Video, was the video division of Dutch record company, CNR Records, founded in the late 1970s to ride on the growing video market. CNR Records itself was founded in 1937 by Cornelis Nicolaas Rood and had grown as a major distributor in the Netherlands. In the early 1990s, CNR had suffered a downturn after Arcade Records, their parent company, went into near bankruptcy, but following a restructuring, CNR Records was renamed to Roadrunner Arcade Music in 1996, and CNR Video was renamed to Arcade Pictures as a result.

1st Logo (1977?-1983)

Visuals: On a black background, diagonal stripes start wiping in from to top right and bottom left respectively, in many different colors and dotted with smaller lines. After about 24 seconds, the stripes reveal a zooming star background in a dark blue gradient color, surrounded by a metallic gold border with several diagonal stripes embedded into it and even poking out of the sides. The CNR Video logo, consisting of a red Z-shaped oblong with a heavy black shadow and the text "CNR Video", fitted inside of the oblong in a stacked form, and 4 yellow stars on the right side of it, zooms in from the space background and then stops. The four stars then blink continuously from top to bottom for the rest of the logo.

Variant: Later tapes replace the original stripe animation with a computer-generated one with gradient shades. Once the animation is done, it fades to the final part.

Technique: Motion-controlled animation, with computer effects for the later variant.

Audio: A funky, disco-esque tune with synth warbles and a horn florish at the end.

Availability: CNR tapes from the era have this logo on the top right corner, as well as some similar stripe patterns. Some of these tapes include Class of 1984, Caligula & Messalina, Cannibal Apocalypse, You and Me, Son of Spartacus, The Return of White Fang, and First Blood, among others.

2nd Logo (1983-1992)

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Visuals:

• 1983-1987: On a white background, it slowly fades away to black as 13 white lines, except for the top most exposed one being red. From here, the white text "CNR VIDEO" swoops up from the bottom of the screen as every other line in the background fades away. The text then swoops down and settles into the middle gap.
• 1987-1992: On a black background with a purple haze on the bottom and slight white tint, 13 lines appear one by one in a wiping fashion as the background loses the white tint. The lines are all in white except for the 2nd one, which glows a bright red color. The new CNR Video logo then rises up and swoops down slowly to take up nearly the entire screen. The logo has the same oblong shape in a metallic blue shade with a smaller, cyan drop shadow, but the "CNR VIDEO" text is now in an all-caps plain font with the "R" conjoined with the "I", and the stars replaced with a metallic segmented wingpiece in various shades of orange. As the logo settles, "PRESENTEERT" types in below. The logo and text then fade out, leaving the background.

Variant: An abridged version of the 1983 variant has the white background fade to the final result as the "CNR VIDEO" zooms in.

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Audio: Starts with a "ding", then a very 80s-esque synth-pop tune plays, with an electric piano sounder in the middle. The abridged version only has the "ding".

Availability: Tapes with this logo have the same background style as the logo, and the "CNR VIDEO" text on the bottom. Tapes that include this logo include the Nightmare on Elm Street series, Monster Squad, Silent Night, Deadly Night 2, and some MGM/UA Home Video titles like A Fish Called Wanda.

3rd Logo (1992-1995)

Visuals: On a black background, a large 5-pointed star light colored teal is seen at top center. After a few seconds, the star starts to rotate clockwise and a blue haze appears at the bottom of the screen. After a few seconds, the marquee from before appears, now in white and with no metallic effects, and slowly zooms in. After a few seconds, "CNR VIDEO" wipes in with a double-lined effect onto the marquee. The star continues to spin.

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Audio: Same as before.

Availability: Tapes have a similar set up to the first logo, having the logo in the top right and a winglet design at the bottom, wrapping around the spine. Some titles include several of their releases under their Junior label, Losin' It, and Certain Fury.

4th Logo (1995-1996)

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Visuals: Fading into a blurry shot of glitter divided diagonally into blue and red-tinted sections respectively, 2 rectangles with the text "CNR FILM & VIDEO" on it, one in red with a gold word and the other in a blue tint, slide in from the bottom left and top right respectively and settle into place. Their borders constantly shine as well. The screen then grows darker via a static effect as a warning screen covers the screen. Near the end of the music, the warning screen disappears via the same effect and the red rectangle dives down while the blue rectangle slides up slowly as the background fades to black. The border continues to shine.

Variant: On some releases, the blue colors are replaced with grey, the rectangles are swapped, the warning screen is contained in a yellow square with no particle effects, the red rectangle is seen at the end instead of the blue one and they move in opposite directions compared to the regular animations. The logo is also slightly zoomed out, revealing the grey rectangle at the top of the screen when it stops moving.

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Audio: Same as before.

Availability: The releases have their logo in the lower right corner, but releases with their logo are rare. Seen on a tape of Hong Kong '97 (the film, not the game) and later Bassie & Adriaan titles, as well as several VCDs.

CNR Video

Arcade Pictures ►