VVS Films

Background

VVS Films, formerly known as Videoville Showtime, is a Canadian home video/film distributor founded in 1983 in Saint-Laurent, Quebec. Also known as Showtime Video Distribution or VVS Video, the company distributed motion pictures and animated cartoons from independent producers. In 1999, Videoville Showtime also began to release Canadian-based humor shows on VHS and DVD. The VHS catalog ended in 2004, but the DVD catalog is still in operation.

1st Logo (1983-1990s)

Logo: On a black background, five streaky wing-like shapes (in the respective order of green, orange, dark teal, blue, and hot pink) move in from every side of the screen and stop in the center to form a pentagon shape hiding a stylized star shape in it. the pentagon then starts spinning at a fast pace, and a couple of seconds later, the company name in a light pink color and leaned vertically, flies in from the upper right corner of the screen and positions itself horizontally at the bottom, as the pentagon stops spinning.

Technique: The wings and the text flying in, the spinning pentagon.

Music/Sounds: A fast-pased synthetized fanfare which sounds like a newscast opening theme. The music begins in the warning screen, and continues when the logo animates.

Availability: Rare. Can be seen on 1980s and early 90s French-Canadian tapes.

2nd Logo (1990s-Late 1990s)

Logo: On a blue background, a whole mess of white dust collects and converges into the star pentagon from the previous logo. A couple of seconds later, the text in a serif font fades in and shines.

Technique: The pentagon converging, the text shining.

Music/Sounds: A synth note is heard when the pentagon converges, then when the text appears, a weird xylophone note is heard.

Availability: Rare. Can be seen on later tapes of the company, like The New Adventures of Madeline volumes and Moment of Truth: Eye of the Stalker.

3rd Logo (Late 1990s-2008)

Logo: We zoom through some clouds, which fade into the handwritten company name in silver with a paint streak sandwiched between on a moving cloud background.

Technique: The clouds and the text fading in.

Music/Sounds: A peaceful fanfare.

Availability: Seen on Fallen Angels and its DVD copies.

4th Logo (2008-2016)

Logo: We zoom out of a shiny "S", which turns out to be the "VVS" from the previous logo. Then a light shines on it, revealing the same paint streak and "FILMS" from the last logo, now shiny.

Technique: The zooming, the light and the shine.

Music/Sounds: A weird noise described as a dark whoosh with a weird beep, followed by an even louder beep with some light synths and another faint whoosh.

Availability: Seen on Gardens of the Night and other films from the time.

5th Logo (2016-)

Logo: We start off with a starry night sky and zoom down to reveal some clouds and then an amusement park, filled with tons of attractions and trees. We then see a red rollercoaster with yellow lights, as it dips down and up to the starry night sky. We then take a dip down again and suddenly zoom out to reveal children riding on the coaster, as we zoom through some chains from a swing ride, then move to the humps from the same rollercoaster with a ferris wheel next to it. A light then highlights the dips and turns into a stylized "VA" symbol with "VVS FILMS" below while the background fades to black.

Technique: Spectacular CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: An orchestral fanfare with sounds of the rollercoaster, children screaming and pixie dust sounds towards the end. Composed by the Montreal sound design firm Dazmo.

Availability: Current, but it may not last. Seen on their releases from the time. With the next logo's debut, this logo's days are numbered.

6th Logo (August 19, 2022-)

The boardwalk
The final result

Logo: We see a waterside boardwalk amusement park with many rides, including a swing ride, the same rollercoaster as before, a ferris wheel, and a drop tower from left to right. We zoom out slowly as the rollercoaster makes its way up the hill and up the top, where it shoots down quickly and turns into a streak of white light and the background turns black. The same "V" symbol as before is formed by the streaks, as the text appears below and zooms out slightly.

Technique: Great CGI!

Music/Sounds: A majestic reorchestrated version of the last 3 notes of the previous theme.

Availability: Brand new. Debuted on Canadian prints of Orphan: First Kill, and later appeared on After We Fell. It will likely appear on more films in the future.

Legacy: An excellent redux of the previous logo, although it might catch some viewers who were expecting said logo off-guard.