VideoMusic

Background

VideoMusic was an Italian music channel and one of the first music channels in Europe. It was launched in early 1984 and was owned by Marialina Marcucci and Pier Luigi Stefani. In 1996 Videomusic was rebranded as TMC2 (Tele Monte Carlo 2) and its schedules changed to include broader subjects such as sport, news and films. However, the channel also retained music as its most important content as well as the use of the Videomusic logo during music programmes.

Startup Logos

ID (April 2, 1984)

Visuals: In a dark room, there is a group of surgeons about to undergo an operation where we can see them putting on their gloves and masks, and once they're done, they give a thumbs up to the lead surgeon. Once they are ready, the four surgeons examine the body, as one surgeon hands out the surgical instrument to the lead to get the operation started, whereas the 3 other surgeons cling onto the instrument. Throughout the operation, the surgeons leave various worried, shocked, and concerned looks, including one surgeon handling the sign of the cross. Once they're done with the operation, the surgeons remove the patient gown, and once it is fully removed, the surgeons leave a heavily traumatized look, where the screen then cuts to a videotape on top of the gown where we can see a footage of the planet Earth along with a letter "M" spinning on its y-axis and zooming in for a short period of time simultaneously, and once it becomes static, "Video" in a golden script font wipes in front of the "M". Following this, various snippets of famous songs from the 80's (including Michael Jackson's "Thriller") appear in front of the screen, and head towards the top-right, top-left, bottom-left, and bottom-right corners respectively, and following this is a footage of the same group of surgeons having a glass of alcohol. Lastly, a shortened version of the "M" against the footage of the earth reappears, alongside "Video" wiping in.

Technique: Live-action for the first segment, computer animation for the second segment.

Audio: Starting with an ominous, suspenseful string piece during the operation scene, a fragment of "Psycho" by Bernard Hermann plays when the surgeon takes off the gown, the last part of "Heard It on the X" by ZZ Top plays during the videotape sequence, and a dramatic bass sting with rain droplets (possibly ripped from a song) plays when the Earth footage reappears.

Availability: This was only used on the first year of the company's broadcast as a startup ID.