Long Shong Group

Background
The Long Shong Group was launched in 1971 by Ying-xiang, initially serving as the distributor of films in Taiwan. It later launched a production division in Hong Kong in 1986.

1st Logo (1980's-Late 1980's)


Logo: We see a rock sculpture of a man's head at the left on a black background. At the right side of it, the outline of a red square with the connected striped words "LS" (which is the company's emblem) zooms out with a trail effect, and it stops, revealing the white color of the emblem. The square flashes, and the words "LONG SHONG PICTURES LTD." wipe in. The eyes of the man flashes, and four Chinese letters wipe in between the emblem.

FX/SFX: Animation reminiscent of the 80's Hong Kong logos.

Music/Sounds: A synth tune beginning with an arpeggio. There's also a descending sound when the company name wipes and a bling at the end.

Availability: Rare.

2nd Logo (Late 1980's-Late 1990's?)
uQeaCrYueJc KX1vWgD80Xc FvZjcaTjbkU Logo: On a black background, two stylized waves appear and clash onto each other, causing themselves to splash, releasing a huge amount of water drops. The background lights up to see a yellow/orange sun background and a 3D dragon appears. The bubbles follow the dragon and disappear, while the dragon roars. The dragon moves, sees the golden Chinese letters (which are the Chinese translation of the company's name), makes a "S" position and the S from the "Connected/Striped LS" forms inside the dragon, making it disappear completely, while the sun grows larger and turning into the gold gradient background. The emblem is formed and the Chinese letters flies, while the English translation appears and flies along with the Chinese letters. The LS emblem places itself at the top (and rotated to the left a bit) while the company names put themselves at the bottom of the emblem, forming the finished logo.

Variant: There was a variant where the text is replaced by "LONG SHONG INTERNATIONAL LTD.". Also, the bevel of the texts are more wider and they're facing to the top.

FX/SFX: Very good CGI animation, but it's not done without the fault. The S is formed in a slow way, and you can see it stopping and resuming each 3-4 frames.

Music/Sounds: A string-like sound is heard at the beginning, followed by the dragon roar. Then a Chinese-styled theme is heard, with the last note sustained. An arpeggio is also heard at the end. The International variant has the theme low-pitched.

Availability: Common in China/Hong Kong, but rare in the US. The easiest places to find this logo is on Swordsman II and it's sequel The East Is Red, which are also made by Film Workshop and Golden Princess. The "LONG SHONG INTERNATIONAL LTD." variant may be seen on international prints of their films.

Legacy: The dragon and fanfare may be scary for some people. However, it's a favorite and well-known logo of the Hong Kong/China movie community.

3rd Logo (Late 1990's?-2010's)


Logo: On a space background, we see the gold LS emblem on the bottom. The emblem moves, reveals it's entire form and places at the top of the screen. The red square fades behind it and a line appears, where the Chinese letters and "LONG SHONG GROUP" text below fade in.

FX/SFX: 90's quality CGI. However, it's not as good as the previous logo.

Music/Sounds: A majestic fanfare beginning with a timpani roll.

Availability: TBA.

4th Logo (2010's-)


Logo: We first see a black/green gradient background with "liquid" gold below (kinda like the 1986 Yorkshire TV logo). Steel dragons (with yellow lights) come out of the water and move around. The camera cuts to various angles. In one of them, we see a part of a dragon (which is probably it's hand) opening. The camera cuts to another angle and a dragon's face is shown and it roars. The camera zooms out to reveal that the dragons has finished the LS emblem (in yellow/gold). The emblem zooms out to the center. When it's almost done zooming, the text "LONG SHONG GROUP" appears via "light ray" effect.

FX/SFX: Very good CGI like the 2nd logo.

Music/Sounds: A synth drone, along by sounds that accompany the logo, like the dragon's roar.

Availability: Current. Seen on their most recent movies.

Legacy: The dragons and the creepy-looking drone are scary, but people who liked the 2nd logo may like this.