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)


Nickname: "(Neon) Star Pentagon"

Logo: On a black background, five streaky wing-like shapes (one is green, one is orange, one is dark teal, one is blue, one is 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 text:

VIDEOVILLE    S H O W T I M E 

in light pink 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.

FX/SFX: 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.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1990s-)
Nicknames: "Star Pentagon II", "Cheap Pentagon"

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:

<font face="Arial"><font face="Arial">VIDEOVILLE     SHOWTIME 

fades-in. The text shines.

FX/SFX: 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.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (mid 2000s)


Logo: We zoom through some clouds, which fade into the handwritten letters "VVS" with a paint streak below and "FILMS" in silver on a moving cloud background.

FX/SFX: The clouds and the text fading in.

Music/Sounds: A peaceful fanfare.

Availability: Seen on Fallen Angels and it's DVD copies.

4th Logo (2008-2018)


Logo: We zoom out of a shiny navy blue "S" from the last logo. It turns out to be "VVS" from the previous logo. Then a light shines on the logo revealing the same paint streak and "FILMS" from the last logo now in a navy blue color and shiny.

FX/SFX: 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.

5th Logo (2018- )


Logo: We start off with a starry night sky. We 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. The rollercoaster then 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. We zoom through some chains from a carousel 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.

Variant: On Canadian prints of Orphan: First Kill, everything before the rollercoaster humps is cut out and the rollercoaster's ascent is slowed down.

FX/SFX: Spectacular CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: An orchestral fanfare with sounds of the rollercoaster, children screaming and pixie dust sounds towards the end.

Music/Sounds Variant: Orphan: First Kill uses a slower, more majestic reorchestration of the last three notes of the above theme.

Availability: Current. Seen on Videoville Showtime's current releases.