August First Film Studio

Background: Sub-ordinate to the People's Liberation Army of PRC, the August First Film Studio (八一電影製片廠) mainly produces films on military subjects. Founded on Aug 1, 1952, to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the founding of the PLA in 1927, the studio has produced more than 2,200 films that range from features to documentaries. Originally called 解放軍電影製片廠 (PLA Film Studio in Chinese), it was renamed to 八一電影製片廠 (August First Film Studio) in 1956.

1st Logo (1952-2000's)

Nicknames: "The Chinese Star", "The Happy-Looking Star", "The Toho from China I"

Logo: On a blue space background, we see a 3D-looking red star with a gold border. The star has the Chinese characters "八一" stacked on each other (the 八 is on the top and 一 is below it). The Chinese text (八一電影製片廠 (the company's name) after some more Chinese characters) is seen below.

Evolution/Variants: The logo has evolved during the years. Here, we can see the differences:

1952-1950's: The background looks more like a sunburst one, and the star looks 2D. There's no Chinese text below. It then fades to a black background with Chinese text. On some films, the text is different. Everything is in black and white. 1950's-1960's: The background looks cloudy, the star is now 3D, and the Chinese text is added (This time, it's shortened. Also, it looks like it's made of glass). The pronuncation is seen below the Chinese text. 1960's: Same as the previous version, but it's now in color. Also, the background looks more like zooming stars. 1960's-1970's?: The border of the star is gone (along with the Chinese characters), the background is now more black, and the pronuncitation is a bit different. 1970's-1990's?: The background is now just blue, and the text is now plain white and more longer. A B&W version also exists. 1990's-2000's?: The border of the star, including the Chinese characters, are now back. The background also looks more advanced. 2000's: The star looks more 3D.

FX/SFX: The background, which looks advanced.

Music/Sounds: A patriotic fanfare that sounds more like a national anthem.

Availability: Can be seen on films produced by August First during the time, most of them are about military themes.

Editor's Note:None.

2nd Logo (2000's-)

Nicknames: "The New and Improved Chinese/Happy-Looking Star", "The Toho From China II", "Red Star In Space"

Logo: We zoom on a space background. A red star glows and zooms to the screen, and zooms out back again to the top side of the screen, and the glow fades out to reveal that it's the star from the 2000's version of the logo. The background fades to the blue space background and the Chinese/English text zooms in below with a trail effect. It stops, and the star "shines".

FX/SFX: Everything. Seems like a great improvement over the previous logo.

Music/Sounds: Same as before, only low-pitched.

Availability: Currently seen on August First's new productions.

Editor's Note:None