UGC

Background
UGC is the largest cinema operator in Europe with, as of August 2005, 49 sites and 553 screens across four countries (France, Belgium, Italy, and Spain). UGC was originally an exclusively French operator, created in 1971 from a merger of several regional cinema companies. The name originally stood for "Union Générale Cinématographique", but today only the initials are used. The company is focused on the business side of the film industry, showing little interest in the screening of artistic cinema, unlike companies such as MK2. Currently, StudioCanal is the distributor and sub-licensor of UGC's library outside if its operating territories such as in U.K. and the U.S.

1st Logo (1982-1990)


Logo: We travel through what appears to be a tunnel formed with gray concentric circles against dark blue background. The last circle breaks off and transforms into a white circle, which splits into three. They then turn around and form "UGC", in multilined blue letters. Then "ugc DISTRIBUTION" in blue appears below, then quickly disappears and the camera zooms toward the "C", and cuts to the black background while the word "PRESENTE" in blue zooming in from the bottom of the screen with a trailing effect.

FX/SFX: The tunnel, letters, and trailing; all top '80s CGI.

Music/Sounds: A synth fanfare, composed by Alain Guelis, consisting of a synth bass and three sets of eight synth notes with a synth flourish in between.

Music/Sounds Variant: On the current StudioCanal French DVD of Le Prix du Danger, it uses the jingle from the next logo below due to a sloppy reverse plaster.

Availability: Quite rare, as its usually replaced by local distributors indents on export releases or with the next logo below. Can be seen intact on the French DVDs of Class of 1984, Le Prix du Danger, and Le Passage.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1994-2001)
Logo: On a black background, a golden line can be seen below a series of golden glass curves, swirling around each other. As they slowly zoom in, they slowly turn solid silver and line up in the middle. They spread out to reveal the shapes form "UGC" and everything turns a shiny blue color.

Variants:
 * There exists a version with "D.A. INTERNATIONAL" appearing underneath. This is seen on 1990s prints of the 1960 film Breathless.
 * Another odd variant has the initials "Ph" in white script fly in from the left onto the bottom right of the logo. Two dots are added at the ends.
 * A French variant exists with "DROITS AUDIOVISUELS" fading in below the logo.

FX/SFX: The swirling letters, in CGI that's extremely advanced for the time.

Music/Sounds: A gentle piano sounder with wind blowing and birds chirping. The "P.h." variant has wind and chimes as the dots are added to "Ph".

Availability: Uncommon. The regular variant can be seen on Amélie (original title, Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain). It also made a surprise appearance on an Australian airing of The Ghost of St Michael's.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (2001-2011)
Logo: On a black BG, we see a revolving series of blue glass objects appearing and zooming out. All three zoom out, revealing them to be the letters in the UGC logo. A blue line forms below, and a ring is drawn around the letters.

Variant: On Lucky Luke, the logo is gold-tinted.

FX/SFX: The letters revolving, the line forming, and the ring forming.

Music/Sounds: A more majestic rearrangement of the UGC theme from the previous logo with pianos and strings.

Availability: No longer in use.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (2011-2018?)
Logo: A similar concept to the previous logo, except the revolving letters aren't as close-up. When the letters come together to form the logo, the circle is drawn with two lines instead of one, and the line below the letters is also drawn in instead of rotating around in the previous. The end result is exactly like the previous logo.

Variant: Sometimes, the words "PLUS DE PASSION, PLUS D'EMOTIONS" appear and flip in underneath the logo.

FX/SFX: The letters revolving and the line and circle being drawn in.

Music/Sounds: A piano-oriented tune that sounds vaguely like the 3rd and 4th logos' music. On the variant, it has an extended ending. On other occasions, it uses the music from the final UGC Cine Cite logo.

Availability: Common. Can be seen at UGC theaters and movies.

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo (2018- )


Logo: Similar to the previous 2 logos, but the background now has a rippling blue light over it and the shapes are far more simplistic, made in blue glass. The animation is also more similar to the 3rd logo, with the closer shapes. When the shapes come together, they form the current UGC logo, which now has the text has "conjoined" shapes rather then outlines. 2 crescents then draw around the letters as "PLUS DE PASSION. PLUS D'EMOTIONS." flips in below letter-by-letter.

FX/SFX: The revolving shapes and the line being drawn.

Music/Sounds: A rearranged version of the theme used in previous logos.

Availability: Currently in use.

Editor's Note: None.