Constantin Film

Background
Constantin Film is a German film production & distribution company founded on April 1, 1950 by Waldfried Barthel & Preben Philipsen in Frankfurt, Germany, and later moved to Munich. In 1977 Constantin went bankrupt, and its property was acquired by Bernd Eichinger, who launched Neue Constantin Film in 1979. Later not only distribution, but also production of films was started since 1983 and it was renamed back to Constantin Film AG in 1999. The company is best known for producing Der Untergang (Downfall), the Resident Evil film series, and the Fantastic Four movies. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Highlight Communications AG since 2009.

1st Logo (1962-1982, 2011)
Nickname: "The Sunburst", "The Proud Sunbeams", "The Bombastic Sunbeams", "Sunburst of Doom" (for later variant: "The Sunburst 3D")

Logo: On an animated cerulean and gray sunburst background (a la Toho), with one set rotating clockwise and the other rotating counterclockwise. After a few seconds, the syllables "Сon", "stan", and "tin" zoom up rapidly in sync with the fanfare. "FILM" and "bringt" fade in below after that.

Variants:
 * On an early B&W variant, "Constantin" is written in a more graffiti-like form of cursive, and "bringt" is in cursive, as well. The animation is also much rougher, with the sunbursts being barely distinguishable from each other, and the syllables are actually inverted at the beginning, but switch colors near the end.
 * In another B&W variant the "Constantin" seems more shinier than usual.
 * Sometimes, the background is shown in a darker tint, though this might be due to film deterioration.
 * For later (post 1979) releases of Constantin Film, "neue" is shown above "Constantin".
 * Later Variant: The bluish-white flare of light appears in the black background before the gray, black, and white sunburst background fading in. The logo is redone in HD. "bringt" is removed, "FILM" is now in a similar style as "Constantin", and "3D" is seen growing quickly underneath "Constantin FILM". When the logo fades out, "3D" stays visible for a half second before fading out.
 * Another version of the “3D” variant has “PRÄSENTIERT” at the bottom instead of “bringt” or “3D”.

FX/SFX: The rotating sunbeams, the syllables zooming up.

Music/Sounds: A long drumroll (changing the pitch higher) followed by a bombastic fanfare in the key of B-flat (which has a couple different variants), or silence. The later variant has a calmer fanfare.

Availability: Very rare in the United States, uncommon in Europe and Germany. Seen on distributed or produced films of the time, and usually retained on newer releases, among them the Blu-ray of Winnetou’s film debut, The Treasure of Silver Lake. As for the later variant, it was only seen on the German 3D theatrical print and 3D Blu-Ray of Resident Evil: Retribution.

Editor's Note: The bombastic music and animation has scared more than a few, but it remains a favorite in the logo community. If you look closely, "stan" and "tin" are a split-second off-sync to the fanfare.

2nd Logo (1984?-1996?)
Logo: On a black background, we see "NUE CONSTANTIN FILM" fade in from black and fade out when finished.

FX/SFX: The text fading in and out.

Music/Sounds: Silent.

Availability: Very rare. Was seen on German prints of films produced or distributed by Constantin Film, such as The Neverending Story and In the Name of the Rose. Currently seen on the German Blu-Ray of the former.

Editor's Note: The text "NEUE" is misspelled here.

3rd Logo (1980's-1996?)
Logo: On a black background, we see large white words "NEUE CONSTANTIN FILM" fade in, each word for a line.

FX/SFX: The text fading in and out.

Music/Sounds: Silent.

Availability: Uncommon. Sometimes plastered over with the next logo, but saved on German prints of films produced or distributed by Constantin Film, such as Die Katze, Feuer, Eis & Dynamit, Der Bewegte Mann and The House of the Spirits.

Editor's Note: Slightly better than before, since the spelling error is fixed.

4th Logo (1996-)
Logo: On a black background, a bar of white light brings forth a blue film roll expanding outwards, with extra bars rising up as they both rotate in opposite directions. Upon reaching real close to the film roll, there's the white text "Constantin Film" in a cursive underlined font, basically being in the same font as the 1st logo, projected onto the inside of the reel. A light flashes, teleporting us into the center, and the roll of film turns upward and "Constantin Film" then disappears from the side, and now appears inside the reel, albeit in a blood red color. The logo blinks as the reel keeps spinning, but that slows down along with the blinking. As the film reel zooms in, the "Constantin Film" text fades in, zooming in slightly as it does.

Variants:
 * Starting in (probably) 1999, the logo is completely white. Sometimes the URL www.constantinfilm.de is added below.
 * In recent years, the logo has been remade with more realistic lighting and effects, like the "Constantin Film" projection given a glow effect and now having the proper proportions, and the actual logo is given a 3D effect with a broad border on the words. There also appears to be the same film reel rotating in the background when the logo is seen.
 * There's an in-credit closing variant.

FX/SFX: Very good CGI animation. Sometimes, it's still.

Music/Sounds: A string-driven, triumphant orchestral piece. Sometimes, it is silent, or the opening theme of the movie.

Availability:
 * Early Variant: Very rare. Seen on German prints of films produced or distributed by Constantin Film.
 * Later Variant: Current. It is the easiest logo to find from this company, since they released and co-produced more popular films such as the Resident Evil franchise and released foreign films released in the U.S. through Sony Pictures Classics. Also used as a home video banner in Germany. The version with the URL is seen mostly on older German releases and prints.

Editor's Note: A really nice logo thanks to the amazing music and animation, holding up even after 20+ years, making it a favorite in the community.

5th Logo (2010-)
Logo: On either a starfield or a black background, we see a blue light go through "Constantin Film", showing silhouettes. Once it goes off-screen moving from the right, the logo wipes in.

FX/SFX: Basic, but yet very nice CGI.

Music/Sounds: A five-note horn theme, sounding very similar to the end of the 1993 Columbia Pictures logo, or the opening theme.

Availability: Current. Seen on almost all of the Resident Evil movies in North America, which it has first appeared on. Currently used on more recent productions made outside of Germany, while the previous logo is used for their German productions.

Editor's Note: None.