STER

Background
The STER, short for Stichting Ether Reclame, is the foundation responsible for broadcasting advertisements on NPO's radio stations and television channels. They were originally founded in 1965 as the Stichting tot Uitzenden van Reclame, before changing to its current name the same year. The company is most famous for their mascot, Loeki de Leeuw, who appeared in most of STER's breakbumpers until 2004. Loeki has made more occassional appearances ever since.

1st Bumper (1972-2004)


Visuals: All the breakbumpers feature STER's mascot, Loeki de Leeuw, in various situations. The STER logo - consisting of four white/ rhombuses with the letters of "STER" (set in Microgramma) on each - might appear on-screen, or sometimes not at all.

Trivia: Loeki de Leeuw's creator was Joop Geesink, who worked as a TV producer and puppet animator. Joop also founded his own studio, Studio Geesink, where most of the Loeki de Leeuw breakbumpers were animated.

Variants:
 * Mostly because of the long timespan of these bumpers, the number of bumper variants are way too many to count; according to various reports, it has been reported that 7,000 unique variants of these breakbumpers have been reported to exist, with some maybe even becoming lost to time.
 * There are various bumpers that do not feature Loeki de Leeuw as the only character; side characters would also appear, notably Roosje the Lioness, Welpie the Lion Cub, Piep the Mouse, Guusje the Duck, and Filiep the Elephant.

Technique: Stop-motion animation done by Studio Geesink.

Audio: Mostly depends on the bumper. On most of the bumpers, Loeki de Leeuw's lines were either "Asjemenou!" once something came up from his head, or "Voila!" once he made a solution.

Legacy: Due to the bumpers' often playful and charming nature, these breakbumpers have been widely remembered by most Dutch residents of the late 20th century, with Loeki de Leeuw being considered as an icon of Dutch television.

2nd Bumper (January 1, 2000-November 7, 2001)


Visuals:
 * Opening: Over a blurry sky blue background with white streaks, multiple bright lights appear and draw in the STER rhombuses logo (same as the previous one but with a Gill Sans font) shape as the 3D shapes of it form. The nearly completed logo zooms back and settles at the center. A shine passes through the logo briefly. Sometimes, the URL "www.ster.nl" would appears via blur effect below.
 * Closing: The completed STER logo is shown on the same background, and all the four rhombuses merge into one as the lights appear around the rhombuses while it fades out.

Variants: There are special variants made for each NPO TV network that were used in conjunction with the generic breakbumper, mimicking the style of these networks' idents used at the time.
 * Nederland 1 (introduced in January 2001): It begins with a white background, then the camera zooms out to reveal a rhombus border as the background turns into a light . The background colors then flip to a darker shade of blue as the rhombus turns into a 3D spinning shape. The shape then zooms back and separates into 4 other rhombuses, with the white fill and the "STER" letters appearing. A white glow appears behind the logo. The closing bumper is a reverse version of this bumper; once the border disappears by zooming in, the background turns to black.
 * Nederland 2: On a dark, black/ light background, two transparent dark blue cubes zoom out rotating, then begin attracting with each other, while two other cubes appear, attracting themselves with the other two cubes. The joined cubes then rotate and materialize into the STER logo, through a bright white light that appears wiping through the shapes. The logo then shines as a blue glow brightens behind it. The closing bumper is a reverse-style version of this bumper, but the cubes merge into one as these zoom into the camera, with it shining briefly at the end. Sometimes, the URL would appear.
 * Nederland 3: Takes place in a background consisting of revolving rhombuses from the STER logo rotating into different white,, and black colors, divided into three segments in a letterbox-like fashion. A rhombus emerges from one of the rhombuses at the center, spinning while it moves to the right, as three other rhombuses come out from it and position at the right. Near the end, all the four rhombuses then spin into the "STER" letters with the white fill. The closing bumper is almost a reverse-style version of this bumper, but with the rhombuses moving out and disappearing at the right. Sometimes, the URL would appear.

Technique: CGI done by Two Move.

Audio: A sustained chord, with an echoing 4-note piano theme. In the closing breakbumper, a higher-pitched arrangement of the piano theme (first two notes only) is heard.

Audio Variants: There are different arrangements of the theme used in the NPO channel variants.

3rd Bumper (November 8, 2001-September 4, 2003)


Visuals:
 * Opening: Over slow-motion footage, usually in three shots transitioned with fading effects, a white rhombus outline with the word "Ster" (set in Franklin Gothic) fades in. Various lines of random characters then fade in behind the logo, in this order: NL123R12 3FMR4747 AMRNWOOM ROEP.NL At the end of the fourth line, a square and circle (Publieke Omroep logo) can be seen.
 * Closing: The Ster logo is shown with another related portion of footage in the background. The elements then fade out in order at the same pace as before.

Trivia:
 * The breakbumpers included a code behind it:
 * NL123 (Nederland 1, 2, 3)
 * R123FMR4747AM (Radio 1, 2, 3FM, Radio 4, 747 AM)
 * RNWO (Radio Nederland Wereldomroep - now defunct)
 * OMROEP.NL [Publieke Omroep logo] (website and logo of the PO)
 * This code referred to STER's areas of activity - television, radio and online, within the system.

Variants: There exists multiple versions with different footage.

Technique: Live-action footage and fading effects.

Audio: A soft synth theme that is loosely based on the 4-note motif used in the previous bumper.