VID

Background
"Vzglyad i Drugiye" (translation: Outlook and Others) was founded in 1987 by the creators of the Vzglyad (Glance or Outlook) TV program: Vlad Listyev, Alexander Lyubimov, Andrey Rasbash, and others. Rasbash wanted to use a strange logo for the company, and Listyev's future wife Albina Nazimova suggested the death mask of Taoist philosopher Guo Xiang with a three-footed toad on its head in the Museum of Eastern Culture. When the museum denied permission to use it as a logo, Rasbash used CGI to modify an image of the mask. In March 1995, not long after becoming head of the ORT network (now Channel One), Listyev was mysteriously shot dead in his apartment. To this day, the murderers have never been found or identified. For a whole day, ORT and many other Russian channels went off the air and only displayed a photo of him with the text "Vladislav Listyev has been killed". In October 2017, in order to start shifting from television to digital media, VID rebranded itself to VIDgital (ВИDgital) and debuted a completely new logo, though it was reverted back to its original name in 2020.

1st Logo (October 25, 1990-September 2002)
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Visuals:
 * October 25, 1990-1995: On an off-white background, there is a thick black line wipe onto the screen from the left side, going right. It begins vibrating horizontally as it continues moving, and then a gray ball comes from the left off-screen and begins bouncing along it at a fast pace. It then falls off as the line stops moving. Then we cut to a large close-up of the ball from a bird's eye view as it falls down into the center and disappears. Two closely-spaced black rings then shoot out from the center of the screen, which is immediately followed by a black circle that fills the screen to create a black background. Then, a stone mask, which is of Chinese Taoist philosopher Guo Xiang and a three-pawed toad sitting on top of his head, fades in. Finally, "Times" fades in and shines underneath in large bronze letters, which is Russian for "VID", although it uses a Latin "Times" rather than a Cyrillic "Д", resulting in the text looking like "Times".
 * 1995-1999: Due to concerns of epilepsy, the ball-and-stick segment have reduced their animation.
 * 1990-September 2002: A "presentation" variant was used sometimes before the beginning of a special program. The variant consisted only of the mask and the company name fading in and the company name shining. In 1999, this replaced the standard version due to concerns of epilepsy.

Trivia:
 * This logo aired on U.S. television only on August 24, 1991, when C-SPAN aired an episode of Взгляд (Viewpoint), a few months before the time the Soviet Union was about to collapse. This occurrence can be seen here.
 * The whirring sound at the beginning is actually a sound effect called "Heavy Duty Motors" by Audio Fidelity, first created in 1960.

Variants:
 * There is a variant of the full logo with the mask disappearing and gray text saying "ПРЕДСТАВЛЯЕТ" (or "ПРЕДСТАВАЯЮТ) appearing afterward.
 * A peculiar sub-variant, found on the very first episode of Поле Чудес (Pole Chudes, the Russian version of Wheel of Fortune) that aired on October 25, 1990, exists, in which the logo suddenly speeds up when the ball falls to the center, before returning to its normal speed after "Times" fades in. This is possibly due to an editing/compression error.
 * On  Тема , it has a voice-over by Leonid Volodarsky.
 * An abridged variant was also used at the end of some programs, in which the ball-and-stick segment was cut and the logo started with the zooming circles. Only the five-note fanfare is used here.
 * There is another abridged variant that was used on Тема (The Topic) in 1992 where the ending theme plays and the last note of the fanfare then plays when the mask appears.
 * There is an extended version before Wait for Me! on July 17, 1998, where it has only the mask for eight seconds, and the animation continues normally.
 * A silent version of the presentation variant has white text saying "представляет" under the mask, with or without the "Times" above it.
 * Another version of the presentation variant has the 5-note fanfare, which soon gets cut off by Rasbash saying "представляет" when the "Times" appears. Sometimes the five-note fanfare played then the voice play so that when the mask fades out and "представляет" fade in the voiceover starts.
 * There is a variant before  Один на один  (One on One) where the word "представляет" is written under the text "ВИD".
 * From 1999 to 2001, a special Christmas variant was used that featured the mask fading in and slowly zooming in. As it zooms, it slowly grows a beard and Santa hat complete with a happy grin. Below the mask, it reads "Times" ("S novym godom!", meaning "Happy new year!") in a slab-serif font, and "Times" changes to "Times" in the corporate font. The music is a menacing chord fading from the closing theme.
 * There is also a short version that lasts about six seconds. A presentation version of this also exists.
 * From 1997 to 2000, another Christmas-themed variant of the presentation variant was also used, with snow falling around the mask and company name.
 * In 1993-1997 before L-club, the VID mask would morph into the face of Leonid Yarmolnik (the host of the show) and open its eyes, jiggling its eyebrows in the process. After it does this, it kind of looks like it is staring at you, looking tired.
 * At the end of a 1994 L-club episode on April Fools Day (this was reportedly done as a joke), when the text appears, the face on the VID mask morphs into a different face with creepy wide eyes and his tongue sticking out (it kind of looks the standard L-Club variant but except for the tongue sticking out), as if to mock or taunt at the viewer. This variant sometimes appeared at the end of other L-club episodes as well, including the one from June 18th of the same year. Also, the variant stays there for twelve seconds before finally cutting to black.
 * A spoof of the logo was seen on  Оба-на!  beginning with a man from the show superimposed over the ball-and-stick segment (either flashing or reduced animation), panicking and freaking out over it, and then sliding down as the ball falls off the line. It then proceeds normally, until a few seconds after the mask is seen, it then fades into a gray-scale version of the face of Russian writer/comedian Igor Ugolnikov, who says in an electronically-distorted voice in Russian, "VID, VID. Nothing is viewed from your view!" ("ВИД, ВИД. ничего не видно по вашему виду!") and then smiles as we hear the opening theme. At the end of the show, Ugolnikov says, "VID, VID. Oba-na is our dominant companion." (ВИД, ВИД. Оба на вам сейчас покажу по вашему виду). and smiles again (with a chuckle).
 * Before  Otdyhay!  in 1992-1994, the standard variant plays out as normal, but the "Times" wordmark fades in with the mask (which is in the high-contrast monochrome tone used for the 8th logo, but colored gold) and the mask says in a high-pitched voice "Hey! Relax, though!" ("Хех! Отдыхай однако!"). before smiling. Everything, except for the ball-and-stick segment, is animated with computer graphics.
 * There is a variant from 1993 in  Взгляд  (The Glance), where the name of the show in the condensed serif font is spelled out with the sound of a typewriter in the background. After a pause, the five-note fanfare plays while VID's telephone and fax numbers and the words "Вы смотрите" zoom out, and the mask (albeit 80-85% larger) and wordmark appear above the numbers when they go into their position.
 * There is a variant where the "Times" text is in a different font.
 * There is also another version, where this variant is at the bottom of the screen while on top is the text, "производство телекомпании" all lowercase.
 * There is also a variant introduced around 2001 in which the "ВИD" text flips vertically and shines instead of simply appearing. Also, the text shines as a whole instead of a "glow line" moving down the text, and the mask is also enhanced and slightly brighter.
 * On the 1995 Pole Chudes video game for the ZX Spectrum, there is an 8-bit rendering of the logo with "Times" in its normal font, made up of several white lines and a yellow line bouncing up and down rapidly inside the text before eventually stopping in a horizontal position.
 * On a music video, "Atlantida" by Fillip Kirkorov, a short spoof of the logo has the mask appearing, followed by the "ВИD" text and a lowercase "a", with the end product reading "ВИDa".

Technique: Flat computer animation.

Audio: Starts out with an industrial whirring/jackhammer/film projector-like stock sound effect during the ball and line animation, and then when the black circle zooms in, a loud, dramatic five-note fanfare, composed by Vladimir Ratskevich is heard, ending with some ominous synth whirring as the text appears and shines.

Audio Variants:
 * There is a version where, instead of the standard music on the presentation variant, Andrey Rasbash says "телекомпания ВИD представляет..." ("VID Production presents...").
 * The aforementioned  One on One  variant and the closing version of the 1997 Christmas variant are silent.

Availability: It's seen before TV programs produced by VID in Russia such as Vzglyad (Viewpoint), Oba-na!, Otdyhay, Ugadai Melodiyu, Поле Чудес (Field of Wonders) and Ищу тебя!/Жди Меня (Looking for You!/Wait for Me) from 1990 to 2000. It was also seen on episodes of the show L-Club. Since архив записей and VIDgital's YouTube channel has started uploading episodes of these TV programs, it became easy to find it.
 * As said above, the only known appearance of this logo in the United States was on a C-SPAN airing of Vzglyad (Viewpoint) from 1991, shortly before the fall of the Soviet Union.

Legacy: Not only is this logo perhaps the most infamous Russian logo, but it has earned the reputation as one of the scariest logos ever made by the logo community, even among adults. This is due to the transitional component featuring the rings and black circle, the sudden appearance of the unnerving-looking mask of Guo Xiang, and the dramatic 5-note fanfare that accompanies the mask's appearance (similar to a jump scare). In spite of (or perhaps because of) its infamous reputation, this logo has developed a cult following, especially in Russia, and has been the subject of various memes and even a screamer known as "VID of Doom". It is also a favorite to many, especially fans of "scary logos".

2nd Logo (1992-1993)


Visuals: There is a black room with projectors and an off-white shawl with Jin Chan partially exposed. A man (played by an unknown actor) comes to the shawl, greets everyone, saying "Я снимаю!" ("I'll take it off!"), and starts to take the shawl off. The VID mask is under it. When the shawl is removed, the man goes offscreen and the removed shawl turns into the word "Times". The projectors disappear and the name zooms in further.

Variant: There's an extended variant that starts with the white background fading in, then it crossfades to the white fabric background, and we zoom out to reveal that the background is actually a part of the shawl and the animation continues normally.

Technique: Almost everything was live-action and flashing spotlights are done with computer graphics. 2D computer animation is used for the mask and wordmark.

Audio: Crowd noises throughout, the man talking, ripping noises when the man takes the shawl off, and a three-note fanfare near the end (sounding similar to the NVIDIA GeForce sounder).

Availability: Appeared on Muzoboz, which was last seen on Nostalgiya years ago.

3rd Logo (1993)


Visuals: On a black background, with the video of the moving, tinfoil-like plasticine background surrounded by a shining orange outline, the text "Вы смотрите" (meaning "You are watching") in orange writes itself in on the top inside the rectangle, while the gray plasticine mask and "Times" below, are forming from the background. Then the background stops moving and we zoom on the mask and the text, and everything flashes with colorful lights, making the picture more brighter and colorful, making the mask beige. The plasticine background and the wordmark rises out until it reaches the mask, revealing the black background with the same wordmark as the 1st logo, and the plasticine mask becomes gray and high-contrast, and we finally zoom on the rectangle, while the mask becomes normal. The finished product is the last frame of the 1st logo, but with "Вы смотрите" above the mask.

Technique: Stop-motion.

Audio: A fast-paced techno beat accompanied by scribbling sounds when the mask forms from the plasticine background, ending with a reversed cymbal crash and a brass hit (which sounds similar to the opening note of "Smooth Criminal" by Michael Jackson).

Availability: Unknown.

4th Logo (1993-1994)


Visuals: On a black background, a disc spins and goes in a vertical move from bottom to top. A keyboard-looking shape with random shapes appears. The disc zooms in and a white blurry star appears. Videos of Pole Chudes slide in one by one, and the videos turn into blue squares, followed by a screen appearing. Each clip plays part of an episode that spells out the name of the company. While this part is playing, the text "Cursive" in orange and in cursive writes itself. When the person says the Russian letter Д, the letter Times appears in the third box. When another person says the Russian letter В, the letter Times appears in the first box. And finally, when another person says the Russian letter И, the letter Times appears in the second box. It then cuts to the different faces of Leonid Yakubovich (the host of Pole Chudes). When the last face appears, the entire background turns black. The face turns gray and turns into the mask from before. The blue boxes disappear and the text turns into the original text from before.

Technique: A mix of stop-motion, live-action, and CGI.

Audio: Spinning sounds, the opening theme, dialogues, clinging sounds and applauses at the end.

Availability: Only appears on the promo of Pole Chudes.

5th Logo (1994-1996)


Visuals: On a black background with a golden frame, there is a lump of plasticine in the frame. Human hands appear, and they sculpt a newspaper. The black background slowly fades into a white background while the newspaper is being modeled. Then the hands sculpt a radio from the newspaper. The hands then press a button on the radio then to a television. During the modeling of the television, "Лучше один раз увидеть" ("It is better to see once" in English) is inscribed below the frame. Then we cut to the hands modeling the right antenna of the television. Then goes back to the original position of the camera. The hands press the center small button and turns the big button. Then the screen shows the tail end of the 1st logo. The background turns back to black. It zooms into the television screen when the color of its background changes. Then the "Лучше один раз увидеть" shrinks and then transforms into "Times" with a flash.

Trivia: If you look closely, you can see the edges of the 1st logo stick out of the TV.

Technique: Stop-motion and pixelation.

Audio: A pop tune with newspaper and stock sound effects as the newspaper is almost formed (which is actually "Tied Up" by Yello). When the text transforms into "Times", we hear the last two notes of the 2nd logo's fanfare.

Availability: Seen after Field of Miracles and Topic.

6th Logo (1994-1995)


Visuals: On the black background, the number in the Times font, counting down from 3 to 0, then the number "0" morphs into a high-contrast monochrome version of the mask from before and in Otdyhay!, and finally "ВИDСПб" ("VIDSaint Petersburg") fades in below.

Trivia: The monochrome mask itself is actually VID's print logo and can be found at the bottom-right corner of (defuncted) VID's website (surprisingly still the same despite changing their logo and name).

Technique: Simple computer animation.

Audio: A low sonic tone with the wind blowing in the background and quiet pings in timing with the numbers counting down, followed by a rearranged, more dramatic version of the 1st logo fanfare.

Availability: Seen before two concerts: ВИD-АнтиСПИD (VID Anti-AIDS) in 1994, and Центр циклона (The Center of the Cyclone) in 1995.

7th Logo (1995-2002)
Visuals: On a black background, there is an orange rectangular border with "Производство телекомпании" (in the Pragmatica font), "Times" (in the weird serif font) and "по заказу ОРТ" (in the same Pragmatica font). Below it, there's "Наш адрес в Times:" and a web address. After a few seconds, we cut to the shortened variant of the first logo.

Variants:
 * In its early years, there was no web address.
 * After  Seryebryanny Shar (Silver Ball), there is a gradient text saying "Телекомпания ВИD" (Telecompany VID), "по заказу АО ОРТ" (for AO ORT) on top and "наш адрес в Интернет" (our Internet site) with the address at the bottom.
 * Another variant has the text Телекомпания ВИD по заказу АО "Общественное российское телевидение" written in Pragmatica font on a black background.
 * Another variant, which was used after Женские истории in 2000-01, has the top text "Производство телекомпании ВИD по заказу ОРТ" in a rectangular and the bottom text "Наш адрес в INTERNET: http://www.vid.ru/" in the Compact font.
 * On some shows, the text reads "Производство Т/к ВИD по заказу (АО) ОРТ" in a basic font.

Technique: None.

Audio: The closing theme of the show or Andrey Rasbash's voice announcer saying "Телекомпания ВИD по заказу ОРТ".

Availability: Seen after Поле Чудес (Field of Wonders), Жди Меня (Wait For Me), Как это было (How It Was), Звёздный час (Stellar Hour), Час пик (Peak Hour),Здесь и сейчас (Here And Now) and Женские истории (Woman's History)from 1995 to 2002

8th Logo (1995)


Visuals: On a dark gray background, a sheet of paper with a black/gray gradient unfolds to cover the background. Then a white dot draws the television set with "bunny ear" antennas. The TV turns itself on, showing the static on the screen, and the antennas adjust themselves to show clips from Тема. The TV moves up and shows the dark blue background with the words "Студия „Експеримент“" ("Experiment Studio") then the words "Лучше один раз увидеть" ("Better see it once") appear below the TV and shows the tail end of the 1st logo, except the background, is blue around the mask with noticeably black edges around it, and we zoom on the screen, causing the background on the screen to turn black and the wordmark from the first logo to appear below the mask and shine, forming the last frame of the first logo.

Technique: CGI and hand-drawn animation.

Audio: Sounds of the page turning and a drawing, followed by friendly-sounding music, which is the melody of "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin.

Availability: Only appeared at the end of some episodes of Тема (Topic) of the time.

9th Logo (May 1996-2002)
Visuals: On a dark cloudy sky with the Spasskaya Tower on the right, several small searchlights scanning the sky, three projectors project the sky with the spinning circles divided into six pieces, and some gray zeppelins passing by, there is a huge TV-set with a large screen and the stage lighting truss with 9 spotlights hanging from it and the staircase on the right of it, where frames from VID programs: Один на Один, МузОБОЗ, Час-Пик, Взгляд, Поле Чудес, Тема, and Угадай Мелодию, are flashing, and the camera is moving. When the screen displays the VID mask, the screen "wipes" to the gray gradient background with the silver wordmark. Everything fades to black, and the word "ПРЕДСТАВЛЯЕТ" appears.

Variants:
 * There was a still variant used at the end of programs with a copyright notice down below. The screen is frozen on the mask.
 * There's also a Christmas variant with snow falling all over the screen with a piece of toy music.
 * Sometimes, it also has a voice-over.
 * Sometimes, "ПРЕДСТАВЛЯЕТ" is in a different font.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: 1930s style patriotic music, similar to "Singing Helps Us to Build and to Live" from the Soviet film Vesyolye Rebyata (Moscow Laughs).

Availability: This logo first appeared around May of 1996 on episodes of Взгляд (Sight). The logo also appeared on Pole Chudes, and Ugadai Melodiyu.

10th Logo (1997)


Visuals: On a space background, three blurry colored lines fade in and move about. Then, a static-filled box shaped like a TV tube fades in and slowly zooms into the screen while 'displaying' blue-tinted clips from what seem to be more VID programs. A diamond-shaped flash then fills the screen as the TV then zooms back to reveal 8 more TV boxes surrounding it displaying titles of VID shows on a multicolor background (with the monochrome VID mask on the top center TV). The TVs zoom out two more times, with 49 screens total. The image blurs while the text "Взгляд 10 ЛЕТ "(roughly meaning "Viewing 10 years") fades in, with the monochrome VID mask on the top and smaller text reading "Новый Times телевидения" ("New Times Television") on the bottom.

Variant: A short version exists. When the diamond-shaped flash appears, the TV revealing all VID programs zooms back a lot faster.

Technique: CGI, with the clips in live-action.

Audio: A rearranged variant of Tatsuhiko Arakawa's "Brand New", used as the opening theme to Vzglyad.

Availability: Only appeared before the anniversary release of Vzglyad.

11th Logo (January 1, 2000-March 2, 2013)


Visuals: Against the black background, a gold line stretches outwards horizontally in the center of the screen, resembling a CRT television powering up. The line opens up and glows, containing the word "ТЕЛЕКОМПАНИЯ" in a black font (this word is also seen scrolling in faint large letters within the bar); this then shrinks into a dot, from which arises a thin black ring, containing within it the infamous stone mask (which has a thick black outline around it). The mask stops in the center of the screen, much smaller than before, and the ring fades to the glowing ring. The word "Times" appears. Some lines close in around the mask, and a faint gold line appears at the bottom-right; the word "Courier New" is typed in thereupon in the black typewriter font. All of this happens in a span of about five seconds.

Variant: Sometimes a slowed-down version of the logo plays, but before the faint yellow line and "Courier New" appearing. It cross-fades to a close-up of a waving Russian flag with "Impact" ("Impact") written in front of it, but also would say "Pragmatica" ("Pragmatica") with a different Russian flag.

Technique: CGI graphics and effects.

Audio: Same as the presentation variant of the first logo, except an echo effect can be heard on the announcer's voice or not.

Audio Variants:
 * Before  Жди меня , there is a different announcer (Aleksey Neklyudov) saying more than usual with some text appearing over the Russian flag (probably a text proving that the show is financially supported by FAPMC). This is also sometimes used for the next logo below.
 * There is also another version with a different announcer (Sergey Kushnerëv).
 * For the early version as "MRFPTRB", the announcer (Andrey Rasbash) speak more than usual due to financial support of MRFPTRB.
 * Sometimes, the announcer's words are "spaced out further" while being said.
 * Sometimes from 2010-2013, the audio is low pitch.
 * The first logo announcer (without the echo effect) was used until January 5, 2000.
 * There is a Ukrainian version with a different announcer.
 * There is also a variant from  Крылья  where the announcer (Andrey Rasbash) says "Телекомпания ВИD и Крылья Медиа представляют".

Availability: Seen on some VID TV programs (Взгляд, Поле Чудес, Жди меня, Звёздный час, Мой серебряный шар, Служу Отчизне! etc.) produced between 2000 and 2013. The shortened version of the 1st logo was used at the end of TV programs until 2002.

12th Logo (2003-2005)
Visuals: On a red wireframe background, we see the texts written in Evolventa font blur in and out by order: "ТЕЛЕКОМПАНИЯ ВИD", "КРЫЛЬЯ МЕДИА", "представляют".

Technique: 2D CGI effects.

Audio: Andrey Rasbash's voice announcer saying, "Телекомпания ВИD, Крылья Медиа представляют", accompanied by synth swooshes.

Availability: It's seen before the TV program Крылья which is hard to find because VID has deleted most videos of it from YouTube.

13th Logo (March 7, 2013-October 30, 2020)


Visuals: Same concept as 11th logo but modified a bit. Against the cerulean gradient background, a gold line stretches outwards horizontally in the center of the screen, resembling a CRT television powering up. The line opens up and glows, the word "телекомпания" is scrolling in faint large letters within the bar; on the center of the screen, the new brown 3D version of the mask appears out of thin air instantly and zooms in and a thin black ring pulsates like a ripple. The mask stops in the center of the screen, as in the previous logo, and the circle reaches an optical gold circle. The word "Times" appears in the same typeface used in the first logo, some lines close in around the mask, words "телекомпания" and "представляет" appear over and under the mask respectively. Some light illuminates the mask from the right.

Variant: Like the 11th logo, it sometimes cross-fades to the close-up of the waving Russian flag with the text "Impact" ("Impact") after the finished product is displayed. At first, it was Impact. Later, the font is in either basic font (fade in) or techno like.

Technique: 3D graphics and effects.

Audio: Same as the last logo, though both words are "spaced out further" while being said.

Audio Variant: Same as the 11th logo (the announcer is either Andrey Rasbash or Alexey Neklyudov).

Availability: First appeared on March 7, 2013 before Pole Chudes, this logo was used until September 30, 2017. It was revived on a 2019 episode of Zhdi Menya.

14th Logo (October 5, 2017- )
Visuals: A reddish-brown toad walks on top of an off-white sculpture, which turns out to be a brand new version of the mask logo (with a less scary look that more closely resembles Guo Xiang's actual death mask than the old one did), particles fly around the mask as it smiles. The word "ВИDgital" appears in the Arial typeface as the toad turns into becoming part of the off-white stone mask sculpture. The company name kind of looks like "BNDgital".

Variants:
 * There is a version before  Служу Отчизне  (I Serve the Fatherland!) - like the last logo, it cross-fades to a close-up of the waving Russian flag with "При финансовой поддержке Федерального агентства по печати и массовым коммуникациям" ("With the financial support from Federal Agency on Press and Mass Communications") in a basic font, but without the announcer's voice. Later added it's voiceover and the font is techno-like.
 * Sometimes, the logo fades out and the white spaced-out text "Times" in a tall Times New Roman font fades in on a black background.
 * Starting in 2020, the company name is now just "ВИD" again. It's also much larger and the text fades in, rather than just being there when the logo cuts.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A hip-hop beat, or a rather dramatic theme with synths that begins with some banging sounds.

Availability: Seen before the TV programs Служу Отчизне! and Жди меня, both of which have aired on NTV since October 27, 2017.