Allied Artists Video

Background

Allied Artists Video was the home video distribution counterpart to the Allied Artists Pictures Corporation, later renamed Monogram Pictures. Both companies still exist today, under Allied Artists International.

1st Logo (October 24, 1978-September 1980)

Visuals: Just a blue screen with the 1970s Allied Artists Pictures Corporation "Mirrored A's" logo in the center in white, with "ALLIED ARTISTS VIDEO CORP." below. The logo appears to be more bulbous, with smaller holes and a squat appearance, and the entire logo is off-center with a black drop-shadow.

Variant: On Hell to Eternity and House on Haunted Hill, the logo is in black and white.

Technique: A still graphic.

Audio: None.

Availability: Seen on the earliest releases of Allied Artists Pictures Corporation films on Betamax and VHS, including Papillon, The Man Who Would Be King, Cabaret, The Betsy, The Story of "O", Mitchell and Wild Geese.

2nd Logo (1980s)

Visuals: On a starry background, there is a lunar eclipse and then the Sun slowly hovers over the Moon and then a burst appears and then the Sun turns into a film reel and the Moon turns into a disc. Then they go onto a blue cube and the word "ALLIED" appears over the film reel and the word "ARTISTS" appears under the disc and then the word "VIDEO" appears at the bottom.

Technique: Early CGI.

Audio: A synth tune that is short and soft at the beginning and when "ALLIED" and "ARTISTS" fly onto the screen there is a brief synth noise, along with a light projector-like sound. When "VIDEO" appears there is a long synth noise.

Availability: Seen on home media releases in the 1980s by Allied Artists Video, plus their YouTube channel alliedartists.

3rd Logo (2000's?-)

Visuals: The sequence starts on a black background or its FBI Warning, which suddenly breaks itself in four sections and rolls out. The allied artists icon "db" is there, now in 3D and textured on a Allied Artists DVD chromed or golden texture.

Technique: Computer effects.

Audio: A whoosh as the pages reels, or a percussion that accompanies it that blends into a holding note.

Availability: Appears on public-domain DVDs of their films.

4th Logo (2000s?-)

Visuals: On a black background, the words "ALLIED ARTISTS" appear in 3 dimensional text along with a film strip to the right and a red line at the bottom. Then, a DVD comes in from the background and goes under the line and then the logo zooms in.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A loud, descending string section (like you hear in cartoon scores these days when a character falls), fading into a deep choir harmonizing, both which are typical, possibly APM-rooted pieces of music or musical sounds for score.

Availability: Seen on modern DVDs by the company. This can also be seen on the YouTube channel alliedartists (the official YouTube channel of Allied Artists International).