Film Australia

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum


Background

Film Australia was a company established by the Government of Australia to produce content about Australia. Its mission was to create an audio-visual record of Australian culture, through the commissioning, distribution, and management of programs that deal with matters of national interest or illustrate and interpret aspects of Australian life. The agency consolidated operations into Screen Australia in 2008. Administration of the Film Australia Collection was transferred from Screen Australia to the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia on July 1, 2011.

1st Logo (1980s-1996)


Visuals: On a black and puce gradient background with a reflective floor and thick lines, one of which contains pale rainbow colors, a stylized glass with sprocket holes on one side zooms out and rotates into place, along with three trapezoids sliding in colored red, green, and blue. The trapezoids arrange themselves under the prism as the text "FILM AUSTRALIA" slides in toward the left of the screen on the rainbow line.

Variants:

  • On Johnson and Friends, the logo would fold away into a cube shape and bounce off the screen, segueing into the show's intro.
  • A short version exists where the only animation present is the A moving a bit.
  • On Boffins, the logo disappears via a fog, thus segueing into the intro to the show.
  • On VHS releases of their content, "VIDEO" would be placed on the red trapezoid.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A patriotic synthesized oboe tune ending with a synthesized orchestra sounder.

Audio Variant: The short variant just has a twinkling sound effect.

Availability: The logo can be seen in the beginning of old Australian prints of films and TV shows produced by the company such as Johnson and Friends and Boffins. The short version can be seen in The Fox Cubhouse, which contains an American English dub of the same series, as aforementioned. It was also seen in original airings and VHS releases of Escape from Jupiter, although later prints use the next logo.

2nd Logo (1996-2008)


Visuals: The same A as before is seen in multiple copies and different sizes being camouflaged against a waving sea background. The sea background changes to a background showing a pile of gum leaves with the As zooming out and disappearing in quick succession. Then the background fades to a red rock background where the A pushes out of the rock. The white text "FILM AUSTRALIA" fades below in a TW Cen MT Condensed font.

Trivia: If you look closely, the A shapes make the shape of Australia as it fades to the gum leaves before sliding backwards into the background.

Variant: At the end of shows produced in the 2000s, the white text "A NATIONAL INTEREST PROGRAM" appears in the middle where the A is on the background where it ended while the white text "FILM AUSTRALIA LTD" appears below with the copyright stamp and year in Roman numerals aside. The URL is shown at the bottom of the screen.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: An ensemble of calm and peaceful wind instruments along with a chime sound before finishing with a clarinet solo accompanied with a metallic whoosh the A makes when it comes out.

Availability: Seen at the beginning of all its programs at the time such as Bush Mechanics.