Films for The Humanities & Sciences

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum


Background

Films for the Humanities and Sciences is the largest distributor of videos and CD-ROMs to schools, colleges, and libraries in North America.

Films for The Humanities

1st Logo (September 8, 1977)

Visuals: Over a dark blue background, the logo starts with the golden letters "ffh" in the middle, all of which are connected with each other. Below the "ffh" is the set of text saying:

A Presentation of
FILMS FOR THE HUMANITIES
Princeton, New Jersey

all in the color white.

Technique: A still, printed image.

Audio: None.

Availability: It was only seen on the short film Woody Allen: An American Comedy.


2nd Logo (1980s-1991)


Visuals: On a blue background, a group of lines are wiped in vertically to form the FH logo. Two lines are then drawn below the logo and the words, "A Films for The Humanities Presentation" fade in below.

Variants:

  • A filmed variant exists.
  • Later on, the text was changed to a wiping "Films for the Humanities and Sciences". The lines don't appear.

Technique: Early Scanimate effects.

Audio: A soothing Moog tune with the sound of cheap sprinkling synth.

Availability: The standard variant was only known to appear on Ryan White Talks to Kids about AIDS, while the later variant was known to be seen on a VHS rip of Strangers Abroad: Pioneers of Social Anthropology.

Films for The Humanities & Sciences

Logo (1991-2000)

Visuals: On a white/gray marble background, the "FH" logo from the previous logo draws itself in black. When it's done, letters are seen zooming down inside the letters, and fully appear underneath the logo, reading "FILMS FOR THE HUMANITIES & SCIENCES". As "FH" turns into a black/tangerine gradient color, "A Presentation of" fades in above, and the company's URL fades in below.

Variants:

  • At the end of programs, only the company name appears, and below it "Princeton, New Jersey" fades in. It fades out, and over the background there is the stacked text "For information on thousands of programs in over seventy subject areas, visit www.films.com". That then fades out, as a copyright notice fades in later.
  • The color may vary from tangerine to dark pink.

Technique: Analog computer animation.

Audio: A synthesized, fancy-sounding orchestral tune, which is slightly shorter on the closing variant.

Availability: It has been seen on older prints distributed by the company. Some things it has been spotted on has been a 1998 VHS of Film, TV and Media Today: Film Industry, a 2000 VHS print for an episode of The People and the Power Game, and a print of the BBC adaptation of The Yellow Wallpaper. It is unknown if they appeared on TV airings of the said things.

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