MBC 1

Credits

Descriptions by
Doctorine Dark and TVB

Captures by
Doctorine Dark and TVB

Editions by
Doctorine Dark and TVB

Video captures courtesy of
Hafiz Mediaworks, Hans Olav Nyborg, Orhan Amin, amer aboashe, and more

Background

MBC1 is the flagship television channel of the MBC Group, launched on September 18, 1991.

1st ID (September 18, 1991-1990s)

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Visuals: On a black background, a black sphere with an orange glow on the right, forming a crescent-like shape, slowly zooms out to the right side of the screen. As this happens, a slight pulse of light glows on the center, and 3 golden curvy lines appear, spinning to the left side of the screen, forming a stylized "m". Just before the "m" forms, streaks of wind from the left fall to the center of the screen, leaving a stylized "b". The "b" slightly goes upwards to fit the proportion of the "m" and "c". Then the text "مركز تلفزيون الشرق الأوسط" (meaning "Middle East Broadcasting Center") fades in at the bottom of the aforementioned letters and glows for a second. The finalized product stays for a few seconds.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A long, deep brass note, followed by a timpani, and a 2-note horn segment (with the second note held much longer), leading to a dramatic brass tune, and ending with a choir. Swooshes can be heard when the "m" is being formed.

2nd ID (1993?)

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Visuals: The logo starts off with a violet sky environment containing a close-up of a satellite getting panned upwards. Nearly two seconds later, a few golden strokes (similar to the first logo) appear, abruptly rotating to the left. When the strokes disappear, the same letter "m" from the first logo is seen for a split second, before disappearing. Once the letter is not shown, the strokes appear again in the same manner, this time leaving the letter "b" shown, also for a split second. The letter disappears again and the strokes appear once again, leaving off the "c". The strokes appear yet again, but it rotates clockwise instead, and is more continuous. After a few seconds, the full logo fades in, and the strokes fade out. Finally, the logo slightly zooms out.

Technique: Live-action and 2D computer animation.

Audio: A calming tune, ending with a few piano notes.

3rd ID (2001-2003)

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  10th anniversary variant

Visuals: The logo starts off with a bluescale environment consisting of a multitude of the letter "m" stylized as the last two logos. The frontmost letter has a golden color and is at an extreme close-up, while the rest of the m's behind the golden m are made of glass, and the logo passes the letters towards the left. Once movement from the m's is complete, a blur effect appears as a transition to a close-up shot of the letter "b", which is also made of glass, as the logo does the same movement from the previous letter. The blur transition happens again once the movement is completed, and the letter "c" is shown at a close up shot. The same movement happens to the letter as a sunburst shines at the letter, as well as orange shapes appearing behind said letter. Once said movement is done, the logo zooms into the background, with all three of the aforementioned letters in their respective styles shown at a normal shot are seen zooming out to their positions in order of appearance.

Variant: There is a variant used for MBC1's 10th anniversary. The logo continues as normal, but a second after the logo is formed, the "m" and "c" quickly go left and right offscreen, respectively. The "b" turns into a red stylized "10", and sparkles spread from it. The logo then fades in below the "10". Candles then appear on the "10".

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A majestic fanfare is heard throughout the entirety of the logo, as well as a shine sound effect for the scene consisting of the close-up shot for the letter "b".

4th ID (2003-2005?)

Visuals: The logo starts off with a close-up shot of a man in a desert-like environment, who looks up after half a second. After a couple of seconds, the logo cuts to see the man slightly further, revealing that said man is looking at an egyptian pyramid, as the logo tilts to the two. As this occurs, a faint crescent illumination can be seen on the pyramid. Finally, the illumination shines, forming a slightly modified version of the MBC logo.

Technique: A combination of live-action CGI.

Audio: A dramatic timpani and strings tune.

5th ID (2006-2009)

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Visuals:

• Chairs: On a white background with a yellow path of circle patterns, clips of a woman and a man sitting on rotating chairs are shown. After a while, the text mbc in the same font style as the last three idents forms from circles on the right side of the screen.
• Breakdancer: On a white background with white cubes, clips of a man breakdancing and moving around on a red cube are shown. At some point, he sits, apparently exhausted. On the right the MBC logo forms from a square pattern.

Technique: Another combination of live-action and CGI.

Audio:

• For the Chairs ident, an upbeat techno tune plays. When the logo forms, electronic chords can be heard.
• For the Breakdancer ident, a similar techno tune, only much heavier, plays. Reversed heavy synth sounds can be heard when the logo forms.

6th ID (2009-2012)

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Visuals: A minimal-saturated live-action footage of an event can be shown, where only the red in the footage is colored. The known list goes as follows:

• Horse A: A horse is shown next to two people, one being a girl and the other being a grown-up male. The girl can be seen smiling and petting the horse's head, and the male can also be seen smiling and holding onto a rope to the horse's gear.
• Horse B: Another girl can be seen petting a horse's head at a beach environment.
• Horse C: Yet another girl with another grown-up male is seen riding a horse while the horse walks.
• Umbrella: A woman holding an umbrella and spinning it while walking across a pathway consisting of many trees at both sides of the pathway is shown.
• Swing: A different woman is shown to be swinging on a swing.

As the footage plays, the MBC logo from the last logo forms and shines.

Technique: Yet another combination of live-action and CGI.

Audio: Piano tunes can be heard, each ident (outside of the Horse A and C idents) having a different rhythm.

7th ID (2012-)

Visuals:

• Tank: Footage of a boy placing a red circle consisting of a smile onto the tip of a tank's gun is shown. The MBC on-print logo from the last logo slides in.
• Stoplight: Another live-action footage is shown, which consists of a woman driving a car while looking at a stoplight. The ident cuts to the stoplight, which is on stop mode and has the same smile as the Tank ident. Then, the ident cuts again to the same woman smiling at the stoplight. The stoplight turns green, and the woman drives off. The stoplight turns red again with the same smile, and the MBC on-print logo slides in.

Technique: Again, live-action and CGI.

Audio: Different piano tunes from the last logo, each ident having a different rhythm.