MPL Communications: Difference between revisions

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Background

MPL Communications is the umbrella company for the business interests of former Beatles bassist Paul McCartney. Established in February 1969 as Adegrove Limited, the company handles McCartney's post-Beatles work, as well as a wide range of other music material. The acronym "MPL" stands for McCartney Productions Limited.

1st Logo (26 November 1980)

Visuals: Inside a yellow box with a thin outline is the tubular text "mpl" with the letters' ends touching the outlines of the black oval underneath.

Technique: A still graphic.

Audio: The ending theme of the film.

Availability: Only seen at the end of Rockshow, which is kept on restored prints of said movie as well as on VOD prints.

2nd Logo (29 July 1982-)

Visuals: On a white background, three planets, one resembling Saturn and the rest being ordinary planets, bounce about and a hand clutches one of the planets. The camera zooms down as a man is seen juggling the planets, albeit in the wrong positions. He then juggles the planets into the correct position and the man and planets fade into silhouettes, which causes one of the rounded planets to turn into a crescent moon. The white background fades into a snowglobe on a black background and "mpl" in the same format but in an outline as before fades in the snowglobe, in front of the juggler's legs.

Trivia: This logo was animated at Shootsey Studios in London and directed by Len Lewis, based on a hand drawn animatic by Ravi Swami. The logo was initially made in CGI to map out its appearance. The juggler is hand drawn, but the planets and the movement of the camera were mapped out as 3D models, then drawn on animation cels to perfectly match what was generated.

Variants:

A print version exists consisting of just the juggler and the text, now filled in.
- The size of this variant may vary, sometimes being big and other times really small.
- Occasionally, the logo is also seen within a vertical white box.
- Its earliest appearance has the logo orange.
- On Paul McCartney: In the World Tonight, the stacked, written text with a white shadow "Production ©1997" is shown underneath the logo. Plus, the juggler has no facial details.
- On Paul McCartney: Live at The Cavern Club, the text appears within the juggler's chest. Plus, the man himself is black with an orange shadow and a copyright notice reading "© 1999 MPL Communications Ltd./Inc." is shown below.
A CGI-animated version has the logo in black and white, the snowglobe with more detail, the juggler smaller, and the text "©2007 MPL Communications Ltd" underneath.
On the "When Winter Comes" music video, the logo is smaller and cropped, resembling the 16:9 aspect ratio. Not long after the logo is finished, it zooms out and fades away.
On Paul McCartney in Red Square, a short version is used which has the logo start with the text fading in.

Technique: Cel animation; see Trivia above.

Audio: Synthesized music, a held note when the logo animation becomes the print logo and three drumbeats at the end. After it, the music ends with the note morphing into some Turkish-like guitar trill.

Availability:

Can be seen on films produced by Paul McCartney, which usually consists of concert films, documentaries, short films, and several more.
The animated variant isn't used on that many films or music videos.
The earliest film to use the animated logo was Paul McCartney: Put It There from 1989 and is also later preserved on the 2007 DVD release of The McCartney Years, Wings Over Seattle, and the "When Winter Comes" music video.
The print logo is easier to find and first appeared on the short film The Cooler.
The standard version of this logo can be seen on McCartney 3,2,1 and some live Paul McCartney concerts at The Cavern Club in Liverpool and New York City.
The standard version of this logo can also be found at the start of the 1985 UK VHS release of Rupert and the Frog Song (1984) from Virgin Video.
The box variant can be seen on The Love We Make.
The CGI-animated version has only been found on PAL prints of The McCartney Years.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{PageCredits|description=DreamMechanic|edits=thehugetvfan|video=EnormousRat|edits=Michael Kenchington}}
-''Logo description by DreamMechanic''
+===Background===
-''Editions by thehugetvfan''
+'''MPL Communications''' is the umbrella company for the business interests of former Beatles bassist Paul McCartney. Established in February 1969 as Adegrove Limited, the company handles McCartney's post-Beatles work, as well as a wide range of other music material. The acronym "MPL" stands for '''M'''cCartney '''P'''roductions '''L'''imited.
+===1st Logo (26 November 1980)===
-''Video capture courtesy of EnormousRat''
+<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">
+MPL Communications (1980) (From - Rockshow).png
+</gallery>
+'''Visuals:''' Inside a {{color|gold|yellow}} box with a thin outline is the tubular text "{{color|gold|mpl}}" with the letters' ends touching the outlines of the black oval underneath.
-Background: MPL Communications is associated with Paul McCartney's music. Interestingly, the acronym stands for '''M'''cCartney '''P'''roductions '''L'''imited.
+'''Technique:''' A still graphic.
-(1983-)
+'''Audio:''' The ending theme of the film.
-Nickname: "Planet Juggler", "The Paul McCartney Logo".<br />Logo: On a white background we see three planets, one resembling Saturn (the rest being ordinary planets) bounce about and we see a hand clutch one of the planets. The camera zooms down as we see a man (it could be Paul McCartney) juggling the planets. He then juggles the planets into the correct position and the man and planets fade into silhouettes, witch causes one of the rounded planets to turn into a crescent moon, and the white background fades into a snowglobe on a black background and "mpl" in a tubular font fades in the snowglobe, in front of the juggler's legs. <br />FX/SFX: The three planets bouncing about, the hand clutching one of the planets, the camera zooming down, the man juggling the planets, the man and planets fading into  silhouettes, the snowglobe and <nowiki>''</nowiki>mpl<nowiki>''</nowiki> fading in.<br />Music/Sounds: Some creepy synthesized music, a held note when the logo animation becomes the print logo and three drumbeats at the end. After it, the music ends with the note morphing into some Turkish-like guitar music.<br />Availability: Uncommon. Can be seen on films produced by Paul McCartney, such as ''Paul McCartney: Put It There'' from 1989 and the 2007 DVD Release of ''The McCartney Years''.<br />Editor's Note: The music and juggling man may scare some viewers. The drumbeats may also startle some unexpecting viewers, but the guitar music at the end of the music looks very sort of relaxing.
+'''Availability:''' Only seen at the end of ''Rockshow'', which is kept on restored prints of said movie as well as on VOD prints.
-[[Category:Movie Logos]]
-[[Category:British Logos]]
+===2nd Logo (29 July 1982-)===
-[[Category:British Movie Logos]]
+<tabber>
+Images=
+{{#tag:tabber|
+Animated Variants=
+<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">
+MPL (1983).jpg
+MPL Communications (2020, smaller) (From - When Winter Comes music video).png
+MPL Communications (2007).jpg
+</gallery>
+{{!}}-{{!}}
+Print Variants=
+<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">
+MPL Communications (2021) (From - McCartney 3,2,1 episode 1).png
+MPL Communications (2018) (From - Paul McCartney Live at The Cavern Club, Liverpool).png
+MPL Communications (2018) (From - Paul McCartney Live from NYC).png
+MPL Communications (1997) (From - In the World Tonight).png
+MPL Communications, Eagle Vision, and Serial Pictures (2012) (From - Paul McCartney - Live Kisses).png
+MPL Communications (2013) (From - Rai 5 HD print of The Love We Make).png
+MPL Communications (1982) (From - The Cooler).png
+MPL Communications (2000) (From - DVD release of Paul McCartney Live at The Cavern Club).png
+</gallery>
+}}
+|-|
+Video=
+{{YouTube|id=7Z8WSKQdZZU|id2=1qZHlEFrc5Q|id3=XkQoCuQGagE}}
+</tabber>
+'''Visuals:''' On a white background, three planets, one resembling Saturn and the rest being ordinary planets, bounce about and a hand clutches one of the planets. The camera zooms down as a man is seen juggling the planets, albeit in the wrong positions. He then juggles the planets into the correct position and the man and planets fade into silhouettes, which causes one of the rounded planets to turn into a crescent moon. The white background fades into a snowglobe on a black background and "mpl" in the same format but in an outline as before fades in the snowglobe, in front of the juggler's legs.
+'''Trivia:''' This logo was animated at Shootsey Studios in London and directed by Len Lewis, based on a hand drawn animatic by Ravi Swami. The logo was initially made in CGI to map out its appearance. The juggler is hand drawn, but the planets and the movement of the camera were mapped out as 3D models, then drawn on animation cels to perfectly match what was generated.
+'''Variants:'''
+* A <u>print version exists</u> consisting of just the juggler and the text, now filled in.
+** The <u>size</u> of this variant may vary, sometimes being big and other times really small.
+** Occasionally, the logo is also seen within a <u>vertical white box</u>.
+** Its <u>earliest appearance</u> has the logo {{color|orange}}.
+** On <u>''Paul McCartney: In the World Tonight''</u>, the stacked, written text with a white shadow "{{color|red|Production ©1997}}" is shown underneath the logo. Plus, the juggler has no facial details.
+** On <u>''Paul McCartney: Live at The Cavern Club''</u>, the text appears within the juggler's chest. Plus, the man himself is black with an orange shadow and a copyright notice reading "{{color|orange|© 1999 MPL Communications Ltd./Inc.}}" is shown below.
+* A <u>CGI-animated version</u> has the logo in black and white, the snowglobe with more detail, the juggler smaller, and the text "{{font|Times New Roman|©2007 MPL Communications Ltd}}" underneath.
+* On the <u>"When Winter Comes" music video</u>, the logo is smaller and cropped, resembling the 16:9 aspect ratio. Not long after the logo is finished, it zooms out and fades away.
+* On <u>''Paul McCartney in Red Square''</u>, a short version is used which has the logo start with the text fading in.
+'''Technique:''' Cel animation; see Trivia above.
+'''Audio:''' Synthesized music, a held note when the logo animation becomes the print logo and three drumbeats at the end. After it, the music ends with the note morphing into some Turkish-like guitar trill.
+'''Availability:'''
+* Can be seen on films produced by Paul McCartney, which usually consists of concert films, documentaries, short films, and several more.
+* The <u>animated variant</u> isn't used on that many films or music videos.
+* The earliest film to use the animated logo was ''Paul McCartney: Put It There'' from 1989 and is also later preserved on the 2007 DVD release of ''The McCartney Years'', ''Wings Over Seattle'', and the "When Winter Comes" music video.
+* The <u>print logo</u> is easier to find and first appeared on the short film ''The Cooler''.
+* The standard version of this logo can be seen on ''McCartney 3,2,1'' and some live Paul McCartney concerts at The Cavern Club in Liverpool and New York City.
+* The standard version of this logo can also be found at the start of the 1985 UK VHS release of ''Rupert and the Frog Song'' (1984) from [[Virgin Video]].
+* The box variant can be seen on ''The Love We Make''.
+* The <u>CGI-animated version</u> has only been found on PAL prints of ''The McCartney Years''.
+[[Category:British music entertainment logos]]
+[[Category:Music entertainment logos]]
+[[Category:British film logos]]
+[[Category:Film logos]]
+[[Category:United Kingdom]]
+[[Category:Paul McCartney]]