Moonlight Productions (Hmong)

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum


Background

Moonlight Productions was a Hmong film and music video company founded by Vaj Hawj (Va Her) in 1992. They stopped making movies and music near the 2010s, but the founder has uploaded them on their own channel starting in 2016.

1st Logo (2000-mid/late 2000s)

Visuals: A picture of a Laotian river at dawn, with the Moon visible in the sky fades in. The picture then fades away into the print logo of the company, consisting of a white square with a black drawing of the crescent moon illuminating a watery landscape, which is represented by a wavy zig-zag. It zooms back into the top of the screen and the words "MOONLIGHT" in a white/black/blue gradient and "PRODUCTIONS" with another white/black gradient slide in below it.

Variant: On Shawn Lee collaborations and on some music movies, the 1st half of the Preah Vihear Productions logo from Cambodia plays, where the hand raises up from the water with the disc player. Once the CD sets into the tray of the disc player, the animation fades away into the usual logo picture, and the rest is played normally.

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Audio: The opening music or none. The variant uses Preah Vihear logo's audio at the beginning. Nothing else plays during the live-action picture. A muffled stock-sounding jingle when the logo forms.

Availability: Seen on every movie they made during the 2000s, most have been uploaded to their YouTube channel. As for the Preah Vihear starting variant, you can only come across those on Hmong music movies and collaborations with Shawn Lee DV Production. Vwm Vim Hlub Luag Tus is one example. The movie is also uploaded on YouTube.

2nd Logo (2000s-2010’s)

Visuals: On a black background, there is a low-quality capture of the yellow moon illuminating the sea. The words "MOONLIGHT PRODUCTION" in blue then jump out from the bottom. The footage then shrinks away from the bottom of the screen, and then it fades into the company's print logo on a black square, with everything placed in a dark blue background. The text drops as this happens.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: The nocturnal field ambiance with cricket sounds playing through the whole logo. A splash when the text jumps out.

Availability: Seen on various Hmong movies and productions from the 2000s, most are also uploaded on their YouTube. This appears on films like Poj Niam Siab Muag and distributed home videos of the 2006 Tshaus Hawj Concert Tour.