Starz Originals
Shadeed A. Kelly, EnormousRat, BenIsRandom, GoAnimateFan199Pro, StephenCezar15, Henrynguye5 and SuperMax124
Captures by
Shadeed A. Kelly, BenIsRandom, Eric S., EnormousRat, Henrynguye5 and SuperMax124
Editions by
Nameless_Guy and GoAnimateFan199Pro
Video captures courtesy of
Chris West, Mr. Gann, GoAnimateFan199Pro and Broken Saw
Background
Starz Originals is the production arm of the Starz network producing original series, formerly known as Starz Encore Entertainment until it was renamed to its current name in 2005 when Starz began to expand its original programming slate in order to compete with rivals Showtime and HBO, with the inclusion of scripted series.
1st Logo (October 14, 2005-2007)
Visuals: On a black background, the words "STARZ" and "ORIGINALS" in all uppercase and bolded are seen placed next to the 2005 Starz logo's star, with "ORIGINALS" in blue.
Technique: A still 2D graphic.
Audio: None.
Availability: Used in TV shows. Seen on the first season of Martin Lawrence Presents: 1st Amendment Stand Up on DVD.
2nd Logo (December 12, 2006-2007)
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Visuals: On a waving blue silk background is the 2005 Starz logo's star draw in and "starz" in white appearing in a teal flourish of light. Then the word "ORIGINALS" fades in.
Technique: CGI by PMcD Design in New York. Read more here.
Audio: A harsh synth flourish with twinkles, followed by three piano notes and a reversed cymbal crash.
Availability: Used in documentaries. Seen on Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride: Hunter S. Thompson on Film.
3rd Logo (December 16, 2007-May 22, 2009)
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Visuals: On a black background is many blue streaks flying across the screen starting from the left. The letters of the word "ORIGINALS" fly onto the screen, and the blue streaks disappear, leaving behind the word "ORIGINALS" with a blue aura behind it. The screen flashes white and brings in the 2005 Starz logo, which briefly flashes. The completed logo slowly zooms out.
Variant: A still version exists.
Technique: CGI.
Audio: A whoosh, followed by a slower, recomposed version of the final part of the 2005 Starz Feature Presentation theme. None on the still version.
Availability: Seen on the first seasons of Head Case and Party Down. Also seen on Anime: Drawing a Revolution.
4th Logo (July 9, 2008-February 25, 2011)
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Visuals:
- Opening Variant: On a bronze background, four frame lines, mimicking the style of a camera shot, expand quickly. A blurred close up shot of the Starz logo appears, with "ORIGINALS" below it. The blur disappears quickly and the logo focuses. A little lens blur appears. The camera frame expands and shrinks back to its normal size. There is a close up shot of the text "FEATURE", stacked on top of "PRESENTATION". The text focuses. The background shows a blurred panning transition of the text. The frame and the text fully expand out of view. On the same background, this time with the effect of a strip of film flickering, the given rating for a specified program appears. It is arranged like this: Below the text "THE FOLLOWING IS RATED", is the program's given rating, for example "TV-G", "TV-PG", "TV-MA". If the program has Dolby audio encoding, the then-current Dolby logo is shown present inside a black border, with the text "DOLBY DIGITAL" next to the border. If the program contains closed captions, the respective symbol representing closed captioning is shown inside another black border, below the other one, with the text "CLOSED CAPTIONED" next to the border. A flash appears, erasing everything but the background. If the program has a TV-PG, TV-14, or TV-MA rating, a black border(s) (ranging from 1-4 depending on the given rating info) appears on the right-hand corner of the screen.
- Closing Variant: The focus from the opening variant is shown. In it, an even larger close up of the Starz logo is shown as it sways around the screen like a camera pan. The screen then flashes and "ORIGINALS" appears. The text pans. The screen flashes again, and the logo zooms out in its fully formed position. The background flickers and the logo gives out a lens flare. The screen flashes one final time and the logo disappears.
Technique: CGI by Troika Design Group of Hollywood, California (you can see the full showcase here).
Audio: An organ-synth theme.
Availability: Seen on Crash: The Series, Martin Lawrence Presents: First Amendment Stand-up, Head Case, Party Down, Spartacus, and Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Also seen on the documentary Industrial Light & Magic: Creating The Impossible.
5th Logo (February 25, 2011-August 9, 2013)
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Visuals: The sequence starts on a sparkling orange star-hole (between the "a" and "r") in the Starz logo, which reveals itself and zooms out in a bright space. There is an orange torrent below. Four brackets surround the logo and "ORIGINALS" expand below it. The torrent below shines.
Technique: CGI by Troika Design Group of Hollywood, California (you can read more about the rebranding here).
Audio: An original fanfare with four beats at the end.
Availability: Seen on Spartacus Vengeance, Camelot and Magic City, in which this logo is intact on DVD.
6th Logo (April 12, 2013-2016)
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Note: A higher quality version of the logo (audio-only) can be found here.
Visuals: On a black background, a satin-silk smoke trail rises up. The Starz Originals logo from the previous logos forms beside the smoke trail.
Technique: CGI by yU+co of Hollywood, California. You can read more about the rebranding here.
Audio: A bouncy synth with a piano tune.
Availability: Seen on shows from the era on DVD and Blu-ray.
7th Logo (April 5, 2016-2022)
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Visuals:
- Pre-show Variant: On a monochromatic background with beige lighting and frosted glass flooring, a video shot of the show about to play (lasts one second) appears as it zooms out to reveal another shot, and again to reveal one more shot. Then on a similar background with a different focus and dust residue from the lighting flying over the screen, the shot zooms out to reveal the show's name (in Museo Sans) in all caps (for example: "OUTLANDER"). Below it is "STARTS NOW". A viewer discretion warning fades in, bearing a resemblance to the 2nd logo but with a few differences. First, the background. Second, the font. Third, the warning borders are replaced with flat lines and have been moved to the beginning. And finally, all program specifications have been moved to the bottom center of the screen. This variant also doesn't mention Starz whatsoever.
- Opening Variant: On a black background, a flash reveals the Starz logo. Next to it, "ORIGINALS PRESENTS" fades in.
- Closing Variant: In the same setting as the pre-show variant, a light reveals the text "STARZ ORIGINALS", which zooms out. The light dies down but remains on the flooring.
- App Variant: It is the same as the pre-show variant, but it is viewed in portrait and landscape views. It is also used in on-demand prints, but with a viewer discretion warning shown after the logo.
Trivia:
- Starz has compiled their own brandbook with more info about their rebranding. Read it here.
- The animation was complied by Troika Design Group of Hollywood, California, who were also responsible for the 2008 and 2011 logos. You can read more about the rebranding (and see the full showcase) here.
Technique: Computer animation.
Audio:
- Pre-show Variants: A piano tune with percussion and bass notes that sounds similar to the current WMHT logo music.
- Opening Variant: None.
- Closing and App Variants: Same as the pre-show variant, except a whoosh has been added to the beginning of the logo, and the tune has been shortened to 3 piano notes.
Availability:
- Seen on episodes of Starz Original series from the period, including Outlander, Blunt Talk, the Power franchise including Power Book II: Ghost, Power Book III: Raising Kanan (with the last episode to use this being "It's a Business, Man") Power Book IV: Force, and Ash vs Evil Dead.
- It's also seen on new Starz Original series such as American Gods, The Spanish Princess, the TV adaptation of Blindspotting and Gaslit.
- It started to plaster the previous logos on former and pre-2016 episodes of Starz originals such as Boss and Flesh and Bone.
- Starting in 2018 on DVD releases of Starz original series, after the demise of Anchor Bay Entertainment, the closing variant began appearing at the start of the episode after the DVD menu.
- This logo was cut off on Amazon Prime Video international prints of the Starz original American Gods in which is on Amazon Prime Video in other countries.
- This also plasters the 1994 20th Century Fox logo on Starz prints of Titan A.E..
Legacy: It has been noted by the community as one of the worst examples of the over-simplification trend in logos, since it removes the Star aspect the previous logos had, replaced with nothing more but generic text.
8th Logo (October 2, 2022-)
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Behind the scenes.
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Visuals:
- Opening Variant: On a moving teal background is the new Starz logo wipe in from left to right, with a larger blurred one seen from behind as it does so. Then is the "STARZ ORIGINALS PRESENTS" text like before, except with the new font (called Averta) as it wipes in. The background slowly dies down to black as the text is shown before it fades out.
- Closing Variant: Same as above, although the text at the start is moved to the center and as we see the new Starz logo wipe in, the smaller text "ORIGINALS" appears below it in the same fashion. The portions on the top-left and top-right also do not fade out.
Technique: Practical effects enhanced with CGI by Loyalkaspar and FX WRX. Similar to the 2011 StudioCanal logo, the logo was cut into glass panels with lasers and moved around as light shone through it. Here is some raw, untouched-by-CG footage of the glass.
Audio:
- Opening Variant: None.
- Closing Variant: A recomposed version of the previous logo's music, now slower and with a jazz drum beat. This was done by YouTooCanWoo.
Availability: It debuted on The Serpent Queen episode "A New Era" and later on Power Book III: Raising Kanan, starting with "No Love Lost". It has been seen on all programming from Starz since then.
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Starz Originals |
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