Vestron Video

Main Logo Variations

Credits

Captures by
JART4629, snelfu, V of Doom, Eric S. and Paperking99

Editions by
V of Doom, universalxdisney172, Nathan B., Jesse Coffey and Michael Kenchington

Video captures courtesy of
osdatabase, Firstname Lastname, Cesar Blanco and TheEriccorpinc

Background

Vestron Video was formed from the assets of the original Time-Life Video in 1981. Based in Stamford, Connecticut, the company released special interest videos as well as independent films, B-movies, TV movies, and pornography until 1991 (through Penthouse Video). In 1991, Vestron, Inc. was acquired by Live Entertainment (later known as "Artisan Entertainment"), and later in 1993, it was completely folded into said company. In 2016, Vestron Video was revived by Lionsgate as a collector-oriented genre label for catalog titles (mostly horror films), similar to other boutique labels like Scream Factory and Blue Underground.

1st Logo (February-October 1982)

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Visuals: On a blue background, a large, angular "V" is seen facing towards the left, made of thick segmented lines that are larger for the "face" and thinner for the "sides". Above the logo, "VESTRON VIDEO" is seen with a trademark symbol on the top right.

Technique: A computer scan of a printed graphic.

Audio: None.

Audio Variant: On the Laserdisc release of Tribute, the 1980 Time-Life Video music is heard, due to sloppy plastering.

Availability: It was a placeholder logo and appears on Vestron VHS, Betamax, and some Laserdisc releases of the era.

• Such releases were The Changeling, Rodan, Good Guys Wear Black, The Last Chase, The Silent Partner, The Greatest Adventure, The Cannonball Run, Nothing Personal, Go Tell the Spartans, and Godzilla, King of the Monsters.
• It also appears on some late 1980s reissues of their releases, including Fort Apache: The Bronx, among others.
• This also appears on the Laserdisc editions of some of their earliest releases, including The Private Eyes, even after the next logo was introduced.

2nd Logo (December 1982-June 25, 1986) (1983-1987, international)

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Visuals: On a black background, the screen transitions to a screen filled with white stripes via a square wipe effect, and light blue laser-like lights care down the lower sections of the screen, revealing a black-dark red gradient background. As the corners are finished wiping away, a laser scans upwards to carve out a triangle from the stripes and flashes also light blue, forming a large "V". The "V" zooms out just off-center, with smaller pink sidings joining it a bit later and wipe in downwards, completing the "V" logo from before as 4 pink lights (which resemble Christmas lights) ping on and off on the top and bottom corners of the logo. "VESTRON" wipes in via the laser light as a gigantic size, shrinking down to the right to make room for "VIDEO" to pop in (along with remnants of an TM symbol). The lights continue to ping until the logo fades to black.

Variants:

• A longer variant exists, which has the logo staying on-screen for seven or eight seconds longer after the music stops. This instance happens on the 1983 VHS release of They Call Me Bruce?.
• Sometimes, a copyright stamp, either reading "© (year) Vestron, Inc." or "© (Year) VESTRON INCORPORATED" zooms in below.

Technique: Early computer effects or Scanimation, with possible chroma keyed lights.

Audio: A repeating synthesized piano ditty plays out when the stripes are formed, which then transitions to a more intense synth theme, similar to a '80s news theme. Synthesized zaps, burning noises, and laser zaps also play throughout the logo. This was composed by Jim Flamberg.

Audio Trivia: This is also the theme for How to Beat Home Video Games, which Vestron also produced. The sound effects are also extremely similar to the ones used in the logo.

Audio Variants:

• On some of their earliest VHS releases, there are no sound effects and the music also has a slightly vibrato effect to it. This is commonly seen with the copyright variant, but it has also been seen without the copyright at some point.
• On some VHS releases in Australia, a different synthesized theme, "Videospots 4" by Harry Forbes from the Parry Music Library, is heard with added synth sound effects which are quieter than the original ones. This fanfare was also the same one that was used on the United Film Distribution Company logo.
• Some hi-fi stereo releases from toward the end of the logo's life use a heavily reverberated version of the fanfare, which is also rechanneled.
• A silent version also exists.

Availability: Appears on Vestron video releases of the time.

• It's first appearance, and only appearance during 1982 so far, was on the How to Beat Home Video Games series of VHS releases. It was more widely distributed starting in 1983.
• Notable releases include Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Lord of the Rings, Harry and Son, Trancers, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Ghoulies, Mad Max, The Devil's Gift, Interface, Lifeforce, Burial Ground, Curtains, Amityville 3-D, The House by the Cemetery, Endless Love, Re-Animator, The House on Sorority Row, The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, Mutant, Class of 1984, Spaceship, Yellowbeard, How to Beat Home Video Games, Mr. Mom, The Care Bears Movie, An American Werewolf in London, For the Love of Benji, and Class.
• Outside of the U.S., this appears on all Vestron Video International VHS releases that were made prior to 1987.
• Also seen on a Showtime airing of The Company of Wolves back in 2010.
• The first VHS release of Mr. Mom has this logo, but is missing when Vestron later reprinted it.
• On some early releases with the Vestron "Red V-Ball" on the box and label, like early National Geographic releases (including the Laserdisc of Man: The Incredible Machine), this may appear.
• The copyright variant appears on the aforementioned How to Beat Home Video Games series, with the first volume having the first copyright stamp and no sound effects, while the second and third have the second copyright stamp and sound effects.
  • It also appears on the original VHS release of Young Doctors in Love, which has the first copyright stamp and no sound effects.
• This logo also makes appearances on the Lionsgate DVD release of Irreconcilable Differences, the Full Moon/Echo Bridge releases and a Movies4Men (now GREAT! Movies Action) airing of Trancers, a Hulu print of the animated Animal Farm, the Artisan DVD release of Shadows Run Black, and HBO's broadcasts of Ghoulies (from May 1986) and Re-Animator (from January 1987), which probably used transfers from Vestron's Laserdisc/video masters.
• In the UK, this appears on VHS releases such as Return of the Living Dead and My Little Pony: The Movie (1986), despite the 3rd print logo on the box of both.
• It also appears on the 1985 pre-cert UK VHS release of Don't Open Till Christmas, and the 1986 UK VHS release of Challenge of the Gobots: The Gobotron Saga, respectively.

Legacy: This logo remains a home video classic among many, as well as a source of nostalgia.

3rd Logo (July 1986-August 1993, April 27, 2021)

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  Original version

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  2021 version

Visuals: Same as the Vestron Pictures logo, except "PICTURES" is replaced by "VIDEO".

Variants:

• On the VUDU print of the 1986 film Sex Appeal, the logo is stretched to fit the 16:9 aspect ratio. However, Tubi's print is in the correct 4:3 ratio.
• A re-animated/enhanced version of this logo exists, which is based on the remade Vestron Pictures logo, seen on the Ultra HD Blu-ray release of Dirty Dancing, which opens with some VHS static and distorted music.

Technique: CGI animated and designed by Jan Carlee, Christine Chang, and Ken Pelin (among others) at R/Greenberg Associates. All three were previously a part of the special effects team for the original TRON movie.

Audio: Same as the Vestron Pictures logo, composed by Roger Bellon.

Audio Variant: Sometimes, the logo is silent, or on some later releases (verification needed), had the Vestron Television music.

Availability:

• Appears on VHS releases from this era, such as SpaceCamp, From Beyond, Class of 1999, Waxwork, 976-EVIL 2, The Astral Factor, Dolls, Over Her Dead Body, Age Isn't Everything, Ghost Warrior, Fear (1990), To Live and Die in L.A. (early prints have the previous logo), Valet Girls, Parents, C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud, Ghoulies II-III, Naked Obsession, Dead Aim, Dirty Dancing, Earth Girls Are Easy and later National Geographic and Nova Video Library VHS releases.
• This also makes appearances on the 2003 Artisan DVD release of Bride of Re-Animator, the Lionsgate DVD releases of Personal Services, Ironweed and Slaughter High, a TCM airing as well as an Amazon Prime print (the latter even appearing after Live Home Video's warning screen) of Dead Sleep, VUDU, Amazon Prime and Tubi's prints of Sex Appeal and Warrior Queen, at the end of a FEARnet airing of The Gate, and an Encore Suspense airing of The Bedroom Window.
• This also makes an appearance on the MGM DVD release of Basic Training, before the 1995 MGM logo; the MGM logo, however, probably plasters over the Moviestore logo.
• On the 2002 Artisan Special Edition DVD release of Dirty Dancing, this plasters the Vestron Pictures logo.
• It is unknown if this appears on any of their 1993 EP-mode reissues of certain of their Orion Pictures product, such as Amityville 3-D, Broadway Danny Rose, The Bounty, and The Purple Rose of Cairo.

4th Logo (July 26, 2016-)

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Visuals: On a black background, the white stripes form similarly to the 2nd logo, albeit cleaner and in a fixed 4:3 aspect ratio, but then suddenly zooms out to reveal the stripes as a giant striped block in a futuristic laboratory-like space, floating above a glowing circular platform. The aspect ratio also expands out into a 16:9 ratio as it zooms out. 2 large laser devices swivel down from the ceiling and carve the block into a "V", again in a similar fashion to the 2nd logo, as the camera pans around the lasers. The devices rise back up as the camera focuses on the "V", 2 claws bringing in the side stripes in very dark grey from both sides of the screen, and another device rises up as this happens, turning a sharp 90 degrees to reveal "VESTRON" above it. The arms and platform retract, "VESTRON VIDEO" forms like in the 2nd logo but with extra sparks and distortion, and the logo flashes. The screen pans slightly downwards to focus on the logo a bit more before the screen glitches and cuts to black.

Trivia: This was designed by Michael Felsher of Red Shirt Pictures and graphic designer Jess Bryden. Upon creating this logo, Felsher commented: "Several years ago I discussed what it would be like to update the Vestron logo with a good friend of mine, Jess Bryden, a gifted graphic designer and filmmaker. When Vestron Video was greenlit, I approached Jess officially about updating the logo. The results were everything I could've hope for and more. References the past, but brings it into the future".

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A dramatic rearrangement of the second logo's music, complete with the synth sounds from the logo. It ends with what sounds like a mixture of a light switch flick sound and a loud slam.

Availability: It debuted online and appears on releases from Lionsgate's Vestron Video Collector's Series, beginning with Blood Diner and Chopping Mall.