Astro Wah Lai Toi

Credits

Descriptions by
FWKPedia

Compiled by
FWKPedia

Captures by
Novocom, FWKPedia

Editions by
FWKPedia

Video captures courtesy of
TKNG, The PSCNetwork, AIREL DIY CRAFTS & PLAYGAMES - HobbyDogTV, blect, Astro 華麗台 Wah Lai Toi, 𝗜𝗗, Josh

Background

Astro Wah Lai Toi (Cantonese: Astro 華麗台) was launched on June 1, 1996 on the Astro satellite provider in partnership with Hong Kong's TVB. It offered mainly TVB programming, alongside some local content.

Viewers were able to watch programmes in the Cantonese or Mandarin languages, with Malay, English and Chinese subtitles also being available by pressing the subtitle button.

On April 1, 2020, the channel was transitioned to being an On Demand channel, with TVB Jade taking its original spot.

1st ID (June 1, 1996-2001)

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Partial footage of the ident, as shown in a Novocom demo reel from 2004.

Visuals: It's same as the Astro Ria logo from the time, except that the final background consists of a giant bronze ring with moving streaks in it against a brown background with a light at the left. The light dims, making the background and the ring look red. Also, as the Astro logo zooms from its position, the letters of the text "華麗台" rotate and zoom from the screen at the same time as two golden curves rotate and fly in and settle around the Cantonese text. The background ripples once the logo is formed.

Technique: CGI produced by Novocom, an American motion graphics company.

Audio: Possibly a rendition of the Astro jingle from the time.

2nd (known) ID (September 29, 2003-April 15, 2007)

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Visuals: Depending on the variant, it shows silhouettes of at least one person doing an action against a scenery with an orange tint. At the end of the ident, two rectangles fade in and form a bigger rectangle, with the top part being salmon, and the bottom part being orange. The channel's name, stacked, fades in on the rectangle, which obtains two interior curves.

Variants:

• Daytime Variants: These variants involve a woman moving around in a dojo. After a few seconds, the scene fades to a waving curtain background where the logo formation takes place. Two variants are known to exist:
  • The woman swings a hand fan towards the screen. Multiple different views of her moving around while swinging the fan are then shown, with most of the views being close-ups. The woman then closes the fan, and the scene fades into the final product.
  • The woman is moving her hands around, surrounded by butterflies, light, plants, and floating leaves. The scene fades to another view of her at the same camera position, followed by a close-up view of her head and her hands and the butterflies, and a slightly closer-up view of her head and hands. The camera pans to focus on one of her hands and one of the butterflies, which flies away into the air as the scene fades to the final product.
• Nighttime Variant: The sequence starts with a shot of a futuristic city with a reflection on the surface, as the camera zooms to a person pointing at two things next to a market, before panning to a building to show another person waving their fist, and panning down to show yet another person dancing. The camera then moves and rotates to show a woman and a man about to hug each other, before zooming out to show the view of the city again, as the logo formation takes place.

Technique: Live-action footage and CGI produced by Sizzle Video, an Australian motion graphics and media production company.

Audio: The music depends on the variant, but it ends with a rendition of Astro's trademark five-note jingle from the time, accompanied by an electronic swoosh. There may be a male voiceover saying "What you are watching is Astro Wah Lai Toi." in Cantonese.

Audio Variants:

• Daytime Variants:
  • An ascending Chinese flute piece, evolving into a thirteen-note tune, accompanied by drumbeats and some low-pitched synth notes.
  • An eight-note electronic piano tune accompanied by a glitter noise, evolving into a twenty-one-note flute tune accompanied by electronic notes.
• Nighttime Variant: It starts off with a rapid tune consisting of electronic drumbeats, evolving into a dubstep tune accompanied by ten flute notes and more electronic drumbeats. The Astro jingle is in an electronic rendition.
• Breakbumpers:
  • Daytime Variant 1: The ascending Chinese flute piece, followed by the rendition of the Astro jingle.
  • Daytime Variant 2: Two Chinese flute notes, followed by the rendition of the Astro jingle.

3rd (known) ID (April 16, 2007-January 2008)

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Visuals: Against footage of glowing orange quadrilateral pads rotating and floating over a dark surface, a 3D model of the Astro Wah Lai Toi logo from before (this time having a more orange tint) flips in at the center of the screen.

Technique: 3D CGI.

Audio: Currently unknown, as the only footage available is from a promo.

Audio Variant: On promos, it's just the ending theme of the promo accompanied by an announcer.

4th (known) ID (January 2008-May 28, 2015)

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Visuals: Against a background of orange abstract shapes and flying light streaks, the Astro logo zooms towards the camera. As the camera is about to pass through the "s", the "t", and the curve, the sequence transitions to the following scenes that take place in the background that are put in the following order:

• A car with a reflection of lights from a tunnel passing through is shown, as if the car is travelling in a tunnel. Two sides of the car are shown, which consist of the front side and the right side. On the second view of the car, there is a reflection of a city on the windows.
• A woman in white clothing is shown walking towards the screen on a carpet, with two spotlight surrounding her, along with a director on his chair with a megaphone on his right hand at the right and a cameraman at the left. Multiple flashes appear in the background. A right side view of the woman is then shown as a streak shaped like a cursive "E" in a painting-styled design forms around her. A view of the woman's legs is then shown, followed by a back view of her walking. She is then shown still, looking at a streak forming in front of the screen.
• A man with sunglasses, in white clothing, a black overcoat, and a hat, along with four other men in a black shirt, are shown dancing on a stage with spotlights behind them. A close-up view of the leading member's face is then shown, followed by another view of the five members, another close-up view of the leading member's face with the other four members dancing in the background, yet another view of the five members, and a circle-shaped streak forming around the leading member as the camera zooms in towards him.
• A woman in black clothing at the left side of the screen is shown, along with another woman in white clothing at the right walking towards the screen. Their bodies flash as the woman in black clothing begins to walk away from the screen. A few streaks are also shown forming around the scene.
• Yet another woman in white clothing swinging white cloth around is then shown. First, a close-up view of her body is shown, followed by a farther view from her, another close-up view of her body with a streak forming around her, a full view of her body, and a top view of her.

A 3D model of the Astro Wah Lai Toi logo from before rotates in as its parts of its rectangle come together and the abstract shapes enclose the footage which fades to black. By the time the logo settles, a light passes through the interior curve of the logo. Light streaks are shown flying around the background.

Variants:

• An orange bar may fade in under the logo, with a rectangle with four white bars on it (indicating programmes with audio in different langauges) and/or a rectangle with three white dots on it (indicating programmes with available subtitles) on the bar.
• Short Variant: Just the scene where a woman is shown walking on a carpet, with the first shot of the footage being slightly extended. The last shot of the footage is replaced with another front view of her, being closer to the screen. The logo formation then takes place.
• Breakbumper: Just the last scene from the ident, with the shapes enclosing a black background.

Technique: A combination of live-action and CGI.

Audio: An electronic rendition of Astro's eight-note jingle from the time is first played, followed by a different eight-note tune that is played twice.

Audio Variants:

• Short Variant: Just the last few seconds of the ident.
• Breakbumper: A sped up version of the rendition of the company's eight-note jingle.

5th (known) ID (October 6, 2014-April 1, 2020)

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Visuals:

• October 6, 2014-September 1, 2015: The sequence starts with a reflection of a glassy "D" on an orange surface with dust particles flying over it as the camera rotates to show a bit of another shape beside it. The scene then cuts to a view of a glassy "華麗" against an orange gradient background, as the camera rotates and zooms from the text. The scene then cuts to a model of the Astro Wah Lai Toi logo with a small orange box with "HD" on it against an orange background with floating white shapes, as the camera turns and zooms to a closeup view of the "HD" box. The sequence ends with the camera turning and zooming from a bit of the left side of the logo until the logo faces towards the screen, as a light passes through the interior curve of the logo. A curvy rainbow shape then pops up behind the logo before fading.
• September 2, 2015-April 1, 2020: Same as before, but at the end, the logo moves to the middle of the screen, and the "HD" box hides behind the logo.

Variants:

• Before live programmes, the text "直播" fades in under the logo at the end of the ident.
• Breakbumper: The camera rotates from a view of the right side of the logo to a view of its front side, as a light passes through the interior curve of the logo, and the curvy rainbow shape appears and disappears. The background is also slightly different.

Technique: 3D CGI.

Audio: Two high-pitched choirs, accompanied by a calm twenty-nine-note piano tune, glitter noises, and swooshing sounds.

Audio Variant: The breakbumper variant has just a peaceful choir with a swooshing sting.