Key Video: Difference between revisions

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=== Background ===

'''Key Video''' was a sub-label of [[CBS/Fox Video|CBS/Fox]] for low-budget, classic, arthouse, and TV movie releases on video. It was later reactivated by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment as '''Key DVD''' to distribute budget DVDs, but the reformation was short-lived.

=== 1st Logo (Summer 1984) ===

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'''Logo:''' On a computerized space background, the words "KEY VIDEO", in a yellow Helvetica font, appear with a dissolving effect, arranged in a spiral-like fashion. They spin and spiral around five times in a Möbius strip path. After that, they arrange themselves in a straight line, then dissolving out with a "chyron mist" effect.

'''Variant:''' A B&W variant of the logo exists for films in B&W. So far, this is known only to appear on the 1984 VHS release of the 1948 film ''The Treasure of the Sierra Madre''.

'''Availability:''' Extremely rare, due to its very short lifespan and the fact that releases with this logo carried the next logo's packaging. Can be found on VHS releases of ''Who'll Stop the Rain'', ''The Buddy System'', ''Listen to Your Heart'' (not to be confused with the Roxette/D.H.T. song of the same name), ''Where's Poppa?'', ''Burn!'', ''Zardoz'', and ''Buffalo Bill and the Indians''. A B&W version was also sighted on a 1984 VHS release of ''The Treasure of the Sierra Madre''. Known later appearances include ''The Train'' and ''The Hospital''.

'''Legacy:''' This is most likely a placeholder.

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'''Logo:''' On a shady gray background, two 3-D elongated shapes and a cylinder flip towards the screen. The shapes align together, forming the outline of a key, as the 3-D words "KEY VIDEO" zoom out below. The logo “shines” and turns colorful, the top half blue, the circle part red, and the bottom half purple. The text "KEY VIDEO" (in ITC Lubalin Graph Bold) is a shade of pink, white, and blue.

*The logo sometimes appears in black and white.

*On the lower right of where the company name is, there is either a trademark symbol "TM" or a registered trademark symbol "®".

*This has appeared in orange, blue, and green colors at least once. The background is a more grayish color and the "KEY VIDEO" text is shaded in green, white, and orange. This is actually the entire logo hue-shifted by 180 degrees.

*The [[Chace Surround Sound]] logo may appear at the top left of the screen. This is on the one instance of the orange/green variant we know of.

*The logo is scaled down to the lower-right of the screen on parts where it explains what the preview about to be shown is about.

*On the 1987 VHS of ''The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'', a male voiceover (Bill St. James, VO artist for HBO, Showtime, Adult Swim, and Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite, and host of the weekend radio show TimeWarp) says: "Watch the end of this videocassette for a special preview of the Humphrey Bogart series from Key Video's Spotlight Collection".

*On the Woody Allen VHS releases, the same male voiceover says: "Watch the end of this videocassette for a special preview of the Woody Allen from Key Video's Spotlight Collection".

*On the 1987 VHS re-release of ''Blue Hawaii'', the same male voiceover says: "Be sure to watch the end of this videocassette for a special preview of Key Video's Elvis Presley Collection".

'''Availability:''' Rare, but easy to find on tapes with the Key Video logo at the bottom of the cover and rainbow stripes appearing on the lower-top of it. Tapes with this logo include ''Where the Boys Are '84'' (the first film distributed by TriStar, and one of the first 26 Key Video releases to use this logo), ''The Vindicator'', ''My Man Adam'', ''P.I. Private Investigations'', ''Anguish'', ''Shock Treatment'', ''Lovelines'', ''The Boss's Wife'', ''Fever Pitch'', ''Zardoz'', ''Roustabout'', ''Bedroom Eyes'', ''Inferno'', ''The Legend of Billie Jean'', ''The St. Valentine's Day Massacre'', ''A Guide for the Married Man'', ''Paradise Hawaiian Style'', ''Dark Night of the Scarecrow'', ''High Anxiety'', ''92 in the Shade'', ''The Gospel According to Vic'', ''Lies'', ''The Good Father'', ''Eat the Peach'', ''Prime Cut'', ''The Park is Mine'', and ''Tomorrow's Child'', among others. An out-of-sync version appears on the 1985 VHS of ''Helter Skelter'' (one of the rarest Key Video titles). This is retained by surprise on the 1997 20th Century Fox Selections VHS of ''Better Off Dead'', seen after the 1995 Fox Video logo. The black and white variant was spotted on the Key Video releases of ''Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman'', ''Jules and Jim'', and ''Young Frankenstein'', among other black and white films. The green/orange variant appears on the VHS release of ''Footlight Serenade''. It is unknown if it has appeared any other times, or if there is a version without the Chace bug.

 

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'''Technique:''' Still photograph.