Background[]
Constantin Film is a German film production & distribution company founded on April 1, 1950 in Munich, Germany by Waldfried Barthel & Preben Philipsen. The company is best known for producing Der Untergang (Downfall), the Resident Evil film series, and the Fantastic Four movies.
1st logo (1962-1980's, 2011)[]
Nickname: "The Sunburst", "The Proud Sunbeams", "The Bombastic Sunbeams", "Sunburst of Doom" (for later variant: "The Sunburst 3D")
Logo: On an animated cerulean and gray sunburst background (a la Toho), with one set rotating clockwise and the other rotating counterclockwise. After a few seconds, the syllables "Сon", "stan", and "tin" zoom up rapidly in sync with the fanfare. "FILM" and "bringt"fade in below after that.
Variants:
- On an early B&W variant, "Constantin" is written in a more graffiti-like form of cursive, and "bringt" is in cursive, as well.
- In another B&W variant the "Constantin" seems more shinier than usual.
- Sometimes, the background is shown in a darker tint, though this might be due to film deterioration.
- For later releases of Constantin Film, "neue" is shown above "Constantin".
Later Variant: The bluish-white flare of light appears in the black background before the gray, black, and white sunburst background fading in. The logo is redone in HD. "bringt" is removed, "FILM" part is now in the similar fashion as "Constantin", and "3D" is seen growing quickly underneath "Constantin FILM". When the logo fades out, "3D" leaves visible for a half second before fading out.
There is another variant where the logo is still for a few seconds, then the logo shakes in a stop motion manner.
FX/SFX: The rotating sunbeams, the syllables zooming up.
Cheesy Factor: The shaking effect on the other variant was badly done! It looks just like someone printed out the same sheet of paper of the logo (or repainted the logo) and they simply done it in stop motion! Making it look like it was done by a 10 year old who did not know how to special effects. Also it is rather dated on the 2011
Music/Sounds: A long drumroll (changing the pitch higher) following a bombastic brass theme (which has a couple different variants), or silence. The later variant has the different, more relaxing theme.
Availability: Very rare in the United States, but Uncommon in Europe and Germany. Seen on distributed or produced films of the time. As for the later variant, it was only seen on the German 3D theatrical print and 3D Blu-Ray of Resident Evil: Retribution.
Editor's Notes:
- Original Variant: The fanfare and the "in-your-face" zooming.
- Earlier versions has more different text.
- For the silent variant, as we still have the text zooming in.
- Later Variant: Since the zooming concept is still there, it may still give people nightmares, but at least the fanfare used here is different and tamer. It is a worthy successor to the classic variant.
Scare Factor: Medium to nightmare. The loud booming music is very scary. But music standards for 1930s until 1989 can be very loud and scary
2nd Logo (1984-1996?)[]
Logo: On a black background, we see "NUE CONSTANTIN FILM" fade in from black and fade out when finished.
FX/SFX: The text fading in and out.
Cheesy Factor: This is a still logo, nothing special about it. Also "NEUE" is spelled as "NUE" for some reason.
Music/Sounds: Silent.
Availability: Very rare. Was seen on German prints of films produced or distributed by Constantin Film, such as The Neverending Story and In the Name of the Rose. Currently seen on the German Blu-Ray of the former.
Editor's Note: This is said to be the worst and lamest logo of Constantin Film.
3rd Logo (1996-present)[]
Logo: On a dark blue background, we see a dark roll of film zoom fast to the left, with "Constantin Film" in white, and an underlined cursive font. A light flashes and the roll of film (still moving) turns upward and "Constantin Film " appears in the film strip blinking. The blinking slows down, and we zoom in to the film strip so all we see is "Constantin Film", in red, and in the same font with the same underline.
Variants:
- Starting in probably 1999, the logo is completely white. Sometimes the URL www.constantinfilm.de is added below.
- There's an in-credit closing variant.
FX/SFX: Very good CGI animation. Sometimes, it's still.
Music/Sounds: A string-driven, triumphant orchestral piece. Sometimes, it is silent, or the opening theme of the movie.
Availability:
- Original Variant: Very rare. Seen on German prints of films produced or distributed by Constantin Film.
- Later Variant: Current. It is the easiest logo to find from this company, since they released and co-produced more popular films such as the Resident Evil franchise and released foreign films released in the U.S through Sony Pictures Classics. Version with URL is seen mostly on German releases and prints.
Editor's Note: The music and dark atmosphere might give someone the shakes, but this is much mellower than the 1st logo from the company.
4th Logo (2010-present)[]
Logo: On either a dark blue starry space background or a black background, we see a blue light go through "Constantin Film", showing silhouettes. Once it goes off-screen moving from the right, the logo wipes in.
FX/SFX: Basic, but yet very nice CGI.
Music/Sounds: A five note horn theme, sounding very similar to the end of the 1993 Columbia Pictures logo, or the opening theme.
Availability: Current. Seen on almost all of the Resident Evil movies in North America.
Editor's Note: None.