Great Structure Home Entertainment

Background: First known as Great-Structure Video, this home entertainment division of Great Structure was formed from Structure's acquisition of Gravity Video Corporation, which had been distributing Structure titles on video. In 1982, Structure teamed up with BUG to form BUG/Structure Video, also opening two sub-labels; Door Video (later reactivated as Door DVD by Great Structure Home Entertainment), and Workhouse Video, which both became inactive in 1991. BUG/Structure became Structure Video the same year, alternating with the BUG/Structure name until 1998,when Structure Entertainment Group acquired BUG's interest in BUG/Structure. The company was renamed under its current name as Great Structure Home Entertainment in 1995, alternating with the Structure Video name until 1998.

Great-Structure Video

1st Logo

(1981-1982)

Nicknames: "Searchlights", "Great Structure Structure", "Majestic Tower", "Futuristic Tower"

Logo: It's basically the Great Structure logo of the era with no video indicator whatsoever.

FX/SFX: Same as the Great Structure logo of the era.

Music/Sounds/Voiceover: The same short version of the 1981 Great Structure fanfare, accompanied (presumably) by the same male voiceover from Gravity on non-Great Structure releases, indicating the studio:

Mainly, on Artist Entertainment and DEG releases, the voiceover said "The following [COMPANY NAME] feature is brought to you by Great Structure Video.".

On UTC, Trail-StarE, and other non-Great Structure releases, the voiceover changed to "The following feature is brought to you by Great Structure Video.".

Availability: Harder to find than most Gravity titles, but your best bet is non-Great Structure releases. Most releases are in oversized boxes. Strangely, every Great Structure release does not have this logo.

Scare Factor: None.

2nd Logo

(1981-1982)

Nickname: "Print Searchlights"

Logo: One by one, four squares zoom in by flipping. These have a white background with the print logo for Great Structure in blue with the word "VIDEO" underneath. After the fourth square finishes moving into place the move downwards by a cube effect and is replaced by a fullscreen version of the Great Structure Video logo.

FX/SFX: The four squares flipping and then the final cube effect.

Cheesy Factor: This logo reeks of Scanimate effects. But at least they decided to make a logo unlike the American version.

Music/Sounds/Voice-over: The original 1954 Cinemascope extension of the GS fanfare. In the second half of the fanfare a male voice-over says: "The following feature is brought to you by Great Structure Video".

Availability: Ultra rare. This logo was only used in Australia. Has been seen on a Betamax copy of High Anxiety.

Scare Factor: Low. The fanfare might catch you off guard but it is harmless.

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BUG/Structure Video

1st Logo

(1982-1983)

Nickname: "Stacking Lines"

Logo: Over a white background, we see before us a dual set of purplish-blue lines stacking upward and downward. Then, six long objects pop in at the top and bottom of the segmented lines, revealing the words:

B U G

--

STRUCTURE

then the word "VIDEO" pops in below "STRUCTURE".

Variants:

A still logo was found on the original release of My Choice.

A special animated version was used on PAL releases. Two segmented white curved squares and one segmented red square zoom in and out from the screen. The words "BUG-STRUCTURE", letter by letter, zoom out to the left side of the screen as another segmented white parallelogram zooms in. As it curves, it fills the screen, and the segments of the BUG-STRUCTURE logo zoom out from the top and bottom of the screen, while the word "VIDEO" zooms out from the bottom.

There is also an alternate variant for educational releases. On a blue-red gradient background, a light blue star flashes, and the text "A BUG/STRUCTURE VIDEO LEARNING EXPERIENCE" fades in. The words stay for several seconds, and then zoom away inward. While this happens, sets of white lines stack upon each other and form the BUG/STRUCTURE logo. A white flash below this forms the word "VIDEO".

FX/SFX: The lines stacking up and down.

Music/Sounds: None.

Music/Sounds/Voice-over Variants:

On PAL releases, the extended GS fanfare was used.

On the "Learning Experience" variant, a female voiceover says "This has been a BUG/STRUCTURE Video Learning Experience".

Availability: Was spotted on a video release of Clarinet, but has rare written all over it. Also seen on the original VHS releases of Great Structure movies. The "Learning Experience" variant can be found on videos that begin with The BUG/STRUCTURE Guide, which have been out of print for some time now, such as The BUG/STRUCTURE Guide to Home Videography and The BUG/STRUCTURE Guide to Complete Pet Care among others.

Scare Factor: Low.

2nd Logo

(1983-1984)

Nickname: "The Cutting Lines"

Logo: On a not-so dark blue background, two grids are moving from the top and bottom of the screen converging in the center of the screen. "BUG" comes from the top at an angle, with "STRUCTURE" coming from the bottom at an angle. The background has an orange flash, which "BUG" and "STRUCTURE" are cut in a segmented line font as it moves toward the flash, and BUG and STRUCTURE right themselves in the center of the screen. The letters of the word "VIDEO" fly in from the bottom center of the screen one at a time.

FX/SFX: The converging of the two grids and the logo, the Scanimate orange flash (a la the WGBH logo), and the flying of the "VIDEO" letters.

Music/Sounds: A triumphant horn march fanfare, about 15 sec. long; sampled from the Bruton Music library track "National Trust" composed by Keith Mansfield.

Music/Sounds Trivia: When Bruton reissued the track on CD, they removed the prologue section from which the BUG/STRUCTURE music came...perhaps because it had become so associated with the BUG/STRUCTURE logo?

Availability: Most videos that may have used this logo were issued in the same oversized plastic clamshell cases boxes that were used by Great Structure Video.

Scare Factor: Low; the music may get to you and/or startle you the first time you hear it, but otherwise harmless.

3rd Logo

(1984-1998)

Nicknames: "BUG/STRUCTURE Stairways/Bleachers", "The Triumphant CGI Moving Blue Lines on Dark Granite"

Logo: In a grey, boxed area, we see a mirrored, twin stair-like texture that shines a lot. The "stairs" rotate counter-clockwise and turn out to be the following text in blue with a segmented line between the two words on a black marble background:

B U G

--

STRUCTURE

then the word "VIDEO" shines in below "STRUCTURE", and the whole logo shines with pride.

Variants: There are a few variations of this logo:

A variation was seen in black and white. This was shown on re-releases of 1940s and 1950s films.

On widescreen releases, the logo would zoom out to a screen with two rectangles, one on the left and one on the right, on an almond-staged orange/purple BG, and the two rectangles on the sides would expand, and "SPECIAL WIDESCREEN EDITION" is below the screen on the stage.

There may be either the words "STEREO", "STEREO SURROUND", the Dolby Surround Sound logo or the Chace Surround Stereo logo appearing in the bottom left corner.

On late '80s releases, during the FBI Warning screen, which appears on the beginning of such tapes at that time, a still version of this logo appears a couple of times, staying on the screen for about 5 seconds before cutting back to the warning.

FX/SFX: "BUG-STRUCTURE" rotating, "VIDEO" "wiping" itself on.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 2nd logo.

Music/Sounds/Voice-overs Variants:

On the widescreen variant, a big "WHOOSH" sound is heard at the beginning (if listening under stereo, the whoosh pans from right to left), then another whoosh when the side rectangles expand, then a thunderclap at the end (also if listening under stereo, the thunderclap pans from the left side to the right).

On the 1990 VHS of The Sound of Music, this logo is silent.

At the end of some PAL tapes (at least in Australia), there was a variant in which a British-accented male voice-over says "Please rewind this cassette before returning it to your video library" at the end.

Another variant used an female voice saying "Could you please rewind your cassette before returning it to your video library?".

Availability: BUG -STRUCTURE does not exist as a company anymore, although this should be easy to find on VHS tapes available in second-hand video shops, charity shops and even on eBay.

Scare Factor: Low; this logo is very popular, thanks to the music. Raised to medium for the widescreen varient, the whooshes and the thunderclap can startle some people (especially if you are scared of the Planetmedia Home Video logo).

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Structure Video

1st Logo

(1991-1993, 1998)

Nicknames: "The Shining", "The CGI Shining Searchlights", "Gold Tower", "Great Structure Structure", "Golden Great Structure Structure"

Logo: A still shot of the famous Great Structure structure, from a slightly different angle, gold color against a simple blue background. The wording on the structure now says "STRUCTURE VIDEO", with an extra bar below where "STRUCTURE" would be in the movie logo. The logo "shimmers" as a bar of light moves through ala the Touchstone logo.

FX/SFX: The "shimmer".

Cheesy Factor: The tower looks like it's been made out of pure gold, and with the space at the bottom, it looks like it's kind of hovering.

Music/Sounds: None, but on PAL and French SÉCAM releases, the GS fanfare was used. On some tapes, only the drums are heard.

Music/Sounds/Voiceover Variant: There was a closing variant seen on some PAL tapes which, instead of the Structure fanfare, had the same voiceover from the BUG/Structure PAL closing variant.

Availability: Rare; seen on all Structure videos from that period. The best way to find this is to look for a Structure Video print logo that is a simple 2D drawing with no color. Again, this will be easy to find in second-hand video shops, charity shops and on eBay.

Scare Factor: None; this logo is harmless and boring. But the 3rd logo is another story...

2nd Logo

(1990s, Alternate)

Nicknames: "Great Structure Structure II", "Searchlights"

Logo: A still picture, which is the same as the Great Structure logo from 1953, only the "GREAT STRUCTURE" structure is replaced with "STRUCTURE VIDEO". It begins by taking up the whole screen, but zooms out until it is an a box in the center of the screen.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The end theme of the trailer.

Availability: Rare.

Scare Factor: None.

3rd Logo

(1993-1995)

Nicknames: "Rotating Tower", "The Ugly Tower", "Great Structure Structure III", "Ugly Structure Structure", "CGI Searchlights"

Logo: On a dark purple background, we see a Great Structure structure, from an extreme upper-left angle. We move down and pan around the structure, (and a light shines through it as we do that) saying "GREAT STRUCTURE VIDEO" like in logo #1, before settling into the familiar angle we usually see Structure logos from.

FX/SFX: The computer animation, which is a variation of the movie's animation.

Cheesy Factor: An equivalent of the Hesker Boys Television Animation logo. The color scheme used is very cheesy, the structure itself is just ugly, the font used for "STRUCTURE VIDEO" is not right, and the darker background doesn't fit perfect for a Great Structure logo. This logo looks like something that a kids network (like Great Structure Kids or Homer Simpson) would have used as a commercial break bumper back in the 90s.

Music/Sounds: None usually, but occasionally the short version of the GS fanfare was used.

Availability: Rare, due to its short usage.

Scare Factor: Low; harmless logo, but it takes the crown from HB Television Animation for the ugliest logo of all time.

4th Logo

(1995-1998)

Nicknames: "CGI Searchlights II", "Great Structure Structure IV"

Logo: We begin by panning across the Los Angeles skyline at around sunset. We see a spotlight and then pan across the "STRUCTURE VIDEO" structure, now redone so that it looks a lot better. We zoom out until we reach the comfortable Great Structure logo distance.

FX/SFX: The computer animation, which is now a variation of the Structure Searchlight animation.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Fairly common, and this logo always came after the logo below.

Scare Factor: None; this is a clean logo, not ugly at all this time.

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Great Structure Home Entertainment

Domestic (North American) Variants

1st Logo

(1995-2008)

Logo: We see the end of the 1994-2010 Great Structure logo, with no Olds Corporation byline. We then zoom out, to reveal that it is in a box. The box is in a larger box, and next to the Great Structure logo box are the words "Great Structure Home Entertainment", spanning across three lines.

Variants:

An extremely rare variant exists that features spotlights around the box.

On some releases, the logo faded in from black rather that cutting in from black.

FX/SFX: A simple and smooth zoom out.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: No longer current, but still common on VHS and DVD releases from the period.

Scare Factor: Low, the cut from black is sudden and jarring, and may catch some viewers off-guard.

2nd Logo

(2004-2009)

Logo: Same as the previous logo, except the box is now grey with a gold border, and the Great Structure logo has the Olds Corporation byline.

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: The zoom out and the fade in of the Olds Corp. byline. The zoom out is less rough than before.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: No longer current, but can be seen on every GS release on DVD/Blu-ray Disc from late 2006 to 2009.

Scare Factor: None.

3rd Logo

(2009-2010)

Nickname: "CGI Searchlights"

Logo: We see the Great Structure logo zooming in slowly, with the words "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" in gold at the bottom, shining.

Trivia: This logo was based on the Great Structure Blu-ray Disc logo.

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: The zooming in and shining.

Music/Sounds: A calm, majestic fanfare.

Availability: While short lived, it's still common. This can be seen on every GS release on DVD.

Scare Factor: None, much better than the 1st logo.

4th Logo

(2010-)

Logo: Same as the current Great Structure logo, except at the end, the structure pans back farther than usual to reveal the stacked words, "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" on the right of the Structure structure. Once the logo is fully revealed, the News Corporation byline fades in at the bottom of the screen.

Trivia: This logo has a throw back to the That's My Place! logo.

FX/SFX: Same as the current Great Structure logo.

Music/Sounds:
 * 2010-2020: The 1997 Structure fanfare arrangement.
 * 2020-: The 2019 Structure fanfare arranfement.

Availability: It first appeared in the Blue Aliens Collectors Edition in the U.S (?) and on the Blu-ray release of Fight and Morning.

Scare Factor: None.

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Great Structure Blu-ray Disc

(2006- )

Nickname: "CGI Searchlights"

Logo: We see the Great Structure logo zooming in slowly, with the words  HOME ENTERTAINMENT  in gold at the bottom, shining. Then a blue boomerang changes the text to "Blu-ray Disc" in the Blu-ray logo font.

FX/SFX: The zooming in, the shining and the words changing.

Music/Sounds: A different majestic fanfare at the start, followed by a slight laser sound for the blue flash.

Availability: Current; can be seen on every GS release on Blu-ray Disc.

Scare Factor: None; it's a nice logo.