To begin with, studio logos serve as a powerful branding tool. A studio logo is the face of the studio and represents its reputation, values, and quality of work. Having a recognisable logo allows audiences to recognise the studio and associate the studios with its past success, and design elements within the logo can produce genre-specific expectations for productions, thus creating a specific brand identity which promotes recognition and consumption from target audiences.
For example, Universal Studios is most commonly associated with high-budget blockbuster films, thus when audiences see the high-profile globe studio logo in the title sequence, it automatically creates expectations that the following film will have both high budget and high quality, which contributes to the commercial success of films produced by the studio. Moreover, smaller studios have less brand recognition than well-established studios, but they can also use their studio logo as a marketing strategy. For example, A24 is associated with wildly creative indie films, thus showing their logo in film trailers would guarantee audiences that the new film will be of a similar quality and make them more likely to watch the film.
Furthermore, studio logos can create audience expectations through building a sense of nostalgia. For Universal Studios, established audiences who have closely followed the film industry will associate the logo with its many prior classic releases such as Jaws (1975) and Jurassic Park (1993). The nostalgia evoked through studio logos will strengthen the emotional connection between audiences and film studios and retain brand loyalty, which contributes towards the positive expectations which these audiences will have towards the studio’s new releases.
As a standalone logo, well-established film studios have classic logos which have underwent many changes over time. The changes in these logos also reflect wider changes in social trends, cultural attitudes and technological advancements, therefore the evolution of studio logos has gained a cultural significance within the media industry.
A24 is an independent entertainment company that has been reputed for producing highly creative indie films, amongst which include many critically acclaimed thriller/horror films, such as The Witch (2015), Hereditary (2018) and Midsommar (2019).
The studio logo of A24 features a white stylistic, geometrical font presented through RGB distortion and a flat animation which emulates the screen of old televisions. The presentation of the logo produces a clean aesthetic which suggests that the studio is focuses on artistic expression. The colour distortion effects create a sense of nostalgia and establishes a subtle link between the modern studio and its inspiration from cinematic roots. Presented in a thriller film, the distortion may create a sense of disruption and unease in the audience.
In addition, A24 often creates artistic variations of its logo to suit the specific genre and atmosphere of the film.
Studio Logo Production - ARC STUDIOS
To begin with, I wanted to create a logo that incorporated motion because this would make it more likely for me to create a stronger branding through attracting the audiences’ attention. I do have some prior experience in 3D-modelling, but me limited skills in editing would make it quite difficult for me to create a virtual logo from scratch, therefore I began considering options which would create on-screen motion through filming moving objects.
I wanted to create a centred-spinning motion, so I considered spinning fan-blades and bicycle wheels as plausible options. Since I did not have access to a professional dolly or steadycam, keeping a moving bicycle wheel centred would be unrealistic to achieve, so I decided to film a static shot of a rotating fan.
At this point, I was reminded of Kamen Rider (1971), a classic television hero action drama series which involved the protagonist turning into his hero form through a spinning action belt. The belt has glowing light effects in addition to its spinning mechanism, which would make it ideal for me to create a captivating title sequence with my studio logo. I purchased a model replica of the action belt which was capable of replicating the sound, lighting and spinning fan effects in the original television series, and filmed the signature sequence on camera.
I decided to name my studio ‘Arc Studios’ for two reasons: firstly, the initials of my name Arthur Chen could be abbreviated to ‘arc’; secondly, the word ‘arc’ can capture the motion of the spinning light effects. Next, I worked on creating a geometric logo that would fit my title sequence. The fade-in of ‘ARC’ was made to replicate the hero’s outfit appearing over his body, and the ‘STUDIOS’ enters from the side to simulate the hero making a speedy entrance on his motorcycle.
Film studios often make specific versions of their studio logos and title sequences to correspond with the film genre that is being produced. For example, studio logos in thriller films are often re-rendered with a monochrome filter and heavy shadow effects to create suspense. Since we were producing a thriller film, I altered the original footage which was mainly red and applied a monochrome filter to create a more serious atmosphere as opposed to the sensation of excitement created by the original ‘hero-film’ inspired opening. To compensate for the lack of colour, I made adjustments in Photoshop so that the footage had the right amount of brightness and contrast, and made the font of my studio logo red, which was the original colour of the footage.