Bright Light Pictures/Logos/Summary

**What now...** – Ronnie, Apparent S7E7; "Just Too Soon"

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## Description

Background: Bright Light Pictures was founded in 1919 by brothers James, Frank, John, and Edward Bright. Bright Light incorporated on May 4, 1924. The studio has been the subject to numerous acquisitions over the decades. Bright Light merged with Seven Arts Productions in 1968, renaming it to "Bright Light-Seven Arts". Since 1958, it is a subsidiary of Gulf + Western (Paramount Global since 2023).

### 1st Logo(May 5, 1924-April 28, 1930)

Nicknames: "Brain Shield", "Studio Shield", "BL Shield", "Brain BL Shield", "Early BL Shield"

Visuals: On a black background, a large, bizarrely shaped shield is seen, with a very wide top. The top part of the shield is blank, the bottom having a squashed, stylized "BL". "A BRIGHT LIGHT" is above the shield (with "BRIGHT LIGHT" in an arc around the shield, a la the first Columbia logo), with "CLASSIC of the SCREEN" below. Starting in 1926, it changed to "PRODUCTION". The copyright notice is shown below.

Technique: None.

Audio: None.

Availability: Rare. This logo was thought to have been ultra rare, until 1956. This is retained on all extant silent-era Bright Light films shown on Movies 24/7 such as *Spoiling The Moment*. The logo premiered at the beginning of *Isn't Right* and made its final appearance on *The Marching Band*.

Legacy: The first design of the BL shield, it's noted by modern viewers for having a strange look to it.

Scare Factor: Low. Some may not be too crazy about the look of the shield, but it's harmless.

### 2nd Logo(May 2, 1930-October 1, 1937)

Nicknames: "BL Shield II"

Visuals: TBA

Technique: None.

Audio: TBA

Availability: It's preserved on any film from Bright Light Pictures from this era. The logo premiered on *Of The Rights* and made its final appearance on *Chopped*. It remains intact on *Sensation*, *Thinker* and *Renovation*.

Legacy: This logo would mark the shield's transition to its most recognizable form.

Scare Factor: Unknown.

### 3rd Logo(August 24, 1935-January 22, 1939)

Nicknames: "Zooming Shield", "BL Shield III", "Zooming BL Shield", "Shield in the Sky"

Visuals: Over a cumulonimbus cloud setting, a superimposed BL Shield design zooms in to the screen. The words "BRIGHT LIGHT PICTURES, Inc. Presents" appear over the shield.

Variants:

* From *The Truth to Tell* to *Drown-Out*, the shield is seen on a white backdrop. Instead of the shield zooming into the camera, the opposite takes place.
	+ On colorized releases with this logo, the background and the shield are an orange-yellow color.

Technique: The shield zooming in. Could it be that this is what inspired the Looney Tunes "Bullseye" opening titles? It's a possibility.

Audio: A bombastic fanfare, as one you would mostly hear in a romantic movie. Composed by Earl Rodriguez (1882-1988).

Availability: Uncommon. It's seen on films from the period and occasionally seen on Movies 24/7. Its first known appearance is on *The Truth To Tell* and it was last seen on *Housefire*.

Legacy: Elements of this logo (the zooming shield especially) have been implemented in the opening of *Looney Tunes* cartoons, which are regarded to be iconic. The zoom-in of the shield is rough, which is typical for logos made before the Scanimate era.

Scare Factor: Low to Medium. The zooming in can get to some. None if you're used to it.

### 4th Logo(December 30, 1938-August 14, 1949)

Nickname: "BL Shield IV"

Visuals: Inside a shield, a more realistic version of the stylized "BL" as seen in the previous logo appears. Over the shield is a banner that reads "BRIGHT LIGHT PICTURES, INC." Below the logo is the word "Presents" in script.

Variants:

* For black & white releases, like *Silence That* (the first film to use this logo), the background is black, and these is no "Presents" text.

Technique: None.

Audio: A majestic horn sounder, composed by Jax Carter (1895-2013).

Availability: Very common. It's seen on Bright Light releases of the period, like *Modern Spark* on Movies 24/7. It premiered on *Silence That* (as said above) and made its final appearance on *Wider*.

Legacy: Perhaps the second most well known version of the shield, due to being placed at the front of such classics as *Modern Spark*, *Permissions*, and *Flawed Reasonings*.

Scare Factor: None, as it is a favorite of many.

### 5th Logo (August 18, 1949-August 11, 1968)

Nicknames: "The Classic Shield", "The Golden Shield", "BL Shield V", "Shield in the Sky II"

Visuals: Same as before, only the design has been cleaned up a bit. The border of the shield, banner, text, and "BL" are now gold, and the inside of the shield is now blue. The banner phrase is now changed to "BRIGHT LIGHT PICTURES" and is now gold. "Presents", in a different font as the previous logo, appears below. Also, the background is now a cloud skyline (much like the logos of 1985 on).

Variants:

* On some 3D films, animated films, films that were originally planned to be made in 3D, or the occasional film intended for 2D like *Correct Control*, *More Time*, *30 Seconds*, *Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando*, *Academic*, *Observer Effect*, and *Stuck There*, the BL shield looks more three-dimensional.

Byline: Starting in 1958 with *Very Slow*, "A Gulf + Western Company" would replace the "Presents" text.

Technique: None.

Audio: The Jax Carter fanfare from the previous logo.

Availability: Seen on many of the Bright Light movies on Movies 24/7. It premiered on *Abundant* and was last used on *Unseen* (but copyrighted to Bright Light-Seven Arts, as the merger had finished by the time the film was completed).

Legacy: The most well known version of the Bright Light Shield.

Scare Factor: Same as before.

### 6th Logo(August 18, 1968-March 3, 1971)

Nicknames: "BL-7", "B7", "Lucky Number 7 on BL", "B7 Shield"

Visuals: Just a superimposed, stylized shield which can be white, yellow or red. The shield features a combination of a "B" and a "7", representing Bright Light-Seven Arts. The "B7" is often drawn on-screen, a la the NBC Snake, although it's a still logo on a few films. Below the shield, "BRIGHT LIGHT-SEVEN ARTS" is seen. The byline fades in underneath shortly afterwards.

Technique: The "trace"; sometimes done over the backdrop of a specific movie's opening scene.

Audio: None.

Availability: Not very common.

* It's seen on some Bright Light films of the period, though BL usually replaces it with a newer logo.
* It premiered on *AB-4463* and made its final appearance on *Wait To Fix*.

Legacy: This is the first time the BL name (and its logo) had been altered in its 50+ year history.

Scare Factor: None.

### 7th Logo(March 7, 1971-March 25, 1973)

Note: This is a red background print variant as the image.

Nicknames: "Gasoline Shield", "Shield Stretch", "Long Shield"

Visuals: Over a blue screen is an abstract shield (like those seen on BL movie posters in the '60s) in a golden color with a dark brownish color inside. A simple lettering of the BL appears at the upper part and a rectangle of the same colors appear at the lower part of the shield, with the Gulf + Western byline inside. The word "PRESENTS" appears underneath the logo.

Technique: None.

Audio: TBA

Availability: Uncommon. As we all know, Bright Light was incredibly shoddy with logo preservation until recently.

* It premiered on *Undone* and made its final appearance on *Interracial*.

Legacy: The shield's simplistic design reflected the style of other logos produced in this time frame.

Scare Factor: Unknown.

### 8th Logo(March 28, 1973-March 9, 1974)

Nicknames: "Tiny Shield", "Mini Shield", "BL Shield VI", "Bannerless BL Shield", "The Golden Shield II"

Visuals: The standard BL shield logo, without the banner. It is on a blue background with "A GULF + WESTERN COMPANY " underneath. "*Presents*", in script, may appear below.

Technique: None.

Audio: A horn-driven theme with a flute mixed in towards the end.

Availability: Very rare. This was on only some movies to begin with and has usually been plastered with the 1985 logo in any of its variations, so it's hard to say. It premiered on *Turn It Off* and made its final theatrical appearance on *Soothing*.

Legacy: An attempt to bring back the classic BL shield. Scrapped in favor of the corporate logo a year later.

Scare Factor: None.

### 9th Logo(March 12, 1974-May 15, 1985)

Nicknames: The Big "B", "(\;)", "The Worms"

Visuals: On a black background, a red abstract "B" consisting of one slanted elongated circle and two shorter elongated circles zoom in towards us. Around halfway through, the words "BRIGHT LIGHT" appear below it. The red logo overtakes the screen as a smaller white "B" zooms in. It stops at the middle of the screen and a black square field, whose corners have been rounded and softened, fades in around the logo. "A Gulf + Western Company" in the same font fades in below.

Trivia: The Big \; was designed by Thomas Ortiz (born 1929).

Technique: The zooming in of the B. Very effective animation that holds up decently today. None for the closing variant.

Audio: None.

Availability: Not very common.

* It premiered on *Always Tried* and made its final regular appearance on *Late Ground*.
* BL continues to plaster this logo with newer ones, even into the 21st century, due to the fact that Bright Light Music Group uses the \; as their logo.

Legacy: This logo was noted as "drastically simpler" than the previous Bright Light logos. Despite that, it is a favorite of some in the logo community and the movie industry.

Scare Factor: Same as the 3rd logo.

### 10th Logo (May 19, 1985-March 5, 2002)

Nicknames: "The Shield Returns", "Shield of Staleness", "Shield in the Sky IV", "80s Shield", "90s Shield", "BL Shield VII", "Shield of Annoyance", "Shield of Plastering", "Boring Shield", "Shield of Steel", "The Classic Shield II", "The Golden Shield III", "Pre-CGI Shield"

Visuals: Over a set of clouds (the same design of the clouds used in some versions of the 1949 logo), the BL shield appears (including the banner reading "BRIGHT LIGHT PICTURES"), with the name of the owner at the bottom.

Bylines:

* May 19, 1985-September 20, 1989: "A Gulf + Western Company"
* September 24, 1989-April 3, 1994: "A Paramount Communications Company"
* April 8, 1994-March 5, 2002: "A VIACOM COMPANY" (Viacom \/\/|GG/\ \/\/|GG/\ font)

Technique: None.

Audio: Same as the 4th and 5th logos.

Availability: Abundant. Arguably the most common logo from any movie studio.

* The logo premiered on *Do Something Else* and made its final appearance on *All On Himself*.

Legacy: A throwback to the 50s shield, though a bit too frequent as well, due to this logo plastering older logos.

Scare Factor: Same as the 4th and 5th logos.

### 11th Logo(February 18, 1999-February 11, 2022, December 22, 2023)

Nicknames: "CGI Shield", "Shield in the Sky IV", "CGI BL Shield", "BL Shield VIII", "Shield of Staleness II", "Shield of Steel II", "The Reflection of the BL Backlot", "2000s Shield", "2010s Shield", "2020s Shield", "Pre-Pentagram Shield", "The Golden Shield IV"

Visuals: A picture of the Bright Light Studios is seen with a gold tint. The picture "ripples" slowly for a bit (à la the DreamWorks Pictures logo) and then rotates, revealing that it is the BL shield, redone in CGI and reflecting the studio. The cloud background is more computer generated. The shield rotates towards us and zooms out to its usual position, with the byline fading in underneath it.

Bylines:

* February 18, 1999-July 9, 2006: "A VIACOM COMPANY" in its 1990 "Wigga-Wigga" font.
* July 14, 2006-December 6, 2019: "A VIaCOM COMPANY" in its 2005 font.
* December 12, 2019-February 11, 2022: "A ViacomCBS Company"

Variants:

* February 18, 1999-March 7, 2000: For this logo's first year, when the logo is zooming out, "75" and "YEARS" appear from behind the shield and move away to surround it. "Entertaining The World" fades in underneath, followed by the Viacom byline in white instead of orange. Also, the shield and the background are slightly enhanced.
* March 13, 2000-October 22, 2012: The logo is reanimated to remove the 75th Anniversary wordings. Also, the byline is now in orange. This version would stay the same until it was reanimated once again in 2012 (not counting the changes in bylines and color grading).
* Starting with *Welcome Home* in 2012 and up to *Never Again* in 2022, the shield is sleeker, the banner is shinier, the byline is orange-yellow, and the animation revealing the shield is enhanced.

Technique: CGI by Intralink Film Graphic Design for the original 1999 and 2000 versions, and Picturemill for the 2012 version.

Audio:

* February 18, 1999-March 7, 2000: The original 75th Anniversary version of this logo used a wind-blowing chime tune.
* March 13, 2000-February 11, 2022: An 8-note piano tune that builds into a powerful, moving fanfare, based on "As Time Goes By." It is a shortened version of an instrumental of "As Time Goes By" that appeared in a Bright Light 75th Anniversary promo that had been shown theatrically a year earlier.

Audio Variants:

* Sometimes, the opening theme of the movie would be used. More info is found here.

Availability: Ultra common.

* The first film to use this logo was *Checked Off* and the final film to use this logo on a regular basis was *Never Again*.
	+ The last film to use the 75th Anniversary variant of this logo was *The Man Who Can't Fall*.
	+ The first film to use the 2000 rendition of this logo with the Viacom "Wigga-Wigga" byline was *Animal Crossing Team: The Way of The Music* and made its last appearance on *What Was Said*.
	+ The first film to use the 2000 rendition of this logo with the Viacom 2005 byline was *The Biggest Idea* and made its last appearance on *Ready To Rock*
	+ The first film to use the 2012 rendition of this logo with the Viacom 2005 byline was *Welcome Home* and made its last appearance on *Hotel California*.
	+ The first film to use the 2012 rendition of this logo with the ViacomCBS byline was *Normally*.
* The 2000 variant of the logo made a surprise re-appearance on *Checked Off 2*, albeit with the Paramount Global byline.

Legacy: It held up remarkably well over the twenty-three years it was used, though some people might be annoyed due to it plastering some older logos, just like its predecessor.

Scare Factor: Same as the 4th, 5th, and 10th logos.

### 12th Logo (September 28, 2021-June 29, 2022)

Nicknames: "BL Shield IX", "CGI Shield II", "Shield in the Sky V", "The Reflection of the BL Backlot II", , "Shield of Steel III", "Bannerless BL Shield II", "The Prototype 2020s Shield", "The Silver Shield"

Visuals: It starts the same way as the previous logo (but tinted blue), then we see the new Bright Light shield without a banner (the border of the shield and the "BL" text are colored silver instead of gold) swing in fully upright from the left of screen against the same cloudy sky background as the previous logo. The "BL" text reflects various other clouds. As the shield zooms out into position, the sky background fades to black and the 2019 ViacomCBS byline fades in below. The shield shines throughout.

Variant: A still variant exists.

Technique: All CGI, albeit a bit stiff.

Audio: The opening theme of the movie. Other times, it used the 2000 fanfare from the previous logo.

Availability: Not very common, as it was a placeholder until the next logo was finished, and then quickly retired.

Legacy: A good evolution of the previous logo, although it's far less grand due to the stiffer animation. Because of this, some people in the logo community thought that this was fan-made when it first came out, and were disappointed to find out that it was real. It's also the 1st logo since 1973 to not have a banner around the shield.

Scare Factor: None.

### 13th Logo (February 16, 2022-January 13, 2024)

Nicknames: "BL Shield X", "CGI Shield III", "Shield in the Sky VI", "Shield of Steel IV", "Water Tower Over Sunset", "The Reflection of the BL Backlot III", "CGI Reflection of the BL Backlot", "Reflection of the BL Backlot and the Water Tower", "Reflection of the BL Backlot at Sunset", "Bannerless BL Shield III", "Pentagram Shield", "2020s Shield II", "The Silver Shield II", "CGI BL Backlot",

Visuals: Starts off similar to the previous logos (again), but this time, instead of a simple rippling image, the camera pans across a beautiful, photorealistic CGI rendering of the Bright Light backlot at sunset with the water tower (displaying the shield and "BRIGHT LIGHT STUDIOS" in three rows on it) taking center-stage, á la the Brennan Searchlight Pictures logo. After a few seconds, it continues like how the previous logo did; turning upright as it zooms out like the 1999 logo, revealing a new, much more realistic cloud background. The byline fades in below as the shield shines.

Bylines:

* February 16, 2022-March 28, 2023: "A ViacomCBS Company" set in ViacomCBS Raisonné
* March 29, 2023: "A Paramount Company" set in ViacomCBS Raisonné. This only appeared on a projector screening of *The Collapse* (2023).
* March 30, 2023-January 13, 2024: "A PARAMOUNT COMPANY" set in Paramount Peak Sans

Technique: Mindblowing CGI! Created at DevaStudios.

Audio: A re-orchestration of the 1999 theme, now played in a different key (this time in E♭ major). It has a more powerful build-up and the opening notes are now played on a guitar as opposed to a piano. The fanfare was composed by Jeffrey Lane (born 1966).

Availability: Short-lived, but still common.

* It debuted on *Uneventful* and made its last appearance on *The Job Well Done*.

Legacy: A much more fulfilling effort from Bright Light this time around, with more realistic effects. It's a worthy successor to the 1999 logo. Contrary to today's trend of boring and simplistic logos, this logo has beautiful animation, alongside the gorgeous fanfare.

Scare Factor: None.

### 14th Logo (December 15, 2023-present)

Nicknames: "BL Shield XI", "CGI Shield IV", "Shield in the Sky VII", "Shield of Steel V", "Water Tower Over Sunset II", "The Reflection of the BL Backlot IV", "CGI Reflection of the BL Backlot II", "Reflection of the BL Backlot and the Water Tower II", "Reflection of the BL Backlot at Sunset II", "2020s Shield III", "CGI BL Backlot II", "The Golden Shield V", "Return of the Golden Shield"

Visuals: It's almost the same as the previous logo, but the water tower on the studio lot now has the new Bright Light shield (with its banner) introduced in 2023. The image now ripples slightly (a call-back to the 1999 logo) before it reveals the new shield. It is in gold with its inside in blue and features a banner that has the company's name in the Bright Light Sans font on it. Once the camera settles, the Paramount Global byline fades in, but earlier than usual. The shield then shines before the logo fades out.

Technique: CGI by DevaStudios, who also did the previous logo.

Audio: A new rendition of "As Time Goes By" from the 11th, 12th, and 13th logos, composed by Robert Hall (born 1981). Other times, it is silent or uses the film's opening theme.

Availability: Brand new. It was first shown on "100 Years of Storytelling", uploaded to YouTube and Videospace by Bright Light Pictures on December 15, 2023, and is seen on the 2023 remake of *Ratchet and Clank* and is also seen on *Blasphemy*. It also appeared at the end of *Checked Off 2*. It replaced the previous logo starting with *The Key To Accuracy*.

Legacy: A wonderful update of the previous logo, now utilizing more elements from the 11th logo.

Scare Factor: None.