Studio of the Month: Warner Bros. Pictures

DARK SHIELD: WHY THE WARNERS LOGO TURNED GRAY

FOR THE 21^ST CENTURY by Bennett Campbell Ferguson

 Above: The WB emblem, as seen in "Harry Potter"

 

For many years, Warner Bros. Pictures (the long-standing studio who responsible for classics such as “The Jazz Singer” and “Bonnie and Clyde”) stuck to a tradition—whenever they distributed a new film, they would stick their flashy blue and gold logo before the credits.  But lately, that familiar shield has been looking darker.  In the last six “Harry Potter” films, the logo looked as if it were welded from roughly scarred silver; in both the “Dark Knight” trilogy and the recent “Prisoners,” it was rendered in sleek black and white; and just last weekend “Gravity” unveiled a new version—a clean white shield, set against a solid black background.

            While some might consider the studio’s logo-morphing to be nothing more than an attempt to refresh their image, I believe it is something more.  The fact that the studio creates a new logo designed to suit many of their films is a metaphor for the company’s new unspoken credo—to be both commercial and boldly creative.  Look through the studio’s work in the new millennium, from “Ocean’s Eleven” to “Inception” to “Gravity.”  They are all the work of Oscar-caliber directors and actors who believe that entertainment need not be dumb and that serious filmmaking need not be dull.  Truly, this mindset has led to a prosperous era.

            Thanks to Warner-based producers such as David Heyman and Christopher Nolan, this era has given rise to a new breed of film—the serious, shadowy Warner Bros. blockbuster with a cast a skilled character actors (who are, of course, usually British).  And while this new “genre” has yielded some horrendously crafted films (isn’t it time for “Man of Steel” director Zack Snyder to be kindly escorted off the Warners lot?), it’s given the studio’s output a sheen of quality and cohesiveness that is currently unmatched. 

            So, to celebrate Warner Bros.’s continuing commitment to success and quality, I offer you a list of my ten favorite films in their library.  As usual, I have placed the name of each film’s director in parentheses, as a reminder that a successful studio is defined not only by the ingenuity of executives, but the talent they take a chance on. 

With that, I give you the following (in alphabetical order):

“Chariots of Fire” (Hugh Hudson, 1981)

“The Dark Knight Rises” (Christopher Nolan, 2012)

“The Fountain” (Darren Aronofsky, 2006)

“Gravity” (Alfonso Cuarón, 2013)

“The Great Race” (Blake Edwards, 1965)

“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” (Mike Newell, 2005)

“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” (Alfonso Cuarón, 2004)           

“Inception” (Christopher Nolan, 2010)

“The Music Man” (Morton Da Costa, 1962)

“Ocean’s Eleven” (Steven Soderbergh, 2001)

 

Happy watching!

~BEN :)