Production logo

A production logo, vanity card, vanity plate, or vanity logo is a logo used by movie studios and television production companies to brand what they produce and to determine the production company and the distributor of a television show or film. Production logos are usually seen at the beginning of a theatrical movie or video game (an "opening logo"), and/or at the end of a television program or TV movie (a "closing logo"). Many production logos have become famous over the years, such as the 20th Century Studios's monument and searchlights and MGM's Leo the Lion. Unlike logos for other media, production logos can take advantage of motion and synchronized sound, and almost always do. Production logos are becoming commonplace in online video platforms such as YouTube, often as "channel" branding. Online channels may have a professional production team, or may be self-produced by an individual or a sole proprietor. The barrier to entry for professional audiovisual production is constantly falling, and the professionalism of self-produced branding now often rivals traditional production modes. In the early days of Hollywood, production logos and brands were simple and very much like their print counterparts, usually appearing on title cards and in the opening credits. The Paramount Pictures mountain logo hails from this era and originally featured no special effects. As the studios grew, more effort was put into their identities, and motion and sound began to be used. MGM and Universal were the first studios to take advantage of the new medium's possibilities, MGM first using Leo the Lion in 1924, adapted from Goldwyn Pictures, and Universal debuting their globe around the same time. RKO Radio Pictures used their rotating globe and radio transmission tower with a Morse code-beeping soundtrack as early as 1929. In the 1930s, Twentieth Century Pictures introduced their futuristic "tower" logo, which had moving searchlights; it was carried over when they merged with Fox Film Corporation in 1935 and became 20th Century-Fox.