Background[]
Fox Searchlight Pictures was formed in 1992 under News Corporation (and now owned by The Walt Disney Company) as a division of 20th Century Studios (previously 20th Century Fox Film Corporation) for independent, arthouse, foreign, horror, and African-American film releases. In January 2020, Disney announced this it would remove "Fox" from the company's name, renaming it to "Searchlight Pictures", along with 20th Century Studios.
Fox Searchlight Pictures[]
1st Logo (1995;2008)[]
Logo: On a black background, there is a white vertical line on the middle-left which protrudes to the bottom to the middle. On the right of the line is "FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES".
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: Just the soundtrack of the trailer.
Availability: Ultra rare. Seen after the 1994 20th Century Fox logo on the trailer for The Brothers McMullen Later Appeared on The Trailer Of Funnel. Cake.
Editor's Note: None.
2nd Logo (March 22-November 8, 1996)[]
Nicknames: "Searchlights", "Still Searchlights", "Fox Structure", "Still Fox Structure", "Fox Searchlight Pictures Structure"
Logo: Same as the 1994 20th Century Fox logo, but it is a still picture and the text "20th CENTURY FOX" is replaced with "FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES", with "SEARCHLIGHT" in the middle larger, and with "FOX" above and "PICTURES" below, respectively. The News Corporation byline is still intact, but the registered symbol is removed.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: None or the opening theme of the movie/trailer.
Availability: Near extinction.
- It was only seen on four films: Girl 6, She's the One, Looking for Richard, and The Secret Agent.
- Current prints of the latter two films have the next logo or the 1994 20th Century Fox logo plastering it, though it survives on the first title with the 1994 logo preceding it, and also remaining on the second title without any changes whatsoever.
- Also seen on trailers for very early releases from Fox Searchlight Pictures.
Editor's Note: Since that logo lasted for a short time, it's probably a placeholder.
3rd Logo (February 21, 1997-February 11, 2011)[]
Nicknames: "CGI City Skyline Searchlights", "The Searchlights II", "Fox Structure II", "Fox Searchlight Pictures Structure II"
Logo: We start out looking at a city skyline (most likely that of Los Angeles, California). The camera begins to move right, past a searchlight. The searchlight turns on, followed by two more in the background turning on. We then reach the middle of the Fox "stack" structure, but instead of seeing a narrow "CENTURY", we see a large "SEARCHLIGHT". The camera pulls back and reveals "FOX" above, and "PICTURES" below. After the logo is finished zooming out, the byline "A NEWS CORPORATION COMPANY" fades in, then the rightmost searchlight moves towards us, filling the screen with light, then we fade out.
Trivia:
- February 21, 1997-November 24, 2006: The animation, all done and provided by the people at The Mednick Group, who also did the 1993 Columbia Pictures logo.
- December 22, 2006-February 11, 2011: The animation provided for the 2006 or 2007 version of the logo is done by the people at Sony Pictures Imageworks.
Variants:
- On some films, the News Corporation byline is slightly smaller. Primarily, that is used for films with a wider aspect ratio, but on some movies, such as Slums of Beverly Hills and Boys Don't Cry, it is used on the regular 16:9 version of the logo, while some wider films, such as Titus and Slumdog Millionaire, use the regular byline instead.
- In some cases, such as 28 Days Later, the logo cuts to black.
- A bylineless version exists, but is used for corporate purposes and such never been used on any movie as a throwback variation.
- An open matte version exists.
- The logo is cut short on trailers and TV spots.
FX/SFX: The movement of the camera. Nice 3D animation by The Mednick Group (for the 1997 variant) and Sony Pictures Imageworks (for the 2006 or 2007 variant).
Music/Sounds: Few seconds of silence, as the searchlight turns on, the 1994 20th Century Fox fanfare, conducted by Bruce Broughton, plays. Later replaced in 1999 with the 1997 Fox fanfare, conducted by David Newman.
Music/Sounds Variants:
- Starting in 1999, the 1997 Fox fanfare, conducted by David Newman is used.
- On some films like 28 Days Later, and Day Watch, there's a low-pitched version of the fanfare.
- On I Heart Huckabees and The Ringer, after the light covers the screen, the opening voiceover begins.
- Both fanfares are higher-pitched on PAL prints of all films with this logo.
Availability: Very common. It appeared on all Fox Searchlight films from this era. The logo premiered on Blood and Wine and made its final theatrical appearance on Cedar Rapids (though the trailers for said film use the next logo t
4th Logo (March 18, 2011-December 16, 2019)[]
Nicknames: "CGI City Skyline Searchlights II", "Enhanced City Skyline Searchlights", "The Searchlights III", "Fox Structure III", "Fox Searchlight Pictures Structure III", "25 Years of Fox Searchlight Pictures"
Logo: This is a redone and more realistic version of the previous Fox Searchlight Pictures logo, based on the structure of the 2009-2020 20th Century Fox logo. This time, it is in a dark/orange evening environment. There are newer and more realistic textures added to the structure, we can see palm trees at the bottom at the start (as well as the addition of the Hollywood sign on the hills), three searchlights are deleted, and near the right at the end, and it's more obvious at the end that the right searchlight is pointing at us when it fills the screen with light. An "®" symbol is also now added to the logo.
Trivia: This logo is based on the 2009 TCF logo designed by Chris Wedge and Carlos Saldanha and was animated at Blue Sky Studios.
Variants:
- There are variants where the structure is seen in an extreme close-up (ala cropped from scope into 1.78:1) or shown at a far distance in the entire 16:9 frame.
- There's a 4:3 variant seen on some TV spots as well as full screen prints of many films from 2012 onward, starting with Sound of My Voice.
- Starting with the release of Enough Said on September 20, 2013, the News Corporation byline is excluded and the logo is bylineless for the first time ever. This is mainly due to the split of News Corporation on June 28, 2013.
- There is a rare 20th Anniversary variant, where "20TH ANNIVERSARY" is engraved under "PICTURES". There is no full version of this variant, nor did it appear in films from the studio released in 2014, as it was only on a 20th Anniversary video.
- On the trailer for Tolkien and Antlers, on the former film itself, along with others such as Ready or Not, Lucy in the Sky, Jojo Rabbit, and A Hidden Life, after the screen is filled with light, it fades to a dark grey background with a silver rectangle. The object has a large "25" on the left with "YEARS" inside the "5" on in the first quarter on the left, and in the other three quarters is the print logo, minus the searchlights. This variant was used for the studio's 25th anniversary in 2019.
- Like the previous logo, the logo is cut short on trailers and TV spots.
- On The Grand Budapest Hotel and Isle of Dogs, a slightly extended version of the aformentioned version is used.
Music/Sounds: Few seconds of silence, as the searchlight turns on, the 1997 20th Century Fox fanfare plays.
Music/Sounds Variants:
- On The Favourite, the Fox fanfare is sung by a group of birds.
- On Lucy in the Sky, a blast off countdown is heard on the second half of the fanfare.
- On Jojo Rabbit, the opening theme is used instead, with the drumroll intact.
- On The Grand Budapest Hotel and Isle of Dogs, the logo is completely silent.
Availability: Very common.
- First seen on the trailers for The Tree of Life, Cedar Rapids and later trailers for Win Win, which was also the first film to use this logo.
- The last film to use this logo with the News Corporation byline was The Way Way Back, released on July 5, 2013, the last film to use this logo with the "Fox Searchlight Pictures" name was A Hidden Life, and the last short film to use this logo was Sew Torn.
- The 20th anniversary variant was unused, as it was only seen on a 20th anniversary video.
Editor's Note: It's a suitable successor to the previous logo.
Searchlight Pictures[]
(January 29, 2020-)[]
Logo used since January 29, 2020. The word "FOX" is omitted. Spectacular, spectacular 3D animation, all done and provided by the folks at Blue Sky, in collaboration with MOCEAN.
Nicknames: "CGI City Skyline Searchlights III", "Enhanced City Skyline Searchlights II", "Searchlight Pictures Structure"
Logo: Basically an enhanced version of the last logo. It's nearly the same as before, except "FOX" has been removed from the top of the structure, and the words are slightly taller and larger to accommodate for it, a la the final Fox Interactive logo. The Los Angeles cityscape in the background is larger and more detailed with greater depth, the mountains are more realistic and multilayered, the skyline is much different, the ® symbol has been removed, the searchlights (aside from their light beams) are a lot darker in color (compared to the 20th Century Studios logo which has the same colors for the searchlights but sleeker and shinier), and the Hollywood sign is pushed up to resemble the one in real life.
FX/SFX: Still very nice CGI from Blue Sky, this time in collaboration with MOCEAN.
Music/Sounds: Same as before.
Music/Sounds Variant: On The French Dispatch and Antlers, the logo is completely silent.
In Flamin’ Hot. the Mexican version of David Newman’s fanfare is heard.
Availability: Seen on all films from the company starting in 2020. First seen on "For Your Consideration" spots for Jojo Rabbit, and premiered on Downhill. Also appears as a de-facto home video logo on current Searchlight Pictures home media releases, after the final TCFHE logo retired, but it's played in its fullest, unlike TCS.
Editor's Note: Like the 20th Century Studios logo, it may take some time to get used to, but it is still an excellent logo.