This document analyzes the logos of three major film institutions: Warner Bros., Columbia Pictures, and DreamWorks. The Warner Bros. logo depicts a gold crest implying wealth and influence. The Columbia Pictures logo features a statue holding a torch representing power and authority. DreamWorks' logo shows a boy on the moon fishing in clouds, symbolizing dreams and their target younger audience. All three logos have evolved over time but maintain their original symbolic concepts to effectively represent the institutions.

1. Film Institution Analysis
By: Ruba Islam

2. Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. is an American producer of film, television and music entertainment. It was founded
in 1923 and its parent companies include:
•
•
•
•
•
Warner Bros.-Seven Arts(1967–1970)
Kinney National Company(1970–1972)
Warner Communications(1972–1990)
Time Warner (1990–2001, 2003-Present)
AOL Time Warner (2001–2003)
The Warner Bros. logo is in the shape of a gold crest this connotes that they have power and have
been influential within the entertainment industry. The use of the colour gold also implies wealth and
authority which corresponds with the fact that they make high budget films. For example the Harry
Potter series and the Batman trilogy. In addition, the background of the Warner Bros. logo is a
cloudy blue sky, the colour blue connotes freedom, optimism, dreams, and new beginnings. This
illustrates that a story is being told which is what the audience expect when they watch a film made
by this institutional logo. The sky could also suggest that this film has high standards and they are a
different/unique institution.
The Warner bros logo has been changed, however the original concept of the crest stays the same
throughout. The colors and background change to fit with the theme of the movie the institutional
logo is presenting. During the releases of the Harry Potter series the logo uses darker colors as the
movies contain mystery and a variation of enigma codes for example in the ‘Prisoner of Azkaban’
the crest is metallic and the camera zooms through it, revealing Harry Potter's house behind it. Also
during the matrix release the logo was green with a black background.

3. Columbia Pictures
Columbia pictures is an American film production and distribution studio which is part of the
Columbia TriStar Motion picture group. Columbia pictures was founded in 1918 and its
parent companies owned by Sony corporation include:
• Sony Pictures Entertainment (1991–present)
• Sony (2013-present)
The Columbia pictures logo contains a statue of a woman on
a pedestal, holding up a light. The statue is similar to the statue
of liberty which is an iconographic landmark in America which
makes this logo easily recognizable and memorable to the audience. The statue also
represents power and authority that the company hold as statues are usually connected to
people who have earned their renowned position through accomplishment and hard work.
In addition the light being held up to the name of the institution draws attention upon it and
illustrates its significance. Moreover the background uses celestial imagery which suggests
that they are above everyone else, and that they are a valued and respected institution.
The logo has changed over the years, the original logo looked like this:
Then it changed into a black and white image of a female Roman
Soldier holding a stick and a shield. Once the lady with the torch was introduced in 1928 the
logo continued to change. The first version of the logo which was called ‘A Columbia
productions wore a headdress and had rays that flickered from the torch. The second version
called ‘Columbia’ as it is currently removed the headdress from the statue and added a
pedestal and added the background. The logo then remained like it is today however colors

4. DreamWorks
DreamWorks, is a Californian film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films,
video games and television programming. It was founded in 1994 and its parent company
is Reliance Entertainment which is part of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group.
The DreamWorks institutional logo consists of a moon with a little boy
sitting on the edge of it. This illustrates the fact that this institution
produces films directed at a younger audience. The clouds in the
background imply dreams because of the dim colours used it also
relates to the name of the institution. In addition the fact that the
little boy has a fishing rod in his hand which is pointed down into the clouds has
connotations of achieving your dreams/goals in life, illustrating the ‘dreams coming true’
aspect. Moreover, the title which is white connotes peace and innocence this relates to
their target audience and the genre of films they create e.g. animated movies and fantasy.
The DreamWorks logo has been changed slightly throughout the years. Firstly it only
consisted of the boy on the moon with the title below it. Which was created through the
imagination of Steven Spielberg as he wanted a logo that reminded people of Hollywood’s
golden age. However as the company grew the logo was updated and clouds were added
to the background to symbolize the institutions increasing popularity and to give the logo
an illusion of depth. The boy on the moon remained the same as this is what made the
logo effective for instance it expresses the inner child that everyone holds, of a more
innocent time.