Silver Pictures

Background
Silver Pictures is the film production company of Joel Silver founded in 1985. However, it did not have a logo until 1990 (introduced as a static logo for Silver Pictures Television on the TV movie Parker Kane), and their logo did not appear on a theatrical film until the 1991 release of Ricochet.

1st Logo (October 4, 1991-November 5, 2003)


 Nicknames:  "The Square", "The CGI Chip", "The Chip", "The Textile Block"

 Logo:  On a black background with sliver "water" below, a 3D silver object emerges from the "water", slowly, with the "water" rippling as it rises. After it's uncovered, the camera zooms back quickly, revealing that the 3D object is a chip with "SILVER PICTURES" coming from below, the letters separated from each other.

 Trivia:  The logo comes from a motif used by architect Frank Lloyd Wright for the Storer House. Joel Silver, an aficionado of Wright, owned the house in the 1980s and 1990s.

 Variants: 
 * On widescreen prints of the film Ricochet, a gray spotlight is seen shining on the bottom right corner of the screen; with the radius taking up almost half of the background. Pan-and-scan VHS prints of the film itself would have a flash appear with the chip, giving it an appearance of a blue spotlight on the background for a brief second. This is presumably due to film damage.
 * On the Blu-ray remaster release of The Last Boy Scout, the logo appears to be in a yellow hue.
 * On some films, it has a black-purple gradient background. Sometimes, the logo has a purple hue.

 FX/SFX:  The chip rising, the camera zooming, the letters appearing.

 Music/Sounds:  An orchestral fanfare composed by the late Michael Kamen (who also did the music for the 1991 Morgan Creek and 1994 New Line Cinema logos) that ends with 9 orchestral hits.

 Music/Sounds Variants: 


 * On Ricochet, the theme is more frenetic. There is also an unused fanfare with harps and pounding timpani drums throughout used on the film's soundtrack, composed by Alan Silvestri. This was intended to be the standard fanfare for the logo.
 * On a French VHS of The Last Boy Scout, translated Le Dernier Samaritain, the theme begins at the tail end of the credits before the logo appears.
 * On some movies like the The Matrix trilogy (the first 3 films), Exit Wounds, and Cradle 2 the Grave (the final movie to use this logo), the movie's closing theme is heard over the logo.

 Availability:  Can be seen on films from Silver Pictures of that period, such as Swordfish, The Matrix trilogy, Demolition Man, The Last Boy Scout, Ricochet, The Hudsucker Proxy, Richie Rich, Executive Decision, Conspiracy Theory, Fathers' Day and Romeo Must Die. Oddly, Lethal Weapon 3 and 4 do not have this logo.

 Editor's Note:  None.

2nd Logo (2003)
 Nicknames:  "The S", "The Gears"

 Logo:  On a black background, some gears turn and are held up by strings, as the camera zooms out and scrolls down. After a bit, it stops and eases back to reveal a bordered rectangle with an "S" and "SILVER PICTURES" stacked below. The gears then fade away.

 FX/SFX:  The gears and the scrolling of the screen.

 Music/Sounds:  A metallic beeping-like sound followed by machinery turning on when the logo is revealed.

 Availability:  Just one of two experimental logos for the company. They might be circulating around online.

 Editor's Note:  None.

3rd Logo (2003)
 Nicknames:  "Gears II", "The Chip II", "The CGI Chip II", "The Chip with Gears"

 Logo:  On a black background, we see some gears in half a square with a metal prong protruding to the bottom. The camera eases back on top with the company name in gray on the top of the screen seen backwards; before going front as it eases back and rests in the middle. The square turns into the chip from the 1st logo as it shimmers.

FX/SFX: The gears and the camera.

 Music/Sounds:  Machinery-like humming with the sound of gears.

 Availability:  Like the previous logo, it was only a prototype and wasn't used in any films.

 Editor's Note:  None.

4th Logo (October 21, 2005- )
 Nickname:  "The CGI Brick"

 Logo:  We start by seeing silver angles, light and a small square. The camera then zooms out a little and goes down from the gap of a new, CGI-stylized brick. The brick turns towards the black background and the words "SILVER PICTURES" zoom from down to below the brick.

 Variants: 
 * A still version exists on early episodes of the second season of Veronica Mars.
 * A warp-speed version exists on later episodes of the second season of Veronica Mars.
 * Starting with later films from 2007 onward, the company name is removed.

 FX/SFX : The positioning of the cubes with light effects. Awesome CGI done by Prologue.

 Music/Sounds:  None or the opening theme of the movie. However on Veronica Mars has the eight orchestral hits from the end of the 1st logo.

 Availability:  Common. Seen on films like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, V for Vendetta, and Speed Racer. Other films with the textless variant include The Invasion, Fred Claus, Ninja Assassin, and the Sherlock Holmes franchise.

 Editor's Note:  None.