Background[]
Paramount Classics was a genre film division of Paramount Pictures, launched in May 1998 to distribute films with a more "arthouse" and/or foreign feel, as well as occasionally distributing content from Paramount's other labels. In 2006, Paramount launched Paramount Vantage, another label which served Classics' purpose; Classics was then retooled to focus more on foreign properties and documentary films before ultimately folding into Vantage in 2008.
1st Logo (March 12-November 12, 1999)[]
Logo: On a black background is the Paramount Classics print logo, which has the 1968-present Paramount Pictures print logo (without the stars, text and byline) with the gate to their Hollywood studio in front opened and leading to the mountain. The words "PARAMOUNT CLASSICS" are seen below.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Rare. Seen on the trailers for Where's Marlowe?, Get Real and The Adventures of Sebastian Cole.
2nd Logo (March 10, 2000-August 7, 2007)[]
Nicknames: "Paramount Gate", "Studio Gate", "Hollywood Gate", "The Gate and the Mountain", "CGI Paramount Gate"
Logo: As the camera spins around in a blue/pinkish cloudy sky, a blue-tinted mountain (from the 1986-2002 Paramount Pictures logo, minus the stars, text and byline) is seen illuminated in white light without the stars, text, and byline. After working its way to the front, the camera then zooms out to reveal the Paramount gate entrance. The gates then open to reveal the mountain and the words "PARAMOUNT CLASSICS" fade in below.
Trivia:
- This isn't the first time Paramount used their gate entrance as a logo design; they previously used it as a design for their budget video division Gateway in the 1980s and early 1990s.
- Paramount once used a similarly-animated logo on some very sporadic theatrical showings and trailers from 1994 to 2000; that logo would later serve as a basis for this one.
Variants:
- On Girl on the Bridge, the logo is in black and white.
- At the end of movies, the logo is shortened to the point before the text fades in.
FX/SFX: The camera turning, the zooming, the gates opening. All CGI animation.
Music/Sounds: A majestic piano/string theme with wind blowing at the end composed by Michael Kamen. In other cases, it is silent or uses the opening theme of the film.
Availability: Seen on a majority of films made by the studio, including Mad Hot Ballroom, Hustle & Flow, Northfork, Mean Creek, The Triumph of Love, The Virgin Suicides, and An Inconvenient Truth, among others. It debuted theatrically on Deterrence and last appeared on Beneath.
Editor's Note: The CGI is slightly less intricate than its parent company's logos, but it's still a well-done logo overall.
3rd Logo (July 25, 2007-April 4, 2008)[]
Nicknames: "Paramount Gate II", "Paint Strokes", "The Gate and the Mountain II"
Logo: On a black background, black ink lines are drawn on a white paper sheet. They form a brush-drawn version of the print logo taken into a box, with the company name below. The logo zooms out with a white background.
Variant: On The Kite Runner, the logo is still and takes place on a black background.
FX/SFX: The logo taking form.
Music/Sounds: None or the opening theme of the film.
Availability: Rare. This was only seen on Arctic Tale, Shine a Light, and The Kite Runner.