Monolith Productions

Not to be confused with Monolith Software.

Background
Monolith Productions was founded on October 15, 1994 by Jace Hall, Garret Price, Toby Gladwell, Bryan Bouwman, Brian Goble, Paul Renault, and Brian Waite. According to Goble, the name "Monolith" was "semi-mysterious, wasn't taken, and was 8 characters". Monolith is known for Blood, No One Lives Forever, Condemned, the F.E.A.R. series, and Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor. Monolith would develop their LithTech engine, and in 2004, they got acquired by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

1st Logo (1995)


Nicknames: "Monolith M I", "Way of the Butcher", "Soylent Green"

Logo: On a space background, 2 giant slabs pass us and rotate on their sides, with visible diagonal slopes. As the camera passes the slabs, metal faces emerge from the walls and the camera takes a sharp turn around and above the slabs, eventually rotating into place. This reveals a giant monolith with several cuts in it, forming a (very wonky-looking) "M" with several different details. Below it is the text "Impact" in an Impact-like font. The monolith shines with a pinkish sheen as it slowly zooms in.

Technique: Early computer animation, pretty impressive for MS-DOS.

Music/Sounds: Low-toned drones are heard throughout, with metallic slashing noises and a quiet 5-note tune. A quiet sound of wind can be heard after the tune.

Availability: Extinct. This was a pre-release animation for a technological demo.

2nd Logo (September 5, 1997-November 25, 1998)


Nicknames: "Monolith M II", "Helicopters & Searchlights", "Dark Laser"

Logo: On a black background, fog can be seen drifting across the screen. This is before a laser carves out a triangle and 3 searchlights appear over the surface. Another triangle is drawn, followed by an inverted triangle, in which the screen flashes and reveals a refined version of the logo from before. The searchlights focus on the bottom of the monolith as "MONOLITH", this time in a slender font, emerges from the bottom with a relief effect. The laser then returns to write the word "PRODUCTIONS" in a different font, with steam coming off of it. The URL "www.lith.com" then appears below.

Technique: The fog, lasers, and searchlights.

Music/Sounds: Helicopter rotors and voice recordings can be heard throughout the logo. Laser sounds can also be heard and one final note is held out until the end.

Availability: Scarce.
 * Seen on the US version of Rage of Mages.
 * On the original Russian version, it's replaced with the Nival and Buka logos.
 * Also appeared on Blood 2 and Claw as well.

3rd Logo (1998-2005)


Nicknames: "The Gearbox", "Horror Factory", "Zombie Factory"

Logo: On a black background, a quick shot of a dimly lit gear quickly passes the screen before slowing down. The gear then fades to some letters quickly passing over each other and zooming in, all in a stylized font. Another shot of the gear appears, but at a different angle and switches over to a quick pass-over shot of the letters, making the word "MONOLITH". It then fades to a slab with the letters cut out of it, with smoke pouring out of it. More shots of the gear and letters follow before revealing a zombie-like figure moving in the smoke. Shots of the letters with the figure in it move across the screen before it suddenly rushes towards the screen multiple times, before finally zooming out to the text fully in frame.

Technique: The gears, the letters, the figure's movements.

Music/Sounds: Sounds of gears, metal clanging, and the like before metallic swooshes take over at the end and suddenly stops, leaving a echo for a bit.

Availability: Uncommon. Seen on several games, like The Operative: No One Lives Forever.

4th Logo (November 4, 2004-)


Nickname: "Monolith Trapezium"

Logo: On a black background, a material slowly forms up and reveals the new Monolith logo, with "MONOLITH" in a different stylized font than before and a  trapezoid with another trapezoid cut into it, but having a different shape and facing the opposite way. The material forming the text slowly turns and a small light starts to emerge from the center. It then flashes, solidifying the logo and turning the background white, as well as the logo shaking for a bit.

Variant: On some games, the logo is still.

Technique: The logo forming, the flashing.

Music/Sounds: A low wind sound, and, when the flash happens, a bass sound.

Availability: Common.
 * Seen on new games, starting with the Xbox port of Tron 2.0 (subtitled Killer App there).
 * Also seen on games like F.E.A.R.