Beacon Pictures

Background

Beacon Pictures (originally known as "Beacon Communications, LLC") is an American movie production company that was established in 1990 by Armyan Bernstein to produce movies for important Hollywood studios.

1st Logo (August 14, 1991-August 18, 1995, April 22, 2008-May 16, 2016, September 28, 2022)

Logo: On a black background, we see several 1940's-like buildings, all arranged haphazardly and titled at various angles. A much taller building emerges from the center, as the rest of them align to become upright. The tallest one's top flashes and a beacon's light emerges from it, as a box draws itself around the buildings. "BEACON" zooms out and flashes under the box, then dims.

Variant: A enhanced short version exists on the failed pilot of the US version of NY-LON, Castle and Agent X. The beacon light is missing as the text zooms out, and then it slowly wipes in.

Technique: Computer animation.

Music/Sounds: A rising synth note not unlike THX's Deep Note, followed by a "shining" sound effect when the beacon lights, then a piano chord, then a choir. Sometimes, the opening theme of the movie (or the closing theme of the show) is heard or even silence.

Music/Sounds Variant: On the failed pilot of the US version of NY-LON and Castle, a whoosh sound is heard on the short version.

Availability: Rare. It's known to exist on Princess Caraboo, The Road to Wellville and The Baby-Sitter's Club, among others. The short version of this logo can be seen on television shows such as Castle and Agent X. The logo made a surprise re-appearance on Bring it On: Cheer or Die, released on September 28, 2022.

2nd Logo (July 25, 1997-August 29, 2017)

Logo: On a black background, the same buildings from before can be seen, but expanded out into a full city, as well as some mountain peeks to the right of it. The top of the tallest building flashes and a large spotlight emerges, which then fades to a simple beam. A box then wipes in downwards around the city, and "BEACON" in the same font, but spaced out to fit the logo, zooms out as a ghostly white color first before fading to a solid color. It then flashes.

Variants:

On an Australian airing of Princess Caraboo (which is seen with the 2nd Roadshow Television logo) and most prints of Playing God, a rare extended variant exists, which has a much longer animation. It starts off with a close up of a filmreel's edge, which scrolls to the right. It then pans away from the square, revealing it to be a tall white skyscraper, and the camera zooms out to reveal the city skyline from the regular version. The building then illuminates its beacon, revealing the mountains, and a box fades in around it, with "BEACON" in a white box and a byline reading "AN ASCENT ENTERTAINMENT GROUP COMPANY" below it.
On Air Force One, the Ascent Entertainment Group byline fades in underneath the logo on the normal version.
On Bring It On, the logo explodes when it finishes animating to reveal a cheer squad performing.
A still variant exists.
On Uncle P., the logo becomes a colorful drawing as "Family Films" appears in a cursive font below the name.

Technique: Computer animation.

Music/Sounds: A five-note piano chord, along with a "shining" sound effect as the beacon lights up. Sometimes, either silent or the movie theme plays over this logo.

Music/Sounds Variant: On AMC's print of Air Force One, the music is low-pitched.

Availability: Pretty common. Appears on many movies including Air Force One (which is most likely the logo's debut), the Bring It On films, Raising Helen, Firewall, A Lot Like Love, and The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, among others. A Flash version of this was also used on their website circa 2004.

3rd Logo (September 17-November 24, 1999)

Logo: A still shot of the previous logo, but the "BEACON" text is in a white box.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: The closing theme of the movie.

Availability: Seen at the end of End of Days and For the Love of Game.

4th Logo (November 22, 2002-October 1, 2004)

Logo: We see a white rectangular box with "B E A C O N" written inside near the top. A solid beam comes from the "O"'s center to the bottom left corner of the box.

Variant: On The Emperor's Club, the logo is inverted.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo.

Availability: Uncommon. Seen at the end of Ladder 49. Most films have the still version of the regular opening logos.