Audio commentary (DVD)
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A major selling point of DVD video is that its storage capacity allows for a wide variety of extra features in addition to the feature film itself. This can include audio commentary that is timed to the film sequence, documentary features, unused footage, trivia text commentary, simple games and film shorts.
On a DVD, an audio commentary is a bonus track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, who talk about the movie as it progresses. Depending on the nature of the movie, and upon the person providing the spoken dialogue, it can add a wealth of informative, entertaining information about a movie of which most audience members would not be aware.
Audio commentaries are located on separate 'audio tracks' on the DVD. A single DVD disc can have several of these that can be selected by the viewer from the main menu of the DVD or by pressing a designated button on the remote. Each contains different content: one has the actual dialogue and sound of the movie, while others can contain different language dialogue (for translation purposes), a different type of audio encoding (Dolby Digital or DTS), music-only soundtracks, and audio commentaries. Some DVD productions include multiple commentary tracks.
There are several different types of commentary:
- Partial, which only covers selected scenes of the film.
- Feature-length, which goes from the beginning of the film to the end.
- Live, which is recorded in one session: the speakers watch the movie from beginning to end and give their thoughts.
- Edited, which is recorded at various sessions, often with various speakers. Multiple-person commentary tracks recorded for The Criterion Collection are noted for this technique. The audio is edited into a cohesive whole.
- Single-person, which is just that: one person taking you through the film.
- Multiple-person, which can either take live or edited form. A live multiple-person commentary track is sometimes called a party track.
- Cast, crew, or director, which is from particular people involved in the making of the film. They can often describe how the work was done, why a certain choice was made, or discuss generally the themes and limitations.
- Character, which features one or more actors commenting on the movie while in character.
- Scholarly, which is performed by a film critic, historian or scholar, taking the viewer through the significance of the film, the technique, and at times telling the story behind its making. Variations on this may feature fans or comedians, who would also have some level of expertise concerning a title.
- Carrot-top, which features someone not associated or knowledgeable about the film in any way, shape, or form. They are very rare and so-called because of the commentary track by comedian Carrot Top on Roger Avary's The Rules of Attraction.
Contents
History of audio commentaries
The value of audio commentaries as a marketing tool was revealed during the heyday of laserdisc, the laser-based video format produced before the introduction of DVDs. The Criterion Collection company, for example, produced high-quality "deluxe" editions of classic movies on laserdisc, using the best available prints and re-edited versions. These were often very expensive compared to today's DVDs and included bonus features such as production stills and movie trailers, deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes information, and audio commentaries from the directors, producers, cast, editors and cinemaphotographers and designers. They were marketed to movie professionals, fans and scholars who were seen as an elite niche of consumers who could afford to pay more for definitive, quality editions. The audio commentaries on laserdiscs were typically encoded on secondary analogue tracks which had become redundant, as modern laserdiscs had stereo audio encoded digitally alongside. This is why certain older videodisc players, which predate the digital audio standard, are only able to play back analogue tracks with audio commentary.The decline of the laserdisc format and the increasing popularity of DVD was highlighted in the fall of 1997, when simultaneous laserdisc and DVD editions of the movie Contact were released. The former contained one bonus audio commentary track by director, Robert Zemeckis, and producer Steve Starkey. However, the DVD contained two additional, separate audio commentaries (by Jodie Foster and the special effects producers), as well as other bonus features.
The first ever audio commentary was featured on the Criterion Collection release of the original King Kong movie, on laserdisc in December 1984. It featured film historian Ronald Haver and his first words were:
"Hello ladies and gentlemen, I'm Ronald Haver, and I'm here to do something which we feel is rather unique. I'm going to take you on a lecture tour of King Kong as you watch the film. The laserdisc technology offers us this opportunity and we feel it's rather unique - the ability to switch back and forth between the soundtrack and this lecture track..."
Notable DVD audio commentaries
- The DVD release of Ghostbusters contains a so-called 'video commentary' track with director, Ivan Reitman, writer/star Harold Ramis, and associate producer Joe Medjuck. Silhouettes of the trio were added to the picture using one of the subtitle tracks, in a manner that made it seem as if they were sitting in a theater commenting on the movie as it was screened for them. This was seen as a homage to (or rip-off of) Mystery Science Theater 3000. The DVD releases of Men in Black and Muppets from Space had similar features.
- The DVD release of Fantasia features two separate commentaries: one by Roy E. Disney, James Levine, and John Canemaker; and a second by Walt Disney, created using audio clips of interviews and a voice actor reading his production meeting notes, hosted by Canemaker. When its sequel Fantasia 2000 was released on DVD, it also included two separate audio commentaries: One featuring Roy E. Disney, Levine, and Canemaker, and the other featuring commentary on each of the separate segments of the film by the directors and art directors of each segment. For the sections starring Mickey Mouse ("The Sorcerer's Apprentice") and Donald Duck ("Pomp and Circumstance"), voice actors Wayne Allwine and Tony Anselmo were used to make it seem as though Mickey and Donald were providing their own commentary on their appearances in the film.
- The DVD releases for [[Atlantis: The Lost Empire|Atlantis: The Lost Empire (Special Edition)]] and Finding Nemo contained specially-edited 'video commentaries'; the feature-length audio commentaries by the directors and producers were punctuated by cues to video segments illustrating various behind-the-scenes aspects.
- Seth MacFarlane, creator of the animated series Family Guy, recorded a commentary track entirely in the voices of Brian and Stewie, two characters he voiced on the show. The commentary was featured on the Family Guy "Freakin' Sweet Collection" DVD release.
- The second DVD of This is Spinal Tap, released in 2000, features a commentary by the three members of the band, in character. They relate how they felt slighted by the film, and how the director (Marty di Bergi in the film) did a "hack job" with the documentary. The commentary is another added element to the fiction of the band. Actors Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer had previously recorded a commentary for a Criterion Collection DVD which had gone out of print.
- The Ultimate Matrix Collection, a box set of the entire Matrix trilogy, has two audio commentaries on each film — one by philosophers who loved it (Dr. Cornel West and Ken Wilber), and one by critics who hated it (Todd McCarthy, John Powers and David Thomson).
- The commentary on Trey Parker's Cannibal! The Musical (aka Alferd Packer: The Musical) is notable in that the commentators — cast and crew — start out sober at the beginning. As the movie progresses, the group drinks and gets more and more inebriated.
- The laserdisc version of Chasing Amy featured a commentary track by the director, Kevin Smith, who says in the commentary track "Fuck DVD," echoing the thoughts of many Laserdisc fans about the then-new DVD format. On the DVD edition of the same film, the same commentary track was featured but the film begins with a video introduction by Kevin Smith putting his comments into perspective and giving a more favourable opinion of the now more mature DVD format.
- The fourth, fifth and sixth season box sets of The Simpsons contain special "illustrated commentaries" on selected episodes, where two animation directors draw on screen while commenting on the episode. This is achieved by using subtitle data to produce the drawings overlayed on top of the video in sync with the audio commentary track.
- The Simpsons and Futurama, both Matt Groening creations, are among the few TV series to have audio commentary tracks on every episode in their season box set DVD releases. Twin Peaks, Mr. Show, and the first season set of The Shield are other examples of these rare instances.
- The commentary for Eurotrip has the writers and director playing a drinking game to their own film, while giving a commentary.
- The Coen Brothers movie Blood Simple has a fake commentary written by the Coens and read by an actor posing as a film historian. This "historian" Kenneth Loring gives information about the production that almost everyone would recognize as being totally ludicrous. He claims for instance that one the opening scene was shot upside down with the actors saying their lines backwards and that some roles were reserved for Rosemary Clooney and Gene Kelly. All this was meant as a parody of DVD commentaries.
- When the first season of Veronica Mars was rushed to DVD so first-time viewers could catch up before the second season began airing in Fall 2005, the creator, Rob Thomas, recorded an audio commentary for the pilot which was a downloadable podcast because there wasn't time to get it on the boxed set.
- The audio commentary for Bowling for Columbine features non-prominent staff members such as interns and the receptionist of Michael Moore.
- In several commentaries on the first season of Lost, the commentators would actually stop the episode's progress and play behind-the-scenes clips, continuing to talk over the footage.
Prolific commentators
- Hong Kong cinema expert Bey Logan was a popular commentator for UK DVD distributors [Hong Kong Legends] and their sister label [Premier Asia]. He has recorded over sixty commentaries for Asian films including classics such as Fist of Fury, Project A and The Young Master as well as modern hits Iron Monkey, Musa and Ong Bak. For the majority of his commentaries Logan was a solo commentator but occasionally he was joined by notable film makers and cast including Tsui Hark, Christy Chung, Donnie Yen and Maggie Q. He left Hong Kong Legends for the The Weinstein Co. in early 2006.
- US film historian Rudy Behlmer has recorded commentaries for many classics of American cinema, most notably Gone with the Wind, The Adventures of Robin Hood and Frankenstein.
- US writer and director Peter Bogdanovich has not only recorded commentaries for his own films (The Last Picture Show, The Cat's Meow, Paper Moon) but has also recorded commentaries for important American classics including Bringing Up Baby, Citizen Kane, The Lady from Shanghai and Strangers on a Train.
- US writer and director Kevin Smith has recorded a commentary for all his feature films and has also appeared on the Donnie Darko: Director's Cut commentary amongst others.
Alternate DVD commentaries
Originally inspired by [a column by Roger Ebert], a small but active fan base of DVD commentary enthusiasts has sprung up since 2002 offering their own specially-recorded fan-made DVD commentaries. These tracks (usually made available in mp3 format) allow the fans to put forth their own opinions and expertise on a movie or TV series in much the same way as an on-disc commentary.The idea of downloadable commentary tracks has since been co-opted by TV show creators themselves, as creators of TV shows such as the 2003 remake of Battlestar Galactica, [[Star Trek: Voyager]], and the Doctor Who revival have recorded downloadable commentary tracks meant to be watched along with the episodes as recorded from TV. Kevin Smith has recorded a commentary track for Clerks 2 that can be downloaded to an MP3 player for viewing in the movie theater during the movie's first run.
Generally, these tracks are viewed by starting a DVD player and a separate MP3 player at the same time. However, a Windows program called [Sharecrow] has recently been created to allow downloaded commentaries and DVDs to be viewed in synchronization more easily. The Sharecrow homepage also includes a directory of web commentaries sorted by title, [here].
There are only a few fan groups currently doing commentary recordings. The main groups currently active are:
- [MMM Commentaries] - these Australian fans have created alternate DVD commentaries for the Star Trek series, Star Wars, various Doctor Who episodes and pilots for many tv series, such as Futurama, The West Wing and Stargate SG-1.
- [Renegade Commentaries] - A UK based group with over 50 commentaries including Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Flash Gordon and others
- [Commentary Central] - Community based commentary site which enables users to list their own commentaries and provides hosting for individual commentaries
- [The Spoilers] - Rick Yaeger from Vancouver, BC, Canada and Bill Douthett from Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA meet with a guest over Skype to provide commentary for some of their favorite films. You never know what to expect with The Spoilers. Commentaries include Office Space, Mallrats, Sin City, WarGames, Serenity and Raiders of the Lost Ark and many more on the way.
- [Film Pigs] - Offers comedy commentary tracks for The Day After Tomorrow, [[Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace]], The Passion of the Christ and others.
- [Hurricane Andy] - Offers analytical commentaries for Jackie Chan's First Strike, Signs, L.A. Confidential and others.
- [Pulsing Cinema] - Offers commentaries for horror films such as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Night of the Living Dead and Halloween.
- [Adudathuda DVD podBLAST] - A group of Los Angeles-based 'indie-siders' offer comedic lambasting of the films Showgirls, Volcano and Once Upon a Time in Mexico, among others.
Quotes
- As an addendum to the commentary on As Good As It Gets (1997), the film's director, James L. Brooks, and its star, Jack Nicholson, share this brief exchange during the credits:
Brooks: [on the virtues of the then new DVD format] "It's a better mousetrap."
Nicholson: "...What's better? What's better? You know, we're sitting here being remunerated for what is ultimately the cancer of film, which we claim to love above all else."
- Ridley Scott is an enthusiastic supporter of commentaries and the DVD format in general. In the July 2006 issue of Total Film magazine, he stated:
"After all the work we go through, to have it run in the cinema and then disappear forever is a great pity. To give the film added life is really cool for both those who missed it and those who really loved it."
External links
- [ratethatcommentary.com]: A site that lists DVD audio commentaries and allows users to rate and review them.
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