A match made in heaven.

It's just so interesting to look through the Criterion collection or any other company releasing well-respected films on DVD and see how many have this or that film prof doing an audio commentary track. It's a brand new way for these academics to do stuff on the side - not sure how profitable it is, but I figure they do pay you reasonably, and it's good exposure.

I just checked out Se7en on DVD. First time I saw the movie - wow, masterpiece. But anyway. This guy Richard Dyer, whose academic work I'm familiar with, is on like 3 commentary tracks, along with different cast/crew, focusing on different elements. I didn't get to check these commentary tracks out, but just starting to play the first one...

It was like a mini Film Studies course on DVD. As I was saying, match made in heaven...

Haven't heard of this film? It's pretty interesting, you should check it out. But what I wanted to say was they got Laura Mulvey to do the audio commentary. This woman wrote what is pretty much the most-often-quoted essay in the history of film theory (it's some feminist stuff called "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema", written back in the mid-70's). They're bringing heat to the table, these DVD planners...

There is a lot of good potential here in terms of interesting the average viewer in deeper thought about film.

but shes so damn boring to listen to, alot of the academics on the criterion DVD's seem to just be reading excerpts from their books and you can lose interest pretty damn fast. The one exception ive heard is the guy doing the commentary on Rashomon he actually sounds like hes interested in the movie.

_
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4TztqYaemt0
http://preptimeposse.blogspot.com/

I've been wanting to ask a related-question.

What DVD's have the best commentary track that's I guess what a film class would teach/talk about? And, what DVD's have "special features" that teach you a lot about film?

I'm thinking of picking up "Traffic" because there's a feature on film/editing and transfer.

Off the top of my head, "Citizen Kane" is a must. Ebert's is fantastic.

"Seven Samurai" is another film lesson! Shit, I learned so much from just Kane and Samurai.

And Coppola's commentary for "GF" and "GF2" are one of the best. It doesn't teach you directly, but it does indirectly. He opens his reasoning to the audience, so in a way any young person wanting to be a filmmaker should give a listen.

now THATS a great commentary, lots of info, but he doesnt talk in a monotone that puts you to sleep.

_
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4TztqYaemt0
http://preptimeposse.blogspot.com/

>I'm thinking of picking up "Traffic" because there's a
>feature on film/editing and transfer.

I'm not a filmmaker (or major), but I've roomed with two film majors, so I pick up lil' things here and there. But the documentary on the film transfer in "Traffic" was great. I didn't realize how many steps they went through just to get that saturated look in the Mexican desert. Plus, they don't go over your head with super technical terms when describing the process, so I reall learned a lot.

Also, the sound editing scenes were interesting too. We the audience take so much for granted when we're watching a film. But after seeing some of these commentaries and documentaries, I have learned to appreciate the small details. Definitely tedious work.

https://digife.com

I'm a commentary junky. Although all too often I'm left disappointed because during a certain scene or sequence the director, actor or expert is off on a different tip, discussing something other than what I'm dying to know about that scene. But, I just got finished watching the Meyers/Yang commentary for "Drunken Master" and although Meyers is not an academic but rather an expert with an annoying tendency toward self promotion, from a historical perspective it was really fascinating. This cat came in w/ notes and basically went into the careers of a lot of the supporting and minor character's filmmographies and so forth. I've got to watch it again w/ pen and pad ready to take down the titles he drops throughout the course of the film.

I'm sitting on Citizen Kane and Seven Samurai now and need to get down to watching them.

Also a great commentary for the Criterion Collection release of "Hard Boiled" w/ another film critic whose name escapes me. Too bad I had to drop 100 bucks to get it.

In the Hard Boiled commentary, Roger Avary who directed "Killing Zoe" and co-wrote the the second section of "Pulp Fiction" commented on his generation of filmmakers who were really the first to have access to VHS and how that has shaped their films. It'll be interesting to see what DVD and the incredible amount of information the technology is capable of possessing (in conjunction w/ the internet) does for our generation of filmmakers.

"Cats are still using the same five curse words. If you take out 'shit,' 'bitch,' 'nigga,' murder,' and 'killa,' (the)mother-fuckin' record would sound like an instrumental!"
-MF Doom



"The payoff is much sweeter than the payback"
-Dave

Check out their website at http://www.criterionco.com

It's definitely a site for film buffs and film scholars alike. It's complete with reviews and essays on all of the films in the collection.

"Just because we're well-spoken and intelligent doesn't mean we're not human."
--?uestlove, justifying why the Roots have a stripper pole in their studio

Thanks 4 the link.

The double disc has two commentaries, one for each film. Especially excellent is Rodriguez's commentary for El Mariachi. He breaks down his lighting scheme, how he did his sound, and basically everything else he did to make a flick for 7,000 dollars.

Another great feature is the "10-Minute Film School" and the "Another 10 Minutes" featurettes that break down the technical aspects of certain scenes. One of my favorite DVD features yet.

Any aspiring filmmaker should check out this disc.

I copped the Desperado Super-bit and it's gonna get returned for this double disc.

peace

"Cats are still using the same five curse words. If you take out 'shit,' 'bitch,' 'nigga,' murder,' and 'killa,' (the)mother-fuckin' record would sound like an instrumental!"
-MF Doom



"The payoff is much sweeter than the payback"
-Dave

Not just good for academic film studies, but also very informative on the production side of thing. Like really, who needs film school anymore?

I've checked out bad/mediocre films on DVD simply because I find the whole audio commentary/how-to extras fascinating.

peace,
-Tp

----------------------------------------------

http://fivedeadlyeverythings.wordpress.com
bamf.

>Not just good for academic film studies, but also very
>informative on the production side of thing. Like really,
>who needs film school anymore?
>
>I've checked out bad/mediocre films on DVD simply because I
>find the whole audio commentary/how-to extras fascinating.

Can you give some DVD suggestions? DVDs w/ features that teach/show things that would be in a film class.

Thanks.

Are you speaking more of the academic film criticism type of way? Or more on the technical production side?

The best thing to do is find a movie that raises some sort of question in you..."How did they do that?" "What the fuck did that shot with the waterfall mean?" And then go rent the DVD and see what it has to day...

Chike gives some good suggestions up top. Criterion Collection is good for academic side...also just for the movies they choose to release--straight from the canon.

Also, do you get IFC? They have a show called Dissecting the Scene (or something like that), in which everyone involved on a film will choose one pivotal scene from the movie they've made, and dissect the fuck out of it. Lighting, dialogue, acting, mise-en-scene, how it relates to theme, fits in with the rest of the screenplay, character development, etc. And then they show the full scene at the end of the show. It's amazing how much thought goes into every little decision...

I'll try to come back later with some more specific choices.

Peace,
-Tp

----------------------------------------------

http://fivedeadlyeverythings.wordpress.com
bamf.

>Are you speaking more of the academic film criticism type of
>way? Or more on the technical production side?

Both.

>The best thing to do is find a movie that raises some sort
>of question in you..."How did they do that?" "What the fuck
>did that shot with the waterfall mean?" And then go rent
>the DVD and see what it has to day...

Sadly, most of the time the directors go on tangents when you want them to be talking about some question you have.

>Chike gives some good suggestions up top. Criterion
>Collection is good for academic side...also just for the
>movies they choose to release--straight from the canon.

Yup. Someday I hope to own every Criterion DVD.

>Also, do you get IFC? They have a show called Dissecting
>the Scene (or something like that), in which everyone
>involved on a film will choose one pivotal scene from the
>movie they've made, and dissect the fuck out of it.
>Lighting, dialogue, acting, mise-en-scene, how it relates to
>theme, fits in with the rest of the screenplay, character
>development, etc. And then they show the full scene at the
>end of the show. It's amazing how much thought goes into
>every little decision...

Damn, that sounds like a kick ass show. What movies have been discussed on this show?

I haven't listened to all commentaries and/or features on most of my dvd's yet.

But, Seven Samurai, Godfather set, Rashomon, all have tremendous commentaries. And, I'm thinking of picking up Criterion edition of Traffic strictly for the features on film editing/transfers. And, I definitley want to check out dvd's that have features like that show on IFC that you mentioned.

One of my favorite shows on TV is "Inside the Actors Studio" and although it is heavily geared toward actors and their process I think it is a hell of a course on the art of film w/ "lectures" by some of the best in the craft.

And hell, the interviews are done before a film school audience and the last five or 10 minutes of the show is from the Q/A period w/ the students.

"Cats are still using the same five curse words. If you take out 'shit,' 'bitch,' 'nigga,' murder,' and 'killa,' (the)mother-fuckin' record would sound like an instrumental!"
-MF Doom



"The payoff is much sweeter than the payback"
-Dave

>One of my favorite shows on TV is "Inside the Actors Studio"
>and although it is heavily geared toward actors and their
>process I think it is a hell of a course on the art of film
>w/ "lectures" by some of the best in the craft.
>
>And hell, the interviews are done before a film school
>audience and the last five or 10 minutes of the show is from
>the Q/A period w/ the students.

Ah yes, I've recorded eps of Actors Studio.

And, in December, the master himself, Scorsese will be on!!! I can't wait to hear his rapid fire speak on films.

We need to get Bravo back here
I missed everything since we moved last year.

Have you heard of this "A Personal Journey With Martin Scorsese Through American?"
I hadn't until i read an article criticizng Tarantino's Rolling Thunder Pictures releases.

The guy in the article described it as "film school in a box"

"Cats are still using the same five curse words. If you take out 'shit,' 'bitch,' 'nigga,' murder,' and 'killa,' (the)mother-fuckin' record would sound like an instrumental!"
-MF Doom



"The payoff is much sweeter than the payback"
-Dave

this

http://www.filmwritten.org/reviews/1995/personaljourney.htm

I just copped it along w/ Visions of Light for 50 bucks off Amazon

"Cats are still using the same five curse words. If you take out 'shit,' 'bitch,' 'nigga,' murder,' and 'killa,' (the)mother-fuckin' record would sound like an instrumental!"
-MF Doom



"The payoff is much sweeter than the payback"
-Dave

>this
>
>http://www.filmwritten.org/reviews/1995/personaljourney.htm
>
>I just copped it along w/ Visions of Light for 50 bucks off
>Amazon

I got the Scorsese thing in January, and the trippy thing is I just ordered Visions of Light the other day.

>Have you heard of this "A Personal Journey With Martin
>Scorsese Through American?"
>I hadn't until i read an article criticizng Tarantino's
>Rolling Thunder Pictures releases.
>
>The guy in the article described it as "film school in a
>box"

Yup, I got this joint like back in January...haven't sat down to watch it yet. I'm waiting for a perfect time, I must be unfettered when watching something like this.

I even taped his Journey back to Italy where he goes over neo-realism and good stuff such as Bicycle Thief, and all the great Italian direcctors.

wow.
if you're a woman, i'll marry ya. if not, well i'll buy you a beer sometime

i feel you on the unfettered thing. i have several dvds like that: seven samurai and lawrence of arabia, which i just copped
i still haven't sat down to watch samurai and i know i won't get to lawrence of arabia for a minute. shit, it took me forever to crack my copies of Bob le Flambeur and Breathless.
I don't know if you checked above but the El Mariachi commentary and the "10 Minute Film School" were excellent. I just picked ordered that as well. Desperado commentary isn't bad either and his piece on video storyboarding of one of the film's key shoot-outs was dope. I can't draw for shit so it's gonna be visually storyboarding for me.

PS-What's up w/ that Journey back to Italy thing???

"Cats are still using the same five curse words. If you take out 'shit,' 'bitch,' 'nigga,' murder,' and 'killa,' (the)mother-fuckin' record would sound like an instrumental!"
-MF Doom



"The payoff is much sweeter than the payback"
-Dave

>wow.
>if you're a woman, i'll marry ya. if not, well i'll buy you
>a beer sometime

I'm cool w/ Heineken or Corona. I feel you tho',I want to find a woman who's into films or music, or sports. But, chances are I'll meet one who's into music or sports cuz not much are into films.

>PS-What's up w/ that Journey back to Italy thing???

It was like a 4 or 5 hour personal project he did, actually it's called "My Voyage to Italy." It was on TCM earlier this year. He basically shows clips of Italian movies most of them from the neo-realism period and talks about his memories about them and what makes the movies so good. It's like a 4 or 5 hour commentaries on many films of the great Italian directors like Fellini, Antonioni, De Sica, etc. I still haven't watched it (only saw like an hour so far), I just taped that mofo.

Damn that Journey to Italy sounds incredible. I wish I had TCM up at school but I don't. I really wanted to peep their Every Great Western Except for Shane-Seeing as my name is Shane

I'll see if I can get my mom to tape it.

And I owe you a beer

"Cats are still using the same five curse words. If you take out 'shit,' 'bitch,' 'nigga,' murder,' and 'killa,' (the)mother-fuckin' record would sound like an instrumental!"
-MF Doom



"The payoff is much sweeter than the payback"
-Dave