{"id":12982,"date":"2011-09-20T09:58:56","date_gmt":"2011-09-20T08:58:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/?p=12982"},"modified":"2011-09-21T23:15:15","modified_gmt":"2011-09-21T22:15:15","slug":"interesting-audio-commentaries-dvd-blu-ray-laserdisc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/2011\/09\/20\/interesting-audio-commentaries-dvd-blu-ray-laserdisc\/","title":{"rendered":"Interesting Audio Commentaries"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Audio commentaries on DVD or Blu-ray provide an insight into the filmmamking process and here are some that stand out.<\/p>\n

I’ve long felt a bit guilty about my love of audio commentaries for films on a disc format.<\/p>\n

After all, it is about the most unsocial way to watch a film if you’re in casual company and sitting around the TV.<\/p>\n

But if – like me – you are interested in how a film gets made and want to hear the perspective of those involved then it is a fantastic resource.<\/p>\n

As a marketing tool they can be traced back to the days of laserdisc<\/a>, the video format which never took off but which saw companies like Criterion<\/a>, specialise in editions of classic films which included bonus features.<\/p>\n

According to Wikipedia, the first audio commentary was the original King Kong<\/em> movie<\/a> on a Criterion laserdisc in December 1984 and film historian Ronald Haver<\/a> introduced it by saying:<\/p>\n

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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<\/em> as you watch the film. The laserdisc technology offers us this opportunity and we feel it’s rather unique \u2014 the ability to switch back and forth between the soundtrack and this lecture track…<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

We’ve come along way since then with notable ones<\/a>, alternate<\/a> ones, parodies<\/a> and even its use in video games<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Digging into the newly released DVD of Attack the Block<\/a> I noticed there was three different ‘levels’ of audio commentary involving junior actors, senior actors and executive producers, all hosted by director Joe Cornish.<\/p>\n

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At first it seemd like a bit of a giggle but given the time and effort both cast and crew put into a movie, why not have an audio document of the movie, which can often take months or even years to make?<\/p>\n

The executive producer commentary featuring Cornish and Wright is filled with interesting details, including:<\/p>\n