Caveh Zahedi - Blog (To Record or Not To Record a DVD Commentary)

To Record or Not To Record a DVD Commentary

"My entire soul is a cry, and all my work is a commentary on that cry."
- Nikos Kazantzakis

Today's big dilemma was whether or not to try to (hurriedly) record a DVD commentary for the film. I kept tergiversating, as is my want. On the one hand, a lot of people enjoy commentaries, and it might be good to record one if only for the sake of posterity. On the other hand, I find most of them almost impossible to sit through, and they can leave a bad after-taste if not enough care and attention is put into them (which would have been the case if we had tried to do one tonight for the upcoming DVD release).

My original idea was to do the equivalent of a commentary, but as a separate film. We shot over 50 hours of making of footage, and the plan was to use this footage in conjunction with narration and re-enacted scenes to make a well-thought-out "making of" film in lieu of the obligatory commentary. But the sudden decision from on high to set a street date (and the total lack of communication about it) has made that moot, so I was considering a commentary track as a last-minute compromise.

What I finally decided was to do a separate "making of" film after all, and simply put it in a vault until the DVD is re-issued (which will also include the scenes censored from the film and from the extras). Of course, that could be a while.

Nikos Kazantzakis

Posted by caveh on Jul 13, 2006 | Related

Comments

hey caveh,
for what it's worth, i thought the commentary on 'bathtub' was brilliant, extremely engaging and frequently hilarious. i don't know how much, if any, prep/rehearsal time went into it, but i for one would really dig hearing you (and thomas and greg and maybe the actors) talk about 'sex addict'. (assuming that could even be co-ordinated).

BUT- i don't want that in lieu of the 'making of' feature (or vice-versa- i'm into dvd supplements!) how long does ifc have a license on the film? is putting out a 'collector's edition' (with all the extras) something they'd be into? have you contacted criterion about this?

Posted by stamatis on Jul 14, 2006 at 08:42AM

Caveh,

Finish your making of then make it available online to those who buy your DVD. It is possible to have a site that you can only access if you have the DVD installed in the computer drive. Set up a page so when people go to this site you collect their email addresses and when you are finished you can post the film and email it to your list. Everyone who owns the DVD can go online and see the film, and since it would only be internet quality you could still save the full resolution version for a reissue down the line.

This way the distributor can release the DVD on their date and you can have the time you need to finish the film.

And the bonus of collecting email addresses of people who are interested in your work, of course!

Posted by Mike Monello on Jul 14, 2006 at 04:13PM

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