No frills - am I a dino?

Caruso wrote on 6/18/2004, 3:29 AM

I am thrilled that, with DVDA2, I can reliably make DVD's that equal or exceed the quality I had grown unsatisfied with when printing from V5 to VHS tape. However, I have always been annoyed with all the menu stuff that is part of the commercially done DVD's we rent at the store, and, so, have no interest in the fancy menus and such that, for me, only become a hindrance to just popping the DVD in the machine and having it play.

When I watch DVD movies, all I really want to see is the feature film, I never watch the out-takes, and other features.

My DVD's reflect my attitude.

Am I alone in this "jaded" approach? Has the rest of the DVD world left me behind?

Just curious.

Caruso

Comments

farss wrote on 6/18/2004, 4:24 AM

I for one agree with you. At times recently I've made use of some of the new features in DVDA to create DVDs that did some trciky things but that was only because they had to fill a particular function i.e. they weren't movies.
When it comes to movies though, I just want DVDs that get on with the damn show. It's bad enough when I go to the movies having to sit through 30 minutes of ads and trailers, I sure don't appreciate having to play a cutdown version of Mech Warrior just to watch the movie on a DVD.
I don't mind the extras on the DVDs, I do watch quite a bit of them, particularly on some of the more interesting movies that have been shot in difficult locations, that's fine, it's just the pointlessly complicated menus that I can't stand.

Chienworks wrote on 6/18/2004, 4:52 AM

I think Disney is the worst of the lot these days. I've had a couple of their DVDs that won't let me access the menu until after i've sat through 6 minutes of ads. Isn't that what the "root menu" key on the player is for? But it doesn't work. How do they disable that? Amazingly enough, if i skip through the ads then it goes back to the first one instead of on to the menu. At least i can fast foward through them, one at a time.

I'd love to see a grass-roots consumer action whereby we all simply refuse to buy Hollywood DVDs that don't let you get to the movie with a single button press. I doubt that would ever happen though. Maybe Hollywood just needs a massive letter campaign from irate viewers.

All DVDs really should have the first default menu option lead directly to playing the movie. This button should be on the screen and accessible the first instant that the DVD is playing. If the producers want to load that screen up with menus to other features, games, ads, extras, outtakes, etc. then that's fine and i'm all for it. But there is no excuse to force the user to wait or press more than one button to watch the movie.

kameronj wrote on 6/18/2004, 5:00 AM

Sitting through 30 ads is a pain....especially at the theatre. Sitting through 30 previews, however, is one of my secret pleasure (which, I guess, isn't quite a secret any longer). I love previews!!

But I digress.

As long as the DVD doesn't force me to watch stuff I don't want to watch, I totally enjoy all the extra footage. I may not watch it the first time, but there are lazy sunday afternoons with nothing more to do when I'll pop in the DVD and watch the extra stuff. Or....if I'm not ready to watch the movie yet - I'll check out the extra's.

It's just more bang for the buck.

In the digital world...the frill are there (or suppose to be) if you want to check them out. As long as it is not forced on me....I totally dig them.

On the other hand, I have picked up a few DVDs (like from Warner Brothers...I believe) that have nothing on them except chapter points. Those suck.

And the Mulholland Drive DVD doesn't even have chapter points. That really sucks. I'm sure they did it for some bizarre reason (bizarre being the optimum word here....), but it still sucks.

bStro wrote on 6/18/2004, 9:30 AM

Sitting through 30 previews, however, is one of my secret pleasure (which, I guess, isn't quite a secret any longer). I love previews!!

I like previews at the theater (in fact, I'm very disappointed when I go to a movie and they only show one or two previews -- four's a good number). I hate previews on DVDs, though, unless they're for really obscure movies that I wouldn't have heard of. I don't need to pop in a DVD and have it tell me about a big budget, well-hyped movie that was in theaters three months ago and is coming out on TV in five more.

As long as the DVD doesn't force me to watch stuff I don't want to watch, I totally enjoy all the extra footage.

Ditto. I can understand someone not wanting to be forced into watching something on DVD (whether ads, previews, or extras), but I sure can't see complaing about its availability. Wanna watch it, cool. Don't, cool.

And a commercial DVD without extras is just ridiculous, at least for major features. I'm still waiting for Warner Bros. to put out a decent DVD for Batman ('89).

Rob

DavidPJ wrote on 6/18/2004, 9:59 AM

Yep, I agree the Disney DVDs are the worst abusers of forcing people to watch previews (ads) of their other movies before going to the main menu.

When I watch commercial DVDs, I always first set the audio and play the movie. Unless it's an outstanding movie, I don't bother with any of the extras either. Most of the time the "making of" sections just amount to watching highllights of the movie.

However, I always include chapters on my DVDs. Since mine are always for home/family use, there are some members of my family that like to pick out certain chapters to watch over and over. I used to add looping sound to my menus, but no longer. I find audio added to the menus becomes annoying very quickly.

Dave

donwidener wrote on 6/18/2004, 10:14 AM

Caruso wrote on 6/19/2004, 12:12 PM

Ha! Don, thanks for answering that question. It would appear that, for the most part, other respondents would agree.

When watching rented DVD's, I have this terrible habit of nodding off during the show, only to wake up in the early AM, having had that constantly repeating opening theme (whatever it is) drummed into my brain all night. It seems that I struggle to awake and escape whatever audio is looping, the intensity of my "nightmare" varying with the character of the DVD theme. This probably sounds wierd, and perhaps I am really a dino, afterall. LOL

I wouldn't want to go back to VHS, but, at least when the tape reaches the end, the thing stops playing!!!

Caruso

richard-courtney wrote on 6/20/2004, 12:32 PM

I think it depends on the customer.

Children just want to play the feature. As a parent I don't want commercials
for the kids to say "I want that!". I like it to stop and not go into the
theme song for "Barney" to loop forever.

Some things I want a menu and hope to someday do an "interactive game".
A video quiz I made took two months to make and edit with V4 and an IFO file
editor.