Audio Commentary 101
 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_commentary

OK.


Was there something you wanted to discuss or was this just informational?

Is it Audio Commentary's birthday today?

I can't believe there's a Wikipedia entry for audio commentaries

-It's an interesting & amusing bit of trivia, and I hoped other DVD fanatics might share the sentiment. Considering how commentary-obsessed many DVDtalk occupants are, how many know that King Kong is the George Washington of audio commentaries?

-The very presentation of information should hopefully lead to discussion without me having to dictate the parameters of the thread.

-Every once in a while I like to post something that isn't completely self-indulgent. I get sick with myself after posting "I bought this" or "I own this" so many times in a row.

Post what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.

This'll really make your head spin:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVDTalk

Thanks for the tidbit, pretty interesting.

Also thought it was interesting. Thanks.

Audio commentaries are truly my favorite feature. When done right they can be really rewarding.

Anyone know if this Ronald Haver criterion commentary was ever reused? I do not think it is on the 2 Disc SE.

Cool. I've always wanted to know what the first commentary was and when they first started to appear.

I knew this before, but I still appreciate you posting the information.

Great tidbit...did not know that.

I do have something to add:

The commentary track for me is hit or miss. You get ones that are good and others that are awful. It would be nice if there was an audio commentary 101 for people to go through to make sure they don't suck, but that doesn't happen. But there are plenty of good ones out there...listen to any of The Shield ones. For a bad one, listen to almost all of the Sopranos ones. You can really see the difference between them.

The problem is that there is no set formula that makes one good or bad...it just is or isn't. Some commentaries have little to do with the film and are hiliarious and entertaining, while others go deep in the technical side or are too pretentious and aren't that good, and vice versa.

That is true, but if you follow some type of guideline it might reduce it.

There was a thread either here or at HTF where someone created a page for reviewing commentaries. Someone has to know what I'm talking about.

sneak edit: Found it--http://www.ratethatcommentary.com

Would be nice if we could listen to that King Kong commentary...

Great website! Thanks for the link

Interesting stuff. I'm not usually a big commentary listener, but I have made exceptions for some of my favorite films. Usually I'll put them on in the background when I'm doing things around my room.

Same here. I'm listening to Gene Hackman (and later, the late Roy Scheider) talk about The French Connection while I type.

On a related note, "Commentary Tracks of the Damned" on the Onion A.V. Club Web site (http://www.avclub.com) are often quite entertaining.

Very true. I especially love them on tv shows... where you can hear from the writers on on episode, producers on another, and the cast on yet another episodes.

This was the first scene that we shot. He's really great in this scene.

It was really cold when we shot this.

He/she was so great to work with.

It would be nice if the producer of the DVD would explain to the person doing the commentary what exactly a commentary is.

I've listened to so many "commentaries" from old former TV stars who are now in their seventies who just sit there and watch the episode and laugh at the jokes, and barely provide any remembrances or insight into the making of the TV show. Maybe they will comment about their hair or old clothes.

It makes me wonder if they knew what they were supposed to do? Most of them are old and probably haven't kept up with the DVD technology. Either that or they truly have no memories because the work they did was too long ago.