Most Helpful DVD Commentary/Special Features Section?

jermz

jermz

Active member
Hey guys,

I was just wondering what all of you thought on really good DVD commentaries. I'm looking to browse some just so I can brush up on learning more about the art of filmmaking, lighting design, shot composition, etc.

I'm personally a fan of Michel Gondry's "Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind", Sam Mendes's "American Beauty", anything from Robert Rodriguez (especially liked the commentaries on "Once Upon a Time in Mexico"), and lastly, a little known indie film called "Radius" (www.radiusmovie.com). I wasn't a big fan of the movie itself, but the special features section provided great insight to indie filmmaking.
 
I don't know about most helpful, but the most entertaining commentary I've ever listened to is easily Soderberg's The Limey. The writer basically yells at him the whole time for ruining his script. It was especially amusing since I found it at the pinnacle of Soderberg's career, when he got nominations for both Traffic and Erin Brockovich.

Out of curiosity, how did you stumble upon Radius?
 
LOL. Definitely something I gotta look out for!

As far as "Radius" goes, my professor at the University of Hawaii film school (Special Effects course) used it as reference material for the class. As far as special features go, it's a real gem. It's amazing how much work they put into the special features section alone. It gets a very high rating from me. Closest I've ever been to an indie film school on DVD since Rodriguez.
 
Peter Jackson has been very good at this. all the extended LOTR movies come with countless great videos. And if you go to kongisking.com you can waddle away a good day of so watching somemore great stuff.
Even for a grouchy ex focus puller I found them fantastic.
 
One of the best tutorials on lighting is in the commentary track for In the Mouth of Madness. Pretty much the whole thing is John Carpenter asking DP Gary Kibbe "So, what did you do with the lighting here?"

It's pretty good.
 
I can't believe I forgot to list Peter Jackson! DUY~!!!

HorseFilms, thanks for the suggestion. I've never really heard a commentary track dominated by the DP before. Good stuff!
 
HorseFilms said:
One of the best tutorials on lighting is in the commentary track for In the Mouth of Madness. Pretty much the whole thing is John Carpenter asking DP Gary Kibbe "So, what did you do with the lighting here?"

It's pretty good.
Click to expand...


Horse you are the man. I own the DVD but have never checked out the commentary track. Tonight Papa John and I are going to watch that commentary.
 
The 3 disc 'Blackhawk Down' DVD set is literally a college course in film making and the historical battle. Among other things is 3 different sets of audio tracks(Riddley Scott, the writers, and the real life soldiers).
 
I love great commentaries on dvd's.

If i recall correctly, the most recently released version of raging bull was pretty good. Those mentioned above, that I've seen, are real good.

I really like the radius dvd (not the movie itself), i own it, and think that broken is really good at all this too (the movie isn't that good either, but the bonus features are).

I'll have to check out the ones I haven't seen yet.
 
Rasquachemedia said:
I really like the radius dvd (not the movie itself), i own it, and think that broken is really good at all this too (the movie isn't that good either, but the bonus features are).
Click to expand...

I second that. Both stories had gaping narrative holes, IMO. If I had to choose one over the other in terms of bonus features, Radius takes the cake, easy. Seriously, it's the closest thing I've seen to an actual film school since Rodriguez. Very thorough stuff.
 
The best commentary I have ever come across is spy kids 2. Rodriguez goes through everything from how he writes scripts, to camera work, to making the movie as cheap as possible, and how to get paid for your ideas. I bought the movie and I haven't watched it once without the commentary. Dont bother renting it , just buy it (I got mine for 5$ on ebay). Everytime I listen to it I learn something new and I always feel really incouraged to get into movie making.
 
I picked up the Radius DVD on the recommendation of this thread, and I thought I'd report back that I found it to be well worth the $20 for the special features alone. The short was OK, nothing mind-blowing, but the extras were great. They covered everything from pre to post, from casting to location scouting, set and costum design, you name it. Only bummer was you had to watch each section individually, it would have been nicer to be able to watch it all through in one shot, but it wasn't that big of a deal.
 
jermz said:
I can't believe I forgot to list Peter Jackson! DUY~!!!

HorseFilms, thanks for the suggestion. I've never really heard a commentary track dominated by the DP before. Good stuff!
Click to expand...


If you listen to the commentary on November with DP Nancy Schreiber she explains in full detail all the stuff she did to get the looks she wanted. This was especially informative considering she used DVX100s.
 
first post here :P

there's this dvd that i personally think that really gives insight at how the masters (the old ones) did their shots. It's basically a dvd that's more of a "history of film", but really gives insight as to how films used to be made.

The dvd is called: Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top