DVD Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

This article has been accepted for publication in Quarterly Review of Film and Video published by Taylor & Francis. This is the Author’s Original Manuscript. Most scholarship on DVD supplements has emphasized how such materials operate... more

Optical disk (OD) and drive (ODD) are important interfaces used for recording digital streams of bits that represent multimedia with analog nature or discrete data. Enhancing the ODDs in terms of reading/writing (operation) speed is vital... more

Optical disk (OD) and drive (ODD) are important interfaces used for recording digital streams of bits that represent multimedia with analog nature or discrete data. Enhancing the ODDs in terms of reading/writing (operation) speed is vital as multi-layer (ML) ODs with high capacities are available in the market. This paper presents a simple strategy to enhance operation speed in ODDs by multi optical pickup unit (MOPU) 1 that leads to surprisingly higher transfer rates. The main considerations with different working modes plus theoretical and physical upper bounds are studied. To keep compatibility, the MOPU method is independent of the OD types or optical lens (OL) designs and based on the ODD hardware placement, so all ODs will be also readable at higher rates. Paper also discusses improvements achieved in experimental results based on prototypes.

This previously unpublished paper talks about the role of DVD (Digital Video Disk) as a delivery system for Hollywood movies. It includes a descriptive analysis of DVDs released from 1997 to 2004, identifying its trends, changes and... more

This previously unpublished paper talks about the role of DVD (Digital Video Disk) as a delivery system for Hollywood movies. It includes a descriptive analysis of DVDs released from 1997 to 2004, identifying its trends, changes and evolution through time.

The Man with the Movie Camera is one of the best-known works in film history and generally regarded as one of the great masterpieces of the classical Soviet avant-garde. Every person who has ever shown the slightest interest in the... more

The Man with the Movie Camera is one of the best-known works in film history and generally regarded as one of the great masterpieces of the classical Soviet avant-garde. Every person who has ever shown the slightest interest in the history of cinema has heard about this film and probably seen it at some point. But what has this person actually seen? Of course this is a question that often occurs when you see film presentations or video releases of films: how do you know what version you are looking at and how does it relate to other prints or copies of the same film? It is well known that many films exist in variant versions. Sometimes these are intentionally created by the director or the producer, as with multi-language versions, or films that were made with multiple cameras to produce additional negatives, as was common practice in the era of silent films. But mostly film prints have suffered from wear and tear, from cuts by projectionists or censors, or as a result of inferior duplication and reproduction. When you see a film from 1929, like TMWTMC, you must always be aware of the fact that you may be watching just "a " print of the film, not necessarily exactly as it was intended by the film maker or as it was shown on its opening night. Unfortunately TMWMC is mostly known in prints that are defective. For decades the film was widely seen only in prints that were printed with a sound aperture. TMWMC was shot in the period of silent cinema with silent camera aperture. This means that the filmed image used the full area between perforations on both sides that were necessary for the transport of the film. In later years, when sound was introduced, part of the image width was used for the optical sound track. This reduced the horizontal size of the image ; then both top and bottom of the silent image were also cropped to maintain the customary screen shape. The consequence of this practice was that the cinema apparatus, both in cinemas and in film laboratories, was soon no longer set up for the silent frame ratio. In a nutshell, most prints of TMWMC, even in archives, have these parts of the image cutoff. They are full length-all the shots are there-but suffer severe mutilation so far as the photographic composition is concerned. The most important feature of the restored film print represented here is that the full frame image is preserved. This is because the print that served as the source is from the first years of its release and preserved in the archives of the EYE Filmmuseum in Amsterdam. This print was brought to Amsterdam by Vertov himself when he travelled through Western Europe in 1931 and showed the film on different occasions. In the Netherlands this print was presented by the Filmliga, an active film club that promoted film as visual art. The film was shown in the presence of Dziga Vertov, and when Vertov returned to the Soviet Union, the print was acquired by the Filmliga. The Filmliga continued to occasionally show the film in the Netherlands and after the war the film became part of the collection of the then Nederlands Filmmuseum. This vintage nitrate print is full frame and has superb photographic quality, due to the fact that it is directly printed from the original negative on good quality positive film stock. This doesn't mean that the film is perfect. For many reasons this print has also its deficiencies. The main reason is that the print was regularly used for presentations in the years that inflammable nitrate film was still shown. Subsequently the print was screened in the Filmmuseum itself as well as in other film museums and archives that requested the film print from Amsterdam. When in the 1960s a duplicate was made on

Despite the closure of virtually all original grindhouse cinemas, ‘grindhouse’ lives on as a conceptual term. This article contends that the prevailing conceptualization of ‘grindhouse’ is problematized by a widening gap between the... more

Despite the closure of virtually all original grindhouse cinemas, ‘grindhouse’ lives on as a conceptual term. This article contends that the prevailing conceptualization of ‘grindhouse’ is problematized by a widening gap between the original grindhouse context (‘past’) and the DVD/home-viewing context (present). Despite fans’ and filmmakers’ desire to preserve this part of exploitation cinema history, the world of the grindhouse is now little more than a blurry set of tall-tales and faded phenomenal experiences, which are subject to present-bias. The continuing usefulness of grindhouse-qua-concept requires that one should pay heed to the contemporary contexts in which ‘grindhouse’ is evoked.

This article focuses on the paratexts of opera DVDs as a route into the status and cultural placement of opera videos in contemporary visual culture. In particular, it analyses the picture covers, menus and openings credits of four... more

This article focuses on the paratexts of opera DVDs as a route into the status and cultural placement of opera videos in contemporary visual culture. In particular, it analyses the picture covers, menus and openings credits of four productions of Verdi's Don Carlo, arguing that, although the videos fall within the broader discourse of the ‘televisual’ (a discourse that encourages the viewer to conceive the image as a transparent document of the performance on-stage), these paratexts put forward alternative ways of conceiving the relationship between medium and subject matter, imagining opera's materials, however briefly, in terms of narrative cinema and music video, video games and computer loops.

Japanese cinema has tended to be broadly studied, through several films, or one or few choice examples. The aim of this kind of study is often to understand the film(s) within their original national context. While such research is... more

Japanese cinema has tended to be broadly studied, through several films, or one or few choice examples. The aim of this kind of study is often to understand the film(s) within their original national context. While such research is important, and is continuing, not all films are viewed exclusively within a Japanese context. More recent investigations of Japanese film reception in the UK show changes in this tendency. Critical reviews and marketing processes for films released by the Tartan Asia Extreme label have been explored in several studies over the last five years. But rather than simply adhering to the Tartan Asia model, the UK is now home to a range of distributors which bring in films from Japan and other countries. Two particular distributors provide an informative view of how Japanese films have recently been distributed and marketed in the UK. 4Digital Asia and Third Window are, respectively, a sub-label and an independent distributor – and both released Japanese films on DVD from 2008 to 2010. They form the basis of my own PhD research here at the University of East Anglia. Though my thesis focuses on DVD, a wealth of material generated by these releases can be charted and studied. This includes the DVD packaging, special features, film trailers, distributor websites and critical reviews. Such sources have only recently been included in published film research, and are rarely found in studies of Japanese film. My paper will briefly outline these sources in relation to my research, and propose how they can be studied. This will not aim to be definitive, but encourage the extension of further research into these areas, as well as new ways of examining Japanese cinema and the industries surrounding it.

Un artículo que disgustará a muchos y sorprenderá a varios. Sin dudas cada lector de este artículo está convencido que la piratería de películas, música, libros y videojuegos, afecta seriamente la industria de contenidos culturales... more

Un artículo que disgustará a muchos y sorprenderá a varios. Sin dudas cada lector de este artículo está convencido que la piratería de películas, música, libros y videojuegos, afecta seriamente la industria de contenidos culturales multimediales, ¿y si no fuera del todo cierto?. El problema de la piratería suele no separar el aspecto legal de aquel donde se reclaman pérdidas de dinero significativas. No hay dudas que es condenable, pero ¿lo estaremos haciendo por los motivos y los argumentos correctos?

"This paper stems from a recently completed chapter draft within my thesis – which I am researching and writing at the University of East Anglia. The title of my thesis is the distribution and marketing of Japanese films on DVD in the UK.... more

"This paper stems from a recently completed chapter draft within my thesis – which I am researching and writing at the University of East Anglia. The title of my thesis is the distribution and marketing of Japanese films on DVD in the UK. DVD is not only a relatively new area in film and media studies, but is also under-examined in research on Japanese film. The former label of Tartan Asia Extreme has already been studied in depth, but it was never the only distributor of Japanese films in the UK. There are a vast number of DVDs of Japanese films to choose from to study, and too many to include even within a PhD thesis.
4Digital Asia and Third Window Films both provide a representative and manageable sample of films to study through the medium of DVD. Both companies released Japanese films on DVD in the UK from 2008 to 2010 – providing a finite number of DVD releases to study. 4Digital Asia is a sub-label of 4Digital Media specialising in Asian films, making it a similar distributor to Tartan. Third Window Films specialises in only bringing Asian films to the UK – specifically, those from Hong Kong, Korea and Japan. These company profiles detail how the DVD releases can be discussed in terms of Japanese films as a national cinema, as well as Asian and world cinema. The release of a DVD creates much material which can be examined. These companies generate websites, trailers, advertising, DVD extras and packaging for the consumption of potential customers. Today I wish to look at reviews of 4Digital Asia and Third Window’s DVD releases – which at first seem to suggest that these labels parallel Tartan’s former practices. However, there is more going on than just a few similarities. Specifically, I will demonstrate these points through highlighting the reviews in NEO magazine and their direct and indirect use of the term ‘cult’.
"

Édité par Qwazar en coproduction avec 8 Mont-Blanc, le DVD «Le Cinema d’Animation en France » s’interesse au paysage de l’animation en France àtravers une serie documentaire de Romain Delerps et Alexandre Hilaire, completee par 17... more

Édité par Qwazar en coproduction avec 8 Mont-Blanc, le DVD «Le Cinema d’Animation en France » s’interesse au paysage de l’animation en France àtravers une serie documentaire de Romain Delerps et Alexandre Hilaire, completee par 17 court-métrages réunissant autant de jeunes talents que de maÎtres etablis. Cette selection pointue des années 60 ànos jours regroupe des cinéastes celèbres comme Jean-Francois Laguionie, Michel Ocelot ou Florence Miailhe ainsi que de nouveaux créateurs comme Oleshya Shchukina ou Cecile Rousset.

Quale che sia il futuro che attende il DVD e le tecnologie per la sua lettura (e scrittura), esso è indubbiamente uno dei protagonisti della storia recente dei mezzi di comunicazione e del processo di rinnovamento dell'esperienza dei... more

Quale che sia il futuro che attende il DVD e le tecnologie per la sua lettura (e scrittura), esso è indubbiamente uno dei protagonisti della storia recente dei mezzi di comunicazione e del processo di rinnovamento dell'esperienza dei media che prende l'avvio nella seconda metà degli anni Novanta. Un riconoscimento che il DVD si guadagna sul campo, nel «corpo a corpo», come lo descrive Agamben, fra dispositivi e soggetti e che si manifesta nella prepotente rapidità con cui si diffonde, nella forza della sua proposta, che si ritaglia uno spazio privilegiato fra gli intrattenimenti domestici, e nella densità dei rapporti che stabilisce con le altre piattaforme. Questi risultati, che per qualche anno hanno indotto a guardare al DVD come a un fondamentale volano dei consumi audiovisivi nello spazio domestico , sono il portato di un insieme di fattori che comprende l'apparato, la sua tecnologia, le caratteristiche della sua proposta, le strategie editoriali e di marketing, le pratiche d'uso, ma anche le particolari circostanze in cui il DVD si trova a operare. Intrecciando i dati emersi da recenti ricerche sulla percezione e sull'uso del medium in Italia e all'estero, con una letteratura scientifica che negli ultimi anni (e forse non a caso) si è fatta particolar-mente robusta, si profilano alcuni tratti peculiari, un modus operandi che spiega i successi del DVD e che indica una possibile direzione di sviluppo al processo di digitalizzazione, al di là degli entusiasmi e delle forzature, e in un'ottica attenta al contesto, ai bisogni e alle effettive propensioni degli utenti.

AVec Guillaume SIRE et Jean-Valère COSSU Après avoir comparé le modèle socioéconomique du DVD et celui de la VOD, qui sont tous les deux des modèles « éditoriaux » mais présentent des différences significatives, nous décrivons le modèle... more

AVec Guillaume SIRE et Jean-Valère COSSU
Après avoir comparé le modèle socioéconomique du DVD et celui de la VOD, qui sont tous les deux des modèles « éditoriaux » mais présentent des différences significatives, nous décrivons le modèle de Vodkaster, une entreprise française ayant procédé à une expérience originale en hybridant l'intangibilité du service VOD et la matérialité du produit DVD. Nous expliquons comment et pourquoi un troisième type de modèle éditorial a ainsi vu le jour, différent du modèle du DVD en matière de compatibilité et de portabilité, et différent du modèle de la VOD, puisque le consommateur y jouit d'une pleine disposition lui permettant de pouvoir donner, prêter ou revendre le bien qu'il s'est procuré. En conclusion, nous expliquons pourquoi ce troisième type de modèle éditorial est à notre avis exemplaire du renouvellement des logiques propriétaires dans les industries culturelles.

Co-edited by Jonathan Wroot and Andy Willis. This volume brings together writing on the topic of home media, and in particular releases described as appealing to ‘cult’ fans and audiences. Despite popular assumptions to the contrary, the... more

Co-edited by Jonathan Wroot and Andy Willis. This book demonstrates, in contrast to statistics that show declining consumption of physical formats, that there has not been a mass shift towards purely digital media. Physical releases such... more

Il y a quelques années, en 2008, Agnès B. et Potemkine ont édité un coffret DVD dédié à Barry Purves, le réalisateur et animateur britannique indépendant, spécialiste de la stop-motion (3D, image par image), « Barry Purves – His... more

Il y a quelques années, en 2008, Agnès B. et Potemkine ont édité un coffret DVD dédié à Barry Purves, le réalisateur et animateur britannique indépendant, spécialiste de la stop-motion (3D, image par image), « Barry Purves – His Intimate Lives – comprenant six courts-metrages d’animation pour adultes, des interviews et un livret de 80 pages en couleurs. Ce bijou de l’un des maitres de l’animation de marionnettes contemporaine est un must pour les passionnes et amoureux du genre anime.

Promotional material is becoming increasingly discussed in academia, as well as becoming more prolific in the public sphere. The content in trailers and DVDs is often explained as part of promotional extra-texts that exist in relation to... more

Promotional material is becoming increasingly discussed in academia, as well as becoming more prolific in the public sphere. The content in trailers and DVDs is often explained as part of promotional extra-texts that exist in relation to a specific film. However, these materials are produced by specific industries and institutions. Therefore, should they not be discussed as individual media texts? Rather than argue for this statement from a conceptual perspective, this papers seeks to present evidence through the actions of the UK distributor, Arrow Video. Throughout 2013, the label posted trailers online that coincided with its latest DVD re-releases of certain films. These were not just trailers for the films (ranging from Black Sabbath (1963) to Blow Out (1981)), as they also detailed the new content on each DVD release (such as the film’s picture quality, packaging for the disc, and newly recorded interviews with the cast and crew). Moreover, the trailers are categorised as part of the “Arrow Video Story”, and so do not simply act as advertising for the latest ancillary products related to specific films. These trailers are emphasised as individual texts to be watched both individually and as part of a particular distributor’s activities. They also emphasise the DVDs as new texts to be enjoyed. Therefore, the paper will present evidence arguing that if distribution companies are treating ancillary material, such as trailers and DVDs, as singular media texts, surely academic research should do the same.

Battle Royale (dir. Kinji Fukasaku, 2000) is undoubtedly familiar to fans of Asian and Japanese cinema, as well as those attending this year’s Cine-Excess conference. It was re-released in 2010 – both theatrically in Japan; and on a... more

Battle Royale (dir. Kinji Fukasaku, 2000) is undoubtedly familiar to fans of Asian and Japanese cinema, as well as those attending this year’s Cine-Excess conference. It was re-released in 2010 – both theatrically in Japan; and on a Region 0 DVD release from Arrow Video. This UK DVD distribution label has frequently re-released films from the last ten years, or further back, that are either critically acclaimed and/or from another country. Recently, releases have also included Blu-Rays and DVDs of films that the label categorises as ‘cult’, ‘horror’ or ‘video nasty’ – such as Battle Royale, Deep Red (dir. Dario Argento, 1975) and Dawn of the Dead (dir. George A. Romero, 1978). Alongside these films, those categorised as ‘classic’ or critically appraised ‘world cinema’ have also been released on Blu-Ray and DVD – Bicycle Thieves (dir. Vittorio De Sica, 1948), Les Diaboliques (dir. Henri-George Clouzot, 1955) and Cinema Paradiso (dir. Giuseppe Tornatore, 1988). Such releases include a host of extra features, such as booklets, new artwork and documentaries. Battle Royale got this treatment, which was also given to those films deemed ‘classic’. Critically acclaimed films are frequently given extras-laden re-releases on DVD, as research on Hollywood DVDs has shown (Robert A. Brookey and Robert Westerfelhaus, 2002; Craig Hight, 2005; Nicola J. Evans, 2010). The re-release of Battle Royale seems to indicate that not only do ‘classic’ films get such attention (as previous work suggests), but those that are popular with niche audiences of ‘cult’, ‘horror’ and ‘world cinema’. The actions of film distribution labels raise interesting questions on how such terms are used to categorise a film’s status. Specifically, regarding Battle Royale, should it be seen as a ‘cult’ film, or a ‘classic’ work of a particular group of filmmakers?

In this article we show how we teach University students the rhetoric of film. We have to take into consideration figures of speech, image, sound and movement. We will study inventio (main ideas and genre), dispositio (organization of the... more

In this article we show how we teach University students the rhetoric of film. We have to take into consideration figures of speech, image, sound and movement. We will study inventio (main ideas and genre), dispositio (organization of the elements into a narrative structure) and elocutio (to express with language –film language – the materials of invention organized by using a disposition or structure) will be studied here. Most of the examples will be extracted from Spanish and Latin American films, or films dealing with aspects related to Hispanic culture or history).

Creativity and originality are often given heavy praise within the film industry, especially within the processes of story development, production and post-production. Within my own PhD research, which focused on independent UK... more

Creativity and originality are often given heavy praise within the film industry, especially within the processes of story development, production and post-production. Within my own PhD research, which focused on independent UK distributors of Asian cinema, I discovered that creativity and originality was needed to make distribution and marketing strategies unique for DVD and Blu-Ray releases. Now, as exhibition and revenues are increasingly divided between different formats, creativity and originality are essential for distribution and marketing processes. In my paper, I will demonstrate how a pattern can be identified from the earlier actions of companies such as 4Digital Asia and Third Window from 2008 onwards. Now, these DVD labels have more of a presence on social media sites than their own websites, but common traits can still be found between the two. Furthermore, the companies’ actions are often received and commented on within review sources. While such media sources cater to niche audiences (e.g. fans of Asian media), there are some similarities found within mass-produced home media releases, which demonstrate how prolific distribution and marketing strategies are becoming. Overall, the creativity and originality needed for these practices mean, and the attention they receive, mean that they should be examined closely and thoroughly.

40 min. Janet Bergstrom, writer, director, narrator

Que signifie aimer une « série télé » aujourd’hui ? Ou, selon une formulation plus pragmatiste, que font faire les séries à leurs spectateurs ? Pour répondre à ces questions, cette thèse invite à se démarquer du paradigme de la réception... more

Que signifie aimer une « série télé » aujourd’hui ? Ou, selon une formulation plus pragmatiste, que font faire les séries à leurs spectateurs ? Pour répondre à ces questions, cette thèse invite à se démarquer du paradigme de la réception – lequel fournit la majorité des études sur le sujet – et explorer les ressorts et contours de la pratique des séries. Il s’agit d’étudier les activités concrètes dans lesquelles s’engagent les amateurs, la façon dont se tissent leur attachement aux séries, les ingrédients de ce tissage, les appuis et prises matériels, techniques et relationnels de cet attachement. Ce travail montre que la pratique spectatorielle ne s’arrête pas au seul moment du visionnage, lorsque l’individu est devant son poste, mais s’étend à l’ensemble des activités, des temps et des espaces au cours desquels celui-ci entre en relation avec une série. À partir d’une quarantaine d’entretiens approfondis et de l’examen des principaux relais sociotechniques et médiatiques des séri...

Published in Participations, Vol. 12, Issue 1, May 2015. This article closely analyses the reviews for Asian films from the longest-running UK magazine that specialises in Asian media – NEO. The critical reception of Asian films has been... more

Published in Participations, Vol. 12, Issue 1, May 2015.
This article closely analyses the reviews for Asian films from the longest-running UK magazine that specialises in Asian media – NEO. The critical reception of Asian films has been investigated before, but what has not been realised is the significance of the DVD distributors in shaping these reviews. As a result of examining how influential the discs’ labels are on the review content, it becomes clear that the critics in NEO are assessing more than the film itself. The reviewers are evaluating the entire viewing experience that a home media format, such as DVD, can offer. This is important for Asian media as the NEO reviews illustrate how the discs are the primary means of accessing such films for UK audiences. The reviews also suggest that viewers are becoming aware, and have a substantial interest in, how distributors shape their viewing experience.

15 min. Janet Bergstrom, writer, director, voice, for Flicker Alley Films DVD of Murnau's Phantom

My current thesis investigates the distribution and marketing of Japanese films on DVD in the UK. Part of this research investigates the critical reception of the DVDs of films released by 4Digital Asia and Third Window in NEO magazine.... more

My current thesis investigates the distribution and marketing of Japanese films on DVD in the UK. Part of this research investigates the critical reception of the DVDs of films released by 4Digital Asia and Third Window in NEO magazine. NEO is the only UK publication that reviews these films specifically as DVD releases - assessing the features of the DVD as well as the films. The magazine also reviews theatrical releases of these films, and makes readers aware of screenings in cinemas and films festivals. Despite such diverse information made available for its readers, the reviews and other content in NEO particularly foreground DVD as the main form of exhibition for these films. The features of the DVDs alone can be points of appraisal within the film reviews. Such a discourse, in a magazine that specifically focuses on Asian culture, is an important one to be aware of for increasing the profile of Asian films in the UK.

Heralded as "the most significant invention [for film] since the coming of sound" (The Observer 2003), by 2005 DVD players were in approximately 84 million homes in the US, making it the "fastest selling item in history of US consumer... more