I'm Obsessed with... DVD Chapters

[Lazario]

DVD Chapters. Don't ask me why, I've got no answer for you. I find them endlessly fascinating. When I get a new DVD, I always turn on the display feature on my DVD player and I flip through the chapters and write down the number of each and it's time length on a piece of paper. Then I type them up on my computer. That's not nearly where it ends, but I love to talk about them. Like in Survey mode.


What do you think of DVD chapters? Do you prefer your DVDs to have a lot of chapters so that you can skip through little parts of movies you don't like, or do you like less chapters so that when you skip, you can skip through whole sections of the movie? Some DVD players don't have a rewind/fast forward feature, not many, but there is one in my house which I rarely use because of this.

What is your ideal chapter group? Depending on the length of the movie, for movies less than 1h and 50m, my ideal chapter group is 17 to 23. If the movie's more than 2 hours long, I prefer more than 24 chapters.

[Todd_star]

[Lazario]

Oh come on, Todd, you know you have an obsession too. Don't judge me.

[Disneykid]

::stands behind Todd::

I hate it when chapters take up a large amount of time. The more chapters in a film, the better because there are usually little bits of film that I like to revisit. With broad chapters, I have to go to the beginning of the chapter, then manually fast forward to the scene I want. Boo. Disney's very generous with its chapter search, which I'm very thankful for. They also choose the perfect moments to break their chapters up. For example, the "You Can Fly, You Can Fly, You Can Fly!" sequence in Peter Pan is divided in half. The first half is of the children practicing flying in the nursery (which is technically part of the song because they're speaking in rhythmic rhyme), and the second half is when the chorus kicks in. Whenever I'm in the mood to view the scene, I can choose to skip right to where Peter says, "Come on, everybody! Here we go!" instead of having to manually fast forward through the nursery scene.

[Lazario]

I have to say, I'm glad you have that DVD, it's so darn out-of-print. It's like the most expensive Disney DVD to buy now, the Special Edition version anyway. Or at least it was last I checked.

And I have noticed that Disney is generous with their chapters, on most of their animated films. Though Robin Hood only got 15, and 101 Dalmatians got only 17.

And the films Buena Vista's other sub-companies such as Touchstone, Hollywood, and Dimension are notorious for getting the most paltry chapter selections of all other companies.

[Escapay]

LOL, I thought this would be a "Post what you're obsessed with" thread.

But I agree, I love DVD chapters. Whenever I feel like watching a snippet of a movie, or maybe a few songs in a musical, chapters are a godsend. I remember back when I only had like 5 DVDs, I'd continually watch "COME ON DOVER! MOVE YOUR BLOOMIN' ARSE!" on My Fair Lady, because the chapter was like 30 seconds before the wonderful line.

I remember picking up, but not buying, a used copy of "The Straight Story", and the insert says that David Lynch preferred that there not be chapter stops, as movies are not books, so "The Straight Story" has no chapter stops. Don't know if other movies are like that.

One of the worst uses of chapter stops, though, has to be several of Disney's low-priority catalogue titles. "Flight of the Navigator" has only 9. Talk about sucky.

TV shows sometimes have chapter stops. The first season of Golden Girls had chapter stops, but strangely, the second season doesn't.

Escapay

[Wonderlicious]

Wow...this forum is becoming more and more diverse by the day!

On the topic of DVD chapters, yes, I do like them if they are a compromise between rather broad and rather bitty. I have been known to be obsessive and just stick in a DVD to watch some of my favourite scenes, and without these little things, it wouldn't be as easy to do so (and as healthy for the films).

[Pasta67]

LOL, I thought this would be a "Post what you're obsessed with" thread.

Same here.

I've been wanting to discuss this for a while, great thread idea Lazario.

I'd be lost without DVD chapters, I love the darn things. Disney is very smart when choosing DVD chapters, they always seem to put them in the exact right place. Every once in a while, I'll get the uncontrollable urge to watch a song segment, and I'll just pop my DVD in and go to the specific chapter. To make it even easier, Disney usually puts the songs at the beginning of thechapter, so I don't have to fast-forward or rewind.

But there are some DVDs that just have the most random chapter breaks. If any of you have the Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie anime DVD, you've got a good examle of this. They make chapter breaks in the strangest of places, sometimes putting them right in the middle of fight scenes or something.

While we're on the subject, I really think that the Prince Ali Reprise should've had it's own chapter in the Aladdin DVD. Instead it's stuck right in the middle of another chapter. One of the few times I think Disney makes wierd decisions for chapters.

[Lazario]

LOL, I thought this would be a "Post what you're obsessed with" thread.

It can be if you want to share one of yours...

I remember back when I only had like 5 DVDs, I'd continually watch "COME ON DOVER! MOVE YOUR BLOOMIN' ARSE!" on My Fair Lady, because the chapter was like 30 seconds before the wonderful line.

My mother loves that part.

But there are some DVDs that just have the most random chapter breaks. If any of you have the Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie anime DVD, you've got a good examle of this. They make chapter breaks in the strangest of places, sometimes putting them right in the middle of fight scenes or something.

My vote for strangest chapter programming is and will always be Scream (1996). The first of 16 chapters is 18 seconds long and covers the 10-second Dimension Films logo, then the 8-second Scream film-title. The 4th chapter begins in the classroom where the teacher says, "Sidney it would appear to be your turn" and ends in the after about 40 seconds of the police station scene some 14 minutes later. Chapter 6 also cuts to the last 45 seconds of the 4-minute police station scene where Sidney and Tatum walk out of the police station and encounter Gail Weathers, but continues into the very middle of Tatum's bedroom scene for chapter 7 where Sidney gets up to answer a phone call. That chapter continues into the first minute of the scene where Sidney and Gail talk about Cotton Weary, where chapter 8 begins and goes on for 8 minutes and skips breaking chapter 9 for Sidney's attack. Chapter 9 starts with Principal Himbry and doesn't end for nearly 10 minutes until the garage scene with "Mr. Ghostface". Chapter 11 begins in the MIDDLE of the "there are certain rules that one must abide by to survive a horror movie..." scene...

But it actually gets weirder for the movie's last 4 chapters. Chapter 13 goes on for 10 minutes or something until chapter 14 and 15 which are 1 minute in length a piece. Both in the middle of the film's big climactic end sequence, neither chapter starts it. One isolates a stabbing, the other an interruption from a thought-to-be-dead character. Then chapter 16, the last one, lunks the last 5 minutes of the movie and the 8 minute end credits TOGETHER. Somebody in that tech booth must have been smoking something pretty scary to make these mistakes.

[Isidour]

well...like an obsesion, I think I have non, but I like a lot Bambi

well...maybe fruits like strawberries n_n

[Zoltack]

WOW. You have some weird obessions. But hey whatever floats your boat is what I always say.

Anyways, I don't really care about the chapters. I mean sometimes I'll flip through them and memorize (because I flip through them so much) them. But I perfer to watch the whole movie. You know what I mean.

[bennyb98]

I love chapters! It makes it so easy to navigate DVDs, but at times I wish the chapters and their placement would make more sense. That is one thing that VHS has over DVD, the ability to stop the DVD and resume it at the exact same spot. Luckily, my DVD player has a 10 disc Auto Resume memory so I can quickly restart DVDs even those that don’t have very many chapter stops.

[JiminyCrick91]

My vote for strangest chapter programming is and will always be Scream (1996). The first of 16 chapters is 18 seconds long and covers the 10-second Dimension Films logo, then the 8-second Scream film-title. The 4th chapter begins in the classroom where the teacher says, "Sidney it would appear to be your turn" and ends in the after about 40 seconds of the police station scene some 14 minutes later. Chapter 6 also cuts to the last 45 seconds of the 4-minute police station scene where Sidney and Tatum walk out of the police station and encounter Gail Weathers, but continues into the very middle of Tatum's bedroom scene for chapter 7 where Sidney gets up to answer a phone call. That chapter continues into the first minute of the scene where Sidney and Gail talk about Cotton Weary, where chapter 8 begins and goes on for 8 minutes and skips breaking chapter 9 for Sidney's attack. Chapter 9 starts with Principal Himbry and doesn't end for nearly 10 minutes until the garage scene with "Mr. Ghostface". Chapter 11 begins in the MIDDLE of the "there are certain rules that one must abide by to survive a horror movie..." scene...

But it actually gets weirder for the movie's last 4 chapters. Chapter 13 goes on for 10 minutes or something until chapter 14 and 15 which are 1 minute in length a piece. Both in the middle of the film's big climactic end sequence, neither chapter starts it. One isolates a stabbing, the other an interruption from a thought-to-be-dead character. Then chapter 16, the last one, lunks the last 5 minutes of the movie and the 8 minute end credits TOGETHER. Somebody in that tech booth must have been smoking something pretty scary to make these mistakes.

My Jack Frost (Rankin-Bass) DVD has MUCH werider chapeter stops.The back says there are 12 named scences (like 1. Pardon me Pete, 2.January Junction 3.Father Winther ect.)but the disc has 8 chapters named 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 and 8. Also most of them stop in mid-word or mid-song or losts of other werider spots.

[Zoltack]

I love chapters! It makes it so easy to navigate DVDs, but at times I wish the chapters and their placement would make more sense. That is one thing that VHS has over DVD, the ability to stop the DVD and resume it at the exact same spot. Luckily, my DVD player has a 10 disc Auto Resume memory so I can quickly restart DVDs even those that don’t have very many chapter stops.

Well chapters are good in some area's. Of corse DVD's are better than VHS because you don't have to re-wind or fast-forward to any of your favorite scenes. But I believe that if you're gonna watch a movie you might as well watch the whole thing. Am I right?

[Knuckles the Echidna]

I'm obsessed with Eminem. =D

And this has to do with DVD chapters because I do the most flipping around on my 8 Mile DVD. Like, if I want to draw a particular scene, I'll skip to it and browse frame by frame until something pleases me and I pause there.

Then, I usually fast-forward through that one incident inside the factory. >__>;

[Lazario]

But I believe that if you're gonna watch a movie you might as well watch the whole thing. Am I right?

Absolutely. I just think, even more than anything else, we need chapters because life is unpredictable. I have to leave or get up frequently during watching movies, I have a hectic life, my free time is not my own. So I have to stop watching movies I've yet to finish. I don't like having to stop watching, unless the movie sucks, but that makes chapters even more important. And I know very few people who have a lot of time to watch whole movies on DVDs with 8 to 12 chapters, it's just a safeguard.

[danamichelle]

I'm not really obsessed with the dvd chapters but I am obsessed with the chapter inserts. I always open a dvd as soon as I get it just to see if it has an insert.

[Lazario]

I used to do that too, Dana. But now every company is flaking when it comes to inserts. It just used to be MGM that said forget about 'em. What company's doing that now? Warner?

[lord-of-sith]

I like it when there are lots of detailed chapters. Mainly because I can go to parts I like. Harry Potter movies are decent with this. Disney is good with this. The most recent example of bad chapters is Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events, where there aren't that many. Pirates of the Caribbean didn't have that much either. And Spaceballs needs one just after the "stunt double" thing so I can watch "MY HAIR! YOU SHOT MY HAIR! SON OF A B____!" over and over. That line makes me crack up every single time!

[lord-of-sith]

I used to do that too, Dana. But now every company is flaking when it comes to inserts. It just used to be MGM that said forget about 'em. What company's doing that now? Warner?

Ones I know of off the top of my head:

Paramount: Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events

Universal: Peter Pan, The Cat in the Hat