June 2, 2001
The FBI Warning/Logo Wars
One
of my favorite pastimes has become reading the FBI warning at the beginning of DVDs. The FBI pirate
warning is nothing new. In days of yore, laser disc days that is, the FBI warning was prominently
displayed, but skipping through it with alacrity was no problem. DVD coding offers the powers that
be slightly more control over viewers. You can't skip through the FBI warning anymore folks. You've
got to shut your eyes, turn off your senses, bite you lips. Happily, here's a mini-rave for Warner
, Artisan and a few others who are smart enough to slip the FBI warning at the end of the DVD.
If that's not bad enough I am caught in a battle of big libidos from movie
production partners. It's logo wars folks. Everybody seems to have a logo that must express itself
before I get to watch my movie. First comes the DVD releasing studio, which, when the production
studio is one and the same, double dips us with the treat of a second logo. But what about that
foreign money for the overseas rights; they have to get their logo onto the screen as well. Did
someone say THX. Beware the THX logo thumper. It's been known to blow the woofers on
subwoofers set up a little too enthusiastically. DTS gets in the act too. Did I miss the latest
star's production company? Yes, they should have their logo played as well. Well, you get the
picture. But you have to sit through all these logos before getting to the main course. Actually,
not all DVDs are coded to make miserable viewers watch all this nonsense. Some combinations
evanesce with the fast forward or chapter skip functions on your player.
Universal and Fox have gone to the trouble to produce a quick firing film
clip intro for their DVDs. It's okay to watch it one time, but how many times would anyone want to
sit through the explosion of images. They do update the compilation from time to time to reflect
more current DVD releases, but it's just a waste of precious DVD space after all. On the plus side,
you can skip through these intros with the chapter button. The folks at Buena Vista, bless
their Disney hearts, even throw a barrage of trailers at viewers before they can get to the main
event. These also can be chapter stopped through.
Even though some studios let you fast forward through some of the unnecessary
ego clutter, personally, I don't want to have to think about it. I want to pop the DVD into
the player, press the play button and enjoy my movie with a minimum amount of delay and reminders.
Links to Rants and Raves by Date
April 21 2001
Inserts and the Pop-Up Window
Selections from the Feature Archive
include articles on Akira Kurosawa, Frank
Darabont, Blonde Bimbos, Hollywood Street Gangs, or Vietnam: The
Hollywood Pariah, and many more....
Transferring Zoetrope's Vision
American Zoetrope's Technical Director Kim Aubry talks about bringing the studios product out in
the best light. Click on the image for the interview.
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