Harry Potter 2 DVD and some noodling

Set your wallet for April 11, 2003: The secret is out -- 'Harry Potter' sequel to be released on DVD and video in April [AP/SignOnSanDiego via Medley via Marshmallows & Bile]

Among the extra features on the two-disc DVD are 19 scenes with deleted material, tours of sets from the film and an exclusive interview [with Rowling].

Some thoughts:

• First, yay for including more deleted scenes -- on the first Harry Potter disk I was hoping for more/more-interesting scenes than the 7 that were there, especially since you have to jump through hoops to reach them even if you're cheating -- BUT what I'd really like to see on DVDs with deleted scenes is an option to insert the scenes where they belong as you watch the movie (say, with a marker in the corner of the screen indicating you're watching extra material).
  
  Yes, yes: this wouldn't work well for every movie, since the scenes often aren't as polished as the finished product, but too bad: the DVD watcher knows they picked the option, so they'll know they're watching a modified/subpar version. I think it's a DVD feature someone will include as an experiment and then most others will follow... assuming it's technically feasible (which I think it should be, but I'm not familiar with the ins and outs of the DVD data format).
  
  
• Second, the article explicitly mentions that it will also be made available on VHS. Have we already passed the point where a studio releases a major film only on DVD? I haven't been paying very close attention.
  
  If not, I think it's only a matter of time before VHS sales drop to the point where it's not worth it to stores to stock them (after which it won't be long before studios don't bother making them).
  
  Hm. On second thought, it'll probably take another 5 years to get there; there are a lot of VCRs in the world. But I do think that day is coming.

    6 comment(s)  

Some DVDs do let you view the movie with the deleted scenes inserted where they belong. The DVD for "Me, Myself & Irene" does this. In setup you would select the option to include deleted scenes. Then you see a notice on the screen that you were going to a deleted scene, and another notice as you went back to the regular movie. I like the feature. It definitely helps put things in context, which you don't always get when watching the scene by itself.
      ...posted by Scott Ladewig on January 24, 2003 7:28 PM

Hey, cool. I never saw that one. Wonder why the feature hasn't gotten more publicity.
      ...posted by SteveB on January 24, 2003 10:43 PM

I did quick search, and the feature they use to do this is called Extended Branching. If you do a search on that phrase and DVD, you'll find quite a few that use it.
      ...posted by Scott Ladewig on January 25, 2003 12:42 AM

Clearly I haven't watched enough DVDs!
      ...posted by SteveB on January 25, 2003 5:40 PM

I noticed recently that my local Blockbuster (in Sydney, Australia) had cleared another rack of shelves (previously allocated to VHS) for DVDs. I asked one of the employees about it and she said that they're actually looking to completely phase out VHS tapes in the next couple years. Granted, that was just a teenage peon in an international arm of the franchise, but it makes me think that the switchover will happen sooner than we expect. (And I, for one, welcome our new DVD-only overlords.) :)
      ...posted by Kris on January 26, 2003 5:42 PM

i think thats cool too
      ...posted by Chika on April 9, 2003 11:53 PM

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