Texts & Archive

Research into practices applied by the Hollywood studios on the DVD market requires analysis of the economic logic of the market and the rhetoric of various paratexts accompanying the movies on DVDs, as well as consideration of practices of the television industry. At stake are not only the principles of economy of scope and the strategy of repurposing content that DVD accomplishes, but also the way the studios use DVD like the TV industry uses the internet for an old media's `augmentation', to use John Caldwell's term. Additionally, the extras on DVDs create a frame of reception through their exploitation of institutional practices which are familiar to the viewer from television and home video. The movies on DVD are marketed by the Hollywood cinema in a double mode: the DVD offers theatrical spectacularity as well as the intimacy and `imperfection' of television and home video. DVDs with their high-budgeted franchises provide the best opportunity for combining spectacle, narrative openness and complexity with a sense of intimacy and authenticity.

This essay considers the DVD in relation to Tom Gunning's concept of `the cinema of attractions' (1990 and 2004), identifying parallels in terms of exhibitionism, technological display and the prevalence of direct address. It also stresses textual analysis of DVD menus (something largely neglected in contemporary scholarship) as an important tool for understanding the DVD as a novel `intra-text' (as referred to by Brookey and Westerfelhaus in a 2002 essay). The article focuses on the DVD of The Lion King (dir. Allers and Minkoff, USA, 1994), emphasizing the relationship of the disc and its management of a series of attractions to the Disney theme park. This analysis reveals that, in following a path through The Lion King 's two discs, audiences do not simply view a series of activities and materials `extra' to the film, they circulate and participate in an `enclosed environmental artwork' akin to the Disney theme park.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) has made ripping Macrovision- or CSSprotected DVDs illegal, but university instructors and students need accessible videos in a digital format for pedagogical purposes. This legal analysis has compared the DMCA with the TEACH Act and the fair use doctrine in the Copyright Act in an attempt to find a viable solution to this dilemma. The study has provided alternative and creative approaches to DVD ripping while finding it necessary to pursue a legal amendment to the DMCA.

The advent of the internet (as a means of marketing and selling) and DVD (as a delivery medium) has revitalized interest in selling/delivering ‘alternative’ moving image work direct to the public. The potential these avenues offer for reaching wider audiences are proving particularly attractive in the light of the recent UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity. However, similar initiatives were undertaken when VHS took off as a mass delivery medium in the 1980s. This article examines some of the attempts to embrace the video sell-through market in the UK in the 1980s and 1990s as a way of getting artists’/independent moving-image work to a wider public. However, these attempts met with mixed results. The reasons for this are discussed, and the article concludes that while digital technology has in some ways made it easier to reach audiences, there are important lessons to be learned from its video precursor, if the potential of DVD and the internet is to be maximized.

This debate article explores some of the possibilities for the future of the DVD form as a distribution medium for mainstream movies within a UK/USA context. Whilst analogies are being made between the VHS/Betamax format war of the 1980s and the emergence of two rival next-generation DVD formats (Blu-ray and HD-DVD), it is clear that the future of the DVD is now much more complex than the identification of a dominant new and higher-capacity format. The emergence of domestic broadband and authorized movie downloading may challenge the role of the DVD as a distribution medium. At the same time, unauthorized downloading, Web 2.0 and renewed debates around intellectual property rights and legislative jurisdiction are challenging the foundations of film making and distribution. These trends in DVD and online movie consumption suggest, in particular, that DVD add-ons may be a short-lived transitory phenomenon rather than a continuing and integral part of movie consumption in the home.

This article discusses the significant influence DVD is having on translation from the perspective of translation studies. Focusing on the language support functionality afforded by this new medium, the author outlines the type of language options commonly provided on DVD film titles of fictional genres and examines the changes introduced by DVDs in relation to translation requirements and new possibilities opening up for translation research. Despite the scant attention paid by media and film studies, the author maintains that the language support functionality afforded by DVD is significant and argues that the approach treating language options as an essential add-on feature of DVD offers a productive research direction in the light of continuing globalization of audiovisual content.

This article addresses the issue of young people and media use in the digital age, more specifically the interconnection between new media pleasures and pedagogy as they relate to the consumption of DVD add-ons. Arguing against the view of new media as having predominantly detrimental effects on young people, the authors claim that new media can enable young people to develop media literacy skills and are of the view that media literacy strategies must be based on an understanding and legitimating of young people's use patterns and pleasures. The discussion is based on a pilot research project on the use patterns and pleasures of use with a sample of Irish teenagers. They found that DVDs were used predominantly in the home context, and that, while there was variability in use between the groups, overall they developed critical literacy skills and competences which were interwoven into their social life and projects of identity construction. The authors suggest that these findings could be used to develop DVDs and their add-on features as a learning resource in the more formal educational setting and they go on to outline the potential teaching benefits of their use across a range of pedagogical areas.

Soon the DVD format will celebrate its tenth anniversary in the consumer electronics market. In those 10 years, the format has brought about some significant changes in the film industry and the home video market. Given that new DVD formats are entering the market, it might be an opportune moment to reflect on the impact of the DVD and consider its future. This article examines why the DVD format has been successful and the changes it has brought. It then discusses the two formats that may set the standard for the next generation of DVDs, and the challenges this next generation may face in light of new developments in the media market.