The DVD Revolution: Movies, Culture, and Technology

Front Cover
Bloomsbury Publishing USA, Dec 30, 2004 - Performing Arts - 200 pages
The introduction of the DVD marked the beginning of one of history's most successful technological innovations, and capped a 75-year development of home-viewing possibilities. Never before have film fans had access in their living rooms to something so remarkably close to the theatrical experience. In addition, because a DVD can hold much more than a single movie, it has allowed films to be marketed with a variety of extras, sparking both a new packaging industry and greater interest on the part of home viewers. This book provides an examination of the DVD's impact, both on home viewing and on film study. From film fan culture through filmmaker commentaries, from special editions to a look at where the format will go from here, author Aaron Barlow offers the first-ever exploration of this explosive new entertainment phenomenon.

As the DVD becomes the popular vehicle of record for films, it is also becoming a unique and unprecedented way for the interested viewer to learn more about filmmaking than has ever been possible before. Because of its ability to reproduce the dimensions and quality of the celluloid image, film fans and scholars can have practically perfect reproductions of classic and contemporary films at their disposal. Not only will this book be of interest to the burgeoning population of DVD fans and collectors, but it will provide insights that should be of interest to both students of popular culture and of film.
 

Contents

1 HOME VIEWING OF FEATURE FILMS IN AMERICA
1
2 CINÉMATHÈQUE FRANÇAISE AT OUR HOUSE
29
3 DVD FAN CULTURE
55
4 THE SPECIAL EDITION DVD
75
5 THE DVD AUDIO COMMENTARY
109
6 THE DVD THE FILM SCHOLAR AND THE CLASSROOM
127
7 THE QUESTION OF OWNERSHIP
143
AFTERWORD
157
NOTES
161
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
167
INDEX
171
Copyright

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About the author (2004)

AARON BARLOW teaches early American literature at Kutztown University. He has previously taught film studies at the Pratt Institute in New York City, and has written extensively on science fiction cinema.

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