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DVD Special Editions:
How to do an Audio Commentary (Part I)
by Ted Elrick
There's no doubt about it. Digital Versatile Discs (DVDs) are a hit. According to DVD Entertainment Group, more than 120 million DVDs were shipped to retailers during the first quarter of 2002.
Superior image and audio quality, as well as the film being presented in its proper aspect ratio, are just some of the reasons for switching from videotape to DVD. To many film buffs, the added benefit of DVDs are the supplemental materials — deleted scenes, alternate endings, documentaries and, of course, audio commentaries wherein the filmmaker talks about the making of the film.
So what do you do if you suddenly get the call asking if you want to record an audio commentary? Many directors jump at the chance; others are suddenly struck with the fear, "My God, what am I going to talk about?"
Rest easy, we sought out the advice of some directors and DVD producers who have a number of discs under their belts.
Ridley Scott thinks the added supplementary materials on many discs are a wonderful opportunity for filmmakers. "It's all about promoting what we do," he said. "Forty, fifty years ago, the entire filmmaking process was magical. We all went to the theater and wondered, 'Wow, how did they do that?' Now, the cat's out of the bag. The average audience member starts talking about character arc. I think it's now part of our job to educate them, guide them along the route of the filmmaking process so they know what we do. That makes them even more interested. It's an educational process, and any educational process is a good one."
Scott records his commentaries in an interview situation with his longtime DVD producer Charles de Lauzirika. "The key is to have a good interviewer, someone who is passionate about the process," Scott said. "I really enjoy this. It's revisiting old ground. As you talk, you recall more and then you're able to say one or two things you weren't able to say for press interviews at the time. That is fun."
Scott's comments are then edited to make them more scene specific. "Mostly I'm fairly specific. I try to keep the answers absolutely on the question and not ramble. The key is not to ramble because then you get into the headache of cutting it down."
Recording situations vary for directors for a number of reasons. Some studios might give the director the opportunity to spend as much time as he feels is necessary to get the commentary the way he wants it. Others, whose marketing tells them that extras aren't a strong lure for buyers, might only give the director one shot for two hours. In either event, many directors feel it's good to be prepared so as to maximize the recording session.
Donald Petrie did his first audio commentary for the special edition of his film Miss Congeniality. "I watched the film the night before and remembered things for each and every scene so that I'd be somewhat prepared. Even then, if you plan on doing one of those commentaries, I highly recommend you book two sessions and do half the movie at a time because it's very hard to not run out of steam in the second half from talking continuously for two hours."
In addition, Petrie took in a complete list of the cast and crew. Even though he knew what he wanted to talk about for each scene and who he wanted to single out, he also wanted to make sure that he wouldn't suddenly stumble over a name.
"It was a chance for me to give credit where credit was due, and compliment my crew on excellent work," he said. "For instance, for one scene I was able to point out how incredibly complicated a scene was; I was able to show how indispensable my team of assistant directors was in pulling off that scene.
"The only disappointing aspect of it," he said, "was that there were sometimes two or three things I wanted to say about a particular scene. By the time I'd finish making the first comment, I was on to the next scene and didn't have the time to make the others."
Director Steven Soderbergh has only one rule for doing commentaries. "I never do them alone. To me, the idea of having two people talking together is more appealing than me droning on."
Cameron Crowe finds that works for him as well. "The art of the audio commentary is evolving," Crowe said. "When they first came out on laser discs, you'd be watching a guy walking through a doorway, and somebody, on the audio commentary, would say, 'That's the shot of somebody walking through the doorway.' And you'd think, 'OK. So I see.' So I think it's good to have people there."
Soderbergh has frequently invited the screenwriter of his films to be part of the commentary. His commentary on The Limey with screenwriter Lem Dobbs is famous for the discussion of screenwriter's vision versus director's vision.
"I think doing it this way gives people a sense of what the creative process was like, how people who were closely involved with the film behave toward each other. How they interact is almost as important as what they are saying," he said.
Giving people an accurate picture of the creative process is one of the greatest advantages to DVD Special Editions. In the last round of creative rights negotiations, the DGA attempted to guarantee that directors would be asked to participate in the Special Edition. While it was not achieved in this contract, it is an issue the DGA will continue to vigorously pursue. The Writers Guild was able to get contract language that guaranteed that if a director gave a commentary, the writer would be given the opportunity to record one. What was particularly disturbing about the language was its restriction upon future director audio commentaries.
The WGA language only allows discussion of credited screenwriters on the audio commentary. As we've often seen, the screenwriter given credit may not have been the one the director worked with from pre-production on.
While Soderbergh said he doesn't really prepare for audio commentaries on his own films, he did prepare quite extensively for his commentary with director Mike Nichols on the audio commentary of Catch-22. (Doing commentaries of another director's film will be the subject of a future article.)
For Jerry Maguire, Cameron Crowe decided to do a video audio commentary where he was joined by cast members Cuba Gooding, Jr., Rene Zellweger and Tom Cruise. For Vanilla Sky he recorded the commentary on DAT in a cabin in Oregon while his wife, composer Nancy Wilson, played her acoustic guitar, effectively scoring the commentary. Sky also featured a phone conversation with Tom Cruise as they were recording the commentary.
For perhaps the most delightful commentary recorded, Crowe asked his mother to be with him on Almost Famous Untitled: The Bootleg Cut.
"Almost Famous is a very personal movie for me, and my mom was such a big part of that story," he explained. "We were working on Vanilla Sky and one of the editors said, 'You should invite your mom to do the audio commentary with you.' And I thought it was a great idea, and that night I talked with my mom and she said yes. Then, the next day, I began to panic about the home movie aspect of it. This is before The Osbournes. The whole idea was just horrific for me.
"So I started to backpedal with her. I knew she couldn't come up from San Diego during the week so I said, 'Mom we're working so hard, I'm going to have to do this audio commentary during the week.' She said, 'I'll be there.' I said, 'No, no, no, I know you're going to have a hard time getting a ride. It's going to have to happen very early in the morning when I know you won't be available.' She said, 'I'll be available.'
"Everything I tried to do to get out of it, she would hear nothing of it. So the day came and I was nervous about how it would turn out. We sat in a room, turned on the tape recorder and I suddenly realized that it was just another afternoon of talking with my mom who's a big part of my life and one of the great editors that I have. We finished it, looked at each other and said, 'That's a document of the way we are together.' I haven't listened to it since. It felt real to me so that was that."
Of course, it's rare to have a situation where one of the main characters of your film is also a very personal participant in your life. But it indicates that there really is no reason to fear that you won't have enough to talk about if you relax and enjoy it. As Scott says, "It all comes back vividly. Once I've locked off in the process and they've pressed record, I open up and remember quite vividly."
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