Let's talk Blu-ray special features

[2099net]

Probably a controversial subject given how DVD special features are being overlooked by most studios in favour of Blu-ray today, but...

The Blu-ray format has had enough time to mature, and at long last we're starting to see some of the promises of the format fulfilled.

Picture-In-Picture (PiP)

Picture-in-picture is all-ways a difficult topic. Without doubt, we've had discs with absolutely essential PiP content (such as Frost/Nixon which features an uninterrupted documentary as a PiP track) but... do they need to be presented as PiP?

Most PiP content could be presented as separate featurettes, and most likely would be more satisfying if done so. Often the content of the track doesn't reflect what's happening in the movie and seems thrown together just so PiP could be listed as one of the bullet points on the back of the case. A shame, because PiP content can be very effective if used correctly.

Best examples of PiP:
300: The Complete Experience : Blue-screen Movie insert
Silent Hill: Collector's Edition [FR] : Movie without CG effects Insert (switchable to full screen)
The Wolfman: Wolfman Legacy Fact-track
The Princess and the Frog: Work-In-Progess Insert
Children Of Men: Advertising/Newspapers Insert

PiP Evolved > Maximum Movie Mode/Take Control

Recently, PiP has progressed to be a smoother, more immersive experience with Warner Bros' Maximim Movie Mode and Universal's similar Take Control.

These allow for "traditional" Picture-in-Picture content to be displayed on screen - in these cases, normally storyboards, effects comparisons or photos - while also allowing for the film to seamlessly branch out to full-screen bonus-content. Both implementations tend to favour this being split-screen comparisons and discussion, normally involving an on-screen host.

Best Examples of MMM/Take Control:
Watchmen: Director's Cut [US]
The Wolfman
Sherlock Holmes

(It should be noted that Warner Bros has started to call all of their PiP content Maximim Movie Mode; when technically if should really be called an IME (In Movie Experience))

BD-Live

BD-Live was often seen as a joke when Blu-ray was first released. Many people couldn't see a need for a network connection to either help them enjoy a movie or add insight later. However, recent developments have validated the option.

Database Look-ups
Most new Day and Date Sony Blu-rays now feature MovieIQ which lets you look up actors, crew, music and more in a particular scene or the whole of a movie. Fox has offered something similar on a few of their releases via a partnership with IMDB. Sure, it's not essential, but can be useful - after all, lots of DVDs came with cast and crew profile text pages. The difference here is the information will never be out of date.

Chat/Clip Sharing/Commentary Recording
Again, not essential in themselves. In fact, possibly more or less useless when the technology is being applied between two normal viewers. But its not a total waste. Through this technology we get the ability to have shared on-line viewings with cast and crew members.

On-Line Trailers/Supplements
Recent Universal discs do something very clever. They stream up-to date trailers with the disc is inserted, rather then simply playing those on the disc. (Thankfully these streamed trailers are skippable!). In a small way it makes each viewing of the movie almost like going to the cinema - its always interesting to see new trailers.

Most studios these days allow users to download or stream additional content. In practice too much of this is still self-promotional, but in theory it can allow discs to remain relevant and up-to-date. There's been a few examples of this; Starship Troopers 3 allowed Comic Con panel footage filmed after the disc was mastered to be downloaded and viewed, and I believe the Lost Blu-rays feature a Lost University which is (was?) constantly updated.

Disney is reported to be putting the "classic DVD" bonus features that they can't fit onto new Blu-ray releases onto BD-Live for viewing. Seems like an ideal solution to me.

Sadly, on the whole most Blu-ray releases don't use BD-Live for anything more than promotion and advertising.

BD-Java
It's hard to quantify the impact of BD-Java because its bound to both PiP and BD-Live technology. Without BD-Java neither would work. It does however allow other things. In theory, the limits are only the programmers' imaginations.

Most Blu-ray discs these days feature some form of bookmarking, time-line displays and more. All powered by BD-Java. But other uses include:

Blu-Wizard : A Sony development, this allows playlists of special features to be created and remembers which supplements you have previously viewed and can even suggest which supplement to watch next. Similar technology has been used for Disney's Snow White and Pirates of the Caribbean discs and Universal/Paramount's Gladiator.

Indexes : Primarily a Fox feature, seen on such discs as Indepencence Day and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen this lists all people, places, objects and actions alphabetically and allows you to quickly jump to scenes appropriate for the selection. It's a bit of a waste of time really... until Fight Club which did something similar but indexed the supplements, not the movie. It's much more useful being able to jump directly to a specific clip in a supplement or even section in a commentary track.

Commentary Subjects : Again, primarily a Fox feature, this allows you to see text briefly describing what is being discussed at that point in a commentary track as the movie is played. Great for leaping in and out of commentaries and even better for switching between multiple commentary tracks.

All in all, I feel that the full benefits of what Blu-ray discs can do have yet to be explored - imagine what could be done for a WDFA film?

Watch the film with a selectable PiP insert - the work-in-progress or story boards. Press enter at any time to make the insert full-screen, or perhaps press enter to bring up a menu listing art galleries relating to characters, locations and voice-actors in the scene. When viewing galleries, select a picture and search for other pictures by the same artist, or if its a storyboard, have the original script and/or notes for that sequence displayed on screen. Or you could take a screenshot and save it, and compare it to the work-in-progress, storyboard and concept art yourself.

Or perhaps you could pick certain scenes of the movie and re-edit the soundtrack, selecting from various alternative audio takes of certain lines of dialogue or change the music.

I'm still excited for the future of the format and its supplements.