DVD changed everything by including remarkable and inspiring special features and documentaries along with the film. While Blu Ray raised the bar significantly, a simple fact remains…
Special features truly inspire the aspiring filmmaker.
I bought my first 2 DVDs the day my dad installed a DVD-ROM in our home computer. We didn’t even have a DVD player but that didn’t stop me from purchasing:
- Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace
- The Matrix Revisited
Why did I choose these particular DVDs over hundreds of other films?
The making-of documentaries.
To this day they are some of my favorites. I find special features captivating and enormously entertaining because they remind me of why I wanted to become a filmmaker in the first place.
Since you’re asking, I want to be a filmmaker because there is nothing more gratifying then working creatively with people you respect and seeing an audience react to your hard work.
That’s the text book response.
Basically, making movies is fun. Watching people make movies in inspiring THUS causing me to want to make more movies… Which is fun…
Still with me?
What I love about Star Wars and Revisited is how they focus on every single aspect of the production process. I love hearing about the screenwriting process but I’m also a fan of editing featurettes and having access to both along with everything in between is what it’s all about.
The best collection of special features ever?
Which brings me to my all time favorite: The Lord Of The Rings Extended Editions.
Oh man. If you’re hungry for film making documentaries these discs should be at the top of the stack. Most documentaries you find are short and only detail 1 or 2 aspects of the film. LOTR provides 50 billion hours chronicling the entire production but also the journey of those involved, how passionate they were about the project and how they became a family.
It’s profound stuff. Inspiring to anyone but super-inspiring to this young filmmaker.
I’m about to direct another short film (The Climb) and I’ve been watching my favorite special features for weeks. As a director, nothing inspires me more than watching a good documentary about making movies.
Here are some of the best special features and documentaries in the history of the world:
- Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace – The Beginning & All I Need Is An Idea
- Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge Of The Sith – Within A Minute
- Lord Of The Rings Extended Editions – Appendices (Of Course)
- The Matrix Revisited – Documentary
- Signs – Looking For Signs
- Overnight – Documentary (Have The Boondock Saints on standby after viewing.)
- Star Trek (Blu Ray)
- Hellboy 2 – In Service Of The Demon
- Finding Nemo – Making Nemo
- Garden State – Making Of
- Hatchet – Making Hatchet
- Mission Impossible 2
- The Devils Rejects – 30 Days In Hell
- Waiting – That Little Extra
These are just a few of the favorites in my collection. There are so many more that I left off the list. Insane amounts of inspirational featurettes and docs. I can’t get enough.
