Starting off on a negative note, there are two types of DVD 'extras' to avoid like the plague, IMHO: the first are mainstream titles with 'making of' features, which are often euphamistically described as documentaries and generally consist of little more than a re-edit of the promo tape prepared by the studio PR department for broadcasters. The commentaries are quite frequently little more than inarticulate and/or inane drivel from cast members, who either recount anecdotes which have little or nothing to do with the picture on the screen, or who have an unfortunate habit of laughing at everything. Equally annoying are DVDs of rep or arthouse titles in which the services of a celebrity academic have been secured purely in order to add cultural kudos. You either get the usual suspects preening themselves in front of the camera and/or microphone, presenting decades-old research as if they were Moses revealing the ten commandments (e.g. Ian Christie in the UK Carlton DVD of 'The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp'), or are inarticulate to the point at which you wish they would stick to the written word, which is clearly their strong suit (e.g. Ginette Vincendeau in the BFI's release of 'Le Cercle Rouge'). Frankly, if academics are going to be involved in 'curating' DVD releases, then I wish publishers would be firm in insisting that (i) they have substantial media experience, and (ii) they have something original to say. In my experience, they are either one or the other. In most cases I'd prefer a specially commissioned, substantial discursive essay supplied in booklet form with the disc rather than critical analysis in the form of video and/or audio. Let's face it, the target audience for this kind of DVD probably knows how to read, and with an essay you're not tied to your TV set or PC monitor. But many publishers feel that because the DVD medium has that facility, they are obliged to use it. The most useful and interesting discs, I find, are the ones which have substantial contextualising footage and/or thrown in without an academic or critic trying to set the agenda as to how you must view it. The BFI's 'Edge of the World' disc is one example: I actually bought it specifically for the 1920s St. Kilda travelogue which the Scottish Screen Archive contributed, and have never actually watched the feature . Sometimes there are mainstream titles with useful extras, too, for example a recent Warners' issue of 'Singin' in the Rain' which contains a complete reconstruction of a 1930s cinema supporting programme. The transfers are very good, too. Interviews with surviving film-makers who are reasonably articulate and with intact memories are another thing I look for: for example, the audio interview with Merian C. Cooper on the Milestone NTSC 'Grass' disc reveals far more about the economic and cultural context of the film than any academic's commentary could. Out-takes and cuts can be another genuine asset: for example the UK version of 'Sunset Boulevard' includes the unedited rushes of the subsequently deleted prologue, which are played by pointing and clicking in the appropriate places on reproductions of the original shooting script. Leo Dr. Leo Enticknap School of Arts and Media/Northern Region Film & Television Archive University of Teesside Middlesbrough TS1 3BA United Kingdom Tel. +44-(0)1642 384049 Fax +44-(0)8712 249151 ---- Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu