How do you organize your collection? (1 Viewer)

[JohnRice]

What would you do if you had Manhunter?

 

[Mike*Sch]

By selecting a movie ahead of time, we don't spend an hour and a half debating what it is we should watch.

As far as who picks what we watch, it's not a democracy, it's a cheerocracy. And I'm the cheertator. But I try to pick movies that people will want to see and that have some relevance to the week. For example, if something like KILL BILL comes out in HD that day, I'll show that. Or if Steven Spielberg has a new movie coming out in theaters that week, we'll watch RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. I also let people pick the movies on their birthdays, and if someone has a random suggestion, as long as it's not terrible, I'll show that.

This week we watched 25TH HOUR, in honor of 9/11.

 

[george kaplan]

I too deal with genres when it comes to my wife or guests. But I simply sort my excel file and print out a page of movies, sorted by genre, and let them choose from that. Then, I go to my shelf, where everything is alphabetical and easily find the movie selected. I keep my dvds locked in my den, and I don't show them to guests, just the list.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I find it interesting that so many have linked the original premise of the thread--organization of one's collection--to the concept of finding "something to watch" in a group environment. And I guess I find it interesting because it is a problem that comes up quite often within my own small household. It is made difficult because I have, at home, a 17-year old son and a wife who doesn't like action films (and her definition of "action" is quite broad! ). So, lately, if it doesn't have Adam Sandler in it, they rarely agree. And, for some reason, they find the wall of discs overwhelming.

So, Mike*Sch, I guess my question to you is: how does deciding ahead of time cut down on the amount of time spent debating what-to-watch? It seems like if you are going to argue for an hour just-before-you-watch, you'll still argue for an hour a week-before-you-watch. What's your secret?! Enquiring minds want to know!

 

[Andy_Bu]

One group of shelves is all for TV (in alphabetical order)

One cabinet is all for movies (in alphabetical order)

One stand alone shelf is for all things Star Trek

One stand alone shelf is for the nicest looking box sets I have

 

[Stephen_J_H]

My collection is in two separate locations: upstairs for titles the kids watch and downstairs for my stuff and stuff the kids aren't ready for yet. I sort titles alphabetically, but keep box sets, TV shows and concert/music video titles in a separate section. I used to use DVD Profiler, but it's been so long that I'd probably have to start from scratch.

As for genres, I know my collection well enough that if someone in the family wants to watch a musical, I know exactly where to go.

 

[Mike*Sch]

I guess by making it a weekly activity, there's really no reason for debate. If someone wants to watch BOOGIE NIGHTS and someone else wants to watch VERTIGO, we don't have to decide between the two, we just watch one that week and one the next. And if someone has no interest in one of those movies, they know ahead of time not to show up.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I use a mostly alphabetical system, meaning:

Single feature film titles (amarays, snappers, etc) are arranged strictly alphabetically; this covers the majority of the titles in my collection. I always know where everything is, and roommates and visitors can usually find their way around it. Of course there's always a bit of the inevitable "What action movies do you have?" type question, but the question I find even more frustrating is when someone seriously asks "What's good?" or picks out a title and says "Did you like this?" No, I bought it because I hated it.

Music DVDs have their own separate section, organized by artist (last name first), and then chronologically. So if you wanted a U2 DVD, you'd find Elevation 2001 on the shelf before Vertigo 2005.

TV has its own section, alphabetically by show name. Sometimes I might shift a title slightly out of order to make space for all volumes of a show to stay on the same shelf.

Box sets sit on top of the shelving racks in no particular order. They're big enough that they call enough attention to themselves without being alphabetized. Besides, it would be difficult to find a uniform way of organizing them, as some are box sets of a particular director's film, or an actor's, or a film series; I used to try to arrange them but I've long since given up on that.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Gotcha. Thanks!

I guess the difference for me is that I've got a rather "set" group that sees the world through very different eyes!

 

[Dave Simkiss]

Alphabetically, but alphabetically by studio also, so it's 20th Century Fox A-Z then (off the top of my head) Anchor Bay A-Z then BBC A-Z etc etc
TV shows are on a seperate shelf, also sectioned up in the same system.

Sad I know.

 

[seanOhara]

My collection is about 70% movies made before 1970, 10% foreign films, and 10% obscure indie flicks, so no matter how I organize it, my friends are just going to say, "Don't you have anything I've heard of?" So I might as well go with my overly anal method that only makes sense to movie-buffs who know their directors.

 

[ChadMcCallum]

I don't consider Manhunter to be part of the Hannibal series. Its its own film and so it would go under Michael Mann right to the left of Collateral. Now if I bought Hannibal Rising, it Red Dragon, Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal would go under Peter Webber since he directed the first story in the series. In cases like this I make my own judgement as to what I consider cannon and what is not.

 

[Deepak Shenoy]

I know exactly what you mean. People usually walk towards my DVD cabinets salivating at the prospect of all the DVDs they will be able to borrow and after staring at the titles for a little while with a perplexed look on their face they walk away disappointed. I have just a handful of movies made after 2000 (and they are not too mainstream anyway) and not many more made in the 90s.

As for organizing the titles based on directors that's what I do for my Criterion titles - sort them by language and then by director within each language. This is harder to do with the rest of the titles.

-D

 

[Voranand]

Used to be release date. Then now is just Windows Media Center+MyMovies+plenty of HDDs.

 

[R-T-C Tim]

Entirely alphabetical - Amarays first, then all other types (boxsets, digipacks, cardboard sleeved discs etc.) on the lower shelves. With the fancy boxsets in the middle.

In fact here is a picture (the shelves are all two discs deep)

 

[Andrew Radke]

I have over 600 titles split into two categories: MOVIES and TV SETS. All of which are in alphabetical order. I also keep updated lists of all my titles, as well as make any revisions when needed. All movie box sets remain amongst my movie collection. Double feature discs are categorized by the first title on the disc. For example, the COBRA / TANGO & CASH double feature is listed under "C" for Cobra. People are usually astonished when they ask to see a particular title, and I retrieve it within seconds.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

Ah, me too. I have three tall bookcases, and each one has shelves that hold DVDs two rows deep. Man, is it a pain trying to keep them alphabetical that way! But that's why I keep them "loosely" alphabatized, so it's not insane in always having to move down all the rows just when I get a new letter "A" or something. Each shelf of discs has an empty foot long or so gap at the end, so shifting is easy within that particular shelf.

 

[RickER]

That is exactly the way i do it too. Except to add i keep movie series together. All my Rathbone Sherlock Holmes under "S", Indiana Jones under "I", and so on. However you would think i might put James Bond under "J", but i put it under "B". For some reason it is the only character name that seems to go by the last name when you see it on store shelves. Anime has its own section too. But American animation does not go into it. It goes to movies or TV.

 

[Elphaba]

First by genre, then subgenre if needed, with movies within a genre organized in alphabetical order and related sets kept together in chronological order; a related set might be a director or a set of related discs. Foreign movies are organized by country, then alphabetical order, with related sets stuck together.

My BDs are alphabetical order; I don't have enough for further sorting.

The categories are roughly:

Western
Sci-Fi
Horror
Animation (subgenres--American Theatrical, American TV, Anime and foreign)
Foreign
TV shows
Other

For example, I have complete sets of the animated series for Batman, Batman Beyond, Superman, and Justice League. They're all grouped together in their own section, in chronological order rather than alphabetical (Batman, Superman, Batman Beyond, Justice League) because it makes more sense that way. Bond movies are in order of release rather than alphabetical.

Numbers are alphabetized correctly, unlike virtually every video store in existence. Titles that begin with a number or have a number in them are correctly alphabetized as if the number were spelled out. 300 should be properly shelved with the T's, not in a separate number section. I can't count the number of times I've been in a movie rental store and been unable to find a movie beginning with a number because the store had it in the number section instead of the proper letter. My second graders understand this; why video stores can understand a process that an 8-year-old can master is beyond my comprehension.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Well...now you've opened Pandora's box!