Poorly placed Blu ray musicals chapter stops (1 Viewer)

[classicmovieguy]

So were the chapter stops better on the DVD? I wonder if it would have been difficult to just recreate them? Generally, you are correct that with musicals especially, well placed chapter stops are very helpful if you just want to view certain numbers.

The original DVDs had chapter stops for ALL the musical numbers.

 

[Edward Weinman]

...I don't understand why there isn't a larger cry for the chapter stops. This is a game changer. Every musical WB has issued had specific stops for each and every musical number. And, here we are fending for ourselves...Doesn't anyone care anymore?...

 

[Eric Vedowski]

I don't understand either. I brought this up when "Lost Horizon" came out on Blu and I posted that Twilight Time ought to do proper chapter markers on the few musicals they release (Bye Bye Birdie is another example). This is a step backward for home video. One of the big deals about DVD over VHS was that the chapters eliminated the endless f/f. Musicals are often viewed for the musical numbers only. Random chapter markers are pretty much worthless.

 

[Mike Frezon]

...I don't understand why there isn't a larger cry for the chapter stops. This is a game changer. Every musical WB has issued had specific stops for each and every musical number. And, here we are fending for ourselves...Doesn't anyone care anymore?...

I don't understand either. I brought this up when "Lost Horizon" came out on Blu and I posted that Twilight Time ought to do proper chapter markers on the few musicals they release (Bye Bye Birdie is another example). This is a step backward for home video. One of the big deals about DVD over VHS was that the chapters eliminated the endless f/f. Musicals are often viewed for the musical numbers only. Random chapter markers are pretty much worthless.

FWIW, I care, too. But I'm not sure--in the big picture--if it's an issue worth complaining heavily about. I totally want decent chapter stops (especially in musicals). But I was someone who also mourned the loss of inserts (which would act as an index to the chapter stops). As long as the chapters made sense on the disc and were easily understood (with a title or an OBVIOUS image) I figured I could be okay with a lack of inserts. I'm all for keeping prices down, etc.


But this just seems like overt laziness to not put a reasonable effort into making the chapter stops make logical sense for the user. If that's the case...why bother to have them at all? The studios might as well take the David Lynch approach (no chapters since films are made to be viewed from begtinning to end).

 

[Josh Steinberg]

The only thing I can think is that this is simply a money-saving thing on behalf of the studios.


I used to work on DVD/Blu-rays for a smaller label, I did that for a few years back in the mid-2000s. I'm not sure if things have changed in the six years I've been out of that job, but at that time, the authoring houses charged per chapter. Each additional chapter stop added to the disc was another cost. Warner menus have also gotten a little less fancy in recent years, which I'm guessing could part of the same money-saving initiative.


For the most part, I don't really care about where the chapter stops on a disc are, or how many there are. (I remember some of the DVDs I owned having upwards of 50 for a two hour movie, which seemed maybe a little overkill to me.) The only exceptions to that for me are for musical content, either musicals or concert films. I totally understand the studio wanting to save a little money by reducing the number of chapter stops on dramatic films etc, but the musical seems to be the one specific type of film where there would be a really good reason that lots of people would want to skip to specific points, and it would seem the points they'd want to skip to would be fairly obvious... to the songs!

 

[Edward Weinman]

...it looks like they have taken so much effort to restore these wonderful musicals...couldn't they have waited a little while longer and get the chapter stops corrected. The regular DVD of "The Band Wagon" has all the musical numbers with the stops. I was waiting a very long time for this to come out on blu-ray and this is the result?...

 

[AnthonyClarke]

...it looks like they have taken so much effort to restore these wonderful musicals...couldn't they have waited a little while longer and get the chapter stops corrected. The regular DVD of "The Band Wagon" has all the musical numbers with the stops. I was waiting a very long time for this to come out on blu-ray and this is the result?...

I guess we can't hope for a reissue .... but maybe a new edition may come out. Well, we can hope!