Should DVD be used a new Movie Soundtrack format? (1 Viewer)

[Alistair_M]

Why don't the studios uses DVD as a new movie soundtrack format.

I'm a big fan of movie soundtracks and although some dvds have isolated
scores - its pretty rare. I understand that there are legal reasons why that
is.

I wonder if the studios could create a soundtrack only version of a dvd -
which has no dialogue, just a DD and DTS soundtrack with the movie itself
perhaps half the screen size video.
There could be the option to play: 2 channel soundtrack (as on a cd with eg
17 tracks), the full film score, the editted score without any long gaps. By
having only half screen video (just so that you can see whats going on -
with a subtitle track) - there could be a lot of room for a fullrate dts
score.

The great thing is that the scores exist already so they would be cheap to
make and produce.

For extra features you could have a film score commentary and docs.

I think this is a great idea - I always thought the current soundtrack cd
was a poor format - its 2 channel and edited.

What do you think? There is a
demand for film soundtracks and I always thought you need the option to see
some video of the film to follow the music. For my favorite films I would
buy the movie dvd and a music soundtrack dvd.

I don't think it should be on SACD/DVDaudio as they are so niche - it should be on a mainstream format like DVD.

I'm still dreaming of a Lord of the Rings soundtrack DVD with full rate DTS.....

 

[Jeff Kleist]

You're looking for DVD-Audio, it's already here

 

[Alistair_M]

I don't think dvdaudio/sacd will ever really take off - it needs a mainstream format for multichannel film soundtracks - I think dvd is perfect for it.

Anyone with links to the industry able to float the idea? I think there is money in it.

 

[Dan Hitchman]

Alistair... it's still called DVD-Audio. It's a regular DVD that's pretty much just audio (PCM multi-channel, PCM stereo, Dolby Digital, and sometimes DTS). Take away the video on a DVD and that's pretty much what you get.

There are also SACD's with movie scores on them (such as Titanic and E.T.).

Dan

 

[Jeff Kleist]

It should be noted that all DVD-Audio discs(least the ones I've seen) have DD, PCM, AND DTS tracks on them, or at least some combination that will play on any DVD-Video deck

 

[Joshua Moran]

Some DVD movies have an isolated score on them. Lord of Illusions is one. I know this isn't what you had in mind. But as others have stated DVD-Audio is what your looking for. A.I. soundtrack is on that format and Beautiful Mind is in SACD.

 

[MarkHastings]

There are also SACD's with movie scores on them (such as Titanic and E.T.).

I have the DTS CD of Titanic and it's amazing! The low rumbles and low piano sounds are truly creepy

City of Angels has an isolated music track that's pretty neat. I know A Bugs Life SE has an isolated effects channel, but I think it too has a music only audio channel.

Does Forest Gump have a music only channel? That would be a great one to have...in fact, a lot of Tom Hanks movies would be great with isolated scores...Apollo 13 (even though it has the soundtrack in the menu), Saving Private Ryan, The Green Mile, etc.

 

[Jason Adams]

I know that Tomorrow Never Dies has an isolated score...but it aint in 5.1, and it is the theatrical mix, which means the volume goes up and down where the dialogue is. It still sounds good in 2.0.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Many, Many DVDs have isolated soundtracks with just the music. Often these music-only soundtracks are in 5.1 DD (5.1 DTS would probably take too much room and steal picture quality from the feature film).

Sometimes the music-only scores are in 5.1 when the feature-film soundtrack is in 2.0 only.

One title that comes to mind that has a very nice music-only soundtrack is Dark Crystal (the non-superbit version).

Both the music-only and regular film-soudtrack are in 5.1 for this DVD.

BTW, I have another DVD called "Broadway Damage" (a very cute gay-themed romance/comedy) that has 2 of the songs that feature in the film isolated in the "extras" section recorded in 16/48 PCM stereo. Now *that* is the way to do it. It's a very welcome feature on this disc considering that these two "pop/rock" songs would never end up on a normal CD-soundtrack for a small-independent film like this so it's likely the only way any fan of the film could get a decent copy of the music.

-dave