In late 2003 we received an email from reader Mortimer Wilson so pertinent and perceptive that, with his permission, we present it below. It's better here than in our email inbox.

An open letter to DVD publishers around the world
by Mortimer Wilson

I have created a list of interesting points that I very much wish DVD publishers around the world would adhere to. After around four years of intensive DVD abuse I now have a good understanding of what makes a good disc tick and I thought you might be interested to hear my "Eleven Commandments"! (not in any order, but all equally important to me.)

1.) ORIGINAL ASPECT RATIO

Don't issue a film on DVD unless it's presented in the original aspect ratio (OAR). If it's wider than 1.66:1 it really needs to be anamorphic.

bad examples: Fox Lorber's The Puppetmaster (Hou Hsiao-Hsien)

2.) SOUND REMIXING

If you must remix the soundtrack of an old film into 5.1, be sure to include the original sound mix for all those who want to hear the "director's sound mix" and not that of your sound engineer and his fancy mixing desk.

bad examples: Ruscico's original releases of Andrei Rublev, Stalker, and Mirror.

3.) TOGGLEABLE SUBTITLES AND AUDIO

Always make audio and subtitle options toggleable when the film is playing. This is easy to do and there is no reason to have to go back to a labyrinthine set of menus to change settings.

bad examples: all Panorama (HK) and Ruscico (Russia) discs.

4.) COLOURED SUBTITLES

If you want to ruin the mood and visual appearance of a black and white film then make your subtitles coloured. We can turn the colour off, thus making the subtitles white, but it's a pain. White/grey subtitles on black and white films please! (and colour films too - yellow subs look like an informercial)

bad examples: I Am Cuba (Milestone R1), L'Humanite (Fox/Lorber R1).

5.) 16:9 FRIENDLY SUBTITLES

If the film is 1.66:1 or wider and non-anamorphic make sure your subtitles are 16:9 friendly (ie. that they don't appear "in the black", for those with incremental zoom).

bad examples: Criterion's early non-anamorphic 2.35:1 films being unfortunate culprits (Andrei Rublev, High and Low, Yojimbo, etc)

6.) INGRAINED SUBTITLES ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH

If your print has subtitles ingrained into the picture please strongly consider paying more to your licensor for better materials so that you can release a quality disc with optional subtitles in different languages. This extra effort will pay off in the long term and prevent your company from being torn apart online. There are many foreign language speakers resident in every country and they should be afforded the option of turning subtitles off.

bad examples: Columbia Tri-star's shocking R1 release of Satyajit Ray's Apu Trilogy; a number of bfi (UK) discs, including their first wave of Kurosawa releases, and Partie de campagne.

7.) LONG IDENTS & MULTIPLE LOGOS

Limit the length of your logos. No matter how good your computer graphics ident is, they get really tiresome over time. If your film is spread over two discs, let us get to the second part of the film as quickly as possible on the second disc (without having to sit through all your logos again).

bad examples: every 2 x disc Ruscico release.

8.) ONSCREEN COPYRIGHT THREATS

If you're employing CSS copy protection, Macrovision, and limiting the region of your disc, why do we have to be threatened by the FBI and Interpol everytime we legally watch DVDs? There is no law to say that these warnings are compulsory. If the Criterion Collection can make do with warnings only on the back of their cases, why can't everybody else lose these eyesores?

bad examples: MGM Europe's 15 minute multi-language copyright notices at the end of all their films. They handily disable the remote control during this torture.

9.) DISABLING THE REMOTE CONTROL

Do not disable remote control functions at any point on the disc unless the director requested it for a specific reason.

10.) TERRIBLE PAL/NTSC or NTSC/PAL TRANSFERS

If your source material is PAL and you're making an NTSC disc (or vice versa), then make sure your disc isn't hampered by ghosting and other unnecessary visual deficiencies introduced during the conversion process.

bad examples: the complete Chaplin boxset from Warner USA. The R1 really suffers, the R2 is fine (apart from a number of films being cropped from 1.13:1 to 1.33:1); also Fox/Lorber's appalling Yi Yi disc.

11.) SPEEDY MENUS & SENSIBLE MENU VOLUME

Make your DVD menus speedy. Don't make the user wait for fancy animations over and over again. Background animations are lovely if the user interface is active. Make sure any background sound on the menus is at a reasonable, considerate, low level and not louder than the actual film.

bad examples: Dreamquest's Silence and Cry (slow menus, bad UI, and deafening menu sound (in relation to the film)).

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