Third Chapters

Key Moments - by Andrew Ellard

10 October, 2003

It may seem insignificant, but there's a certain art to selecting DVD Chapter Points.

The first debate happens early on, where a decision has to be made about how many points will be 'standard'. The reason this happens early is because the menu designs will have to accommodate the result. Last time - for Series I and II - we went with seven chapters per episode, which, it seemed at the time, worked out at one every four minutes or so.

Third Chapters

Ah - not quite. The titles at the beginning and end get a point each. So now the whole storyline has to be split into five. And, as rapidly became apparent, Rob and Doug's storytelling is pretty dense. A lot happens in half an hour, and for almost every episode we had to make a compromise - which important (and/or funny) section will have to be jumped over? Which one doesn't earn its very own skip-to point?

(Incidentally, as many of you will have noticed, there seem to be only six chapter points on the Series I and II menus. We wangled the seventh - the opening titles - by creating a 'Play Episode' button. It has the same effect as if the very first scene were selected from the menu, but gives us an extra chapter to play with without making a mess of the menu design, where any more than six images on screen really does start to look pretty awful.)

So, Series III's chapter points, then. With the help of Ross McGinley and his team at BBC Worldwide, we've been able to up the count from seven to nine. This small change has made a huge difference to pinpointing important scenes - pretty much every classic comedy moment is bookmarked, as well as every significant plot development. Well, see for yourself:

BACKWARDS
1. Introduction & Titles
2. Wilma Flintstone
3. htraE
4. Novelty Acts
5. Searching
6. The Reverse Brothers
7. Backstage
8. Unrumble
9. End Titles


MAROONED
1. Titles
2. Abandon Ship
3. Men of Honour
4. Marooned
5. Virginity
6. Dog Food
7. Camphor Wood
8. Rescue
9. End Titles


POLYMORPH
1. Warning & Titles
2. Autopsy
3. Silly Old Trout
4. Killer Boxer Shorts
5. Twat It
6. Heat Seekers
7. Alphabetti Spaghetti
8. C.L.I.T.O.R.I.S
9. End Titles


BODYSWAP
1. Titles
2. Self Destruct
3. The Plan
4. Swapped
5. On The Scales
6. Goodyear Belly
7. The Chase
8. Captain Chloroform
9. End Titles


TIMESLIDES
1. Titles
2. Durex Volleyball
3. Tension Sheet
4. Developments
5. Time Machine
6. Smeg and the Heads
7. Cash
8. Thickie Holden
9. End Titles


THE LAST DAY
1. Titles
2. Shut Down
3. Silicon Heaven
4. Faith, Hop and Charity
5. Party Time
6. Jackson Pollock
7. Hungover
8. Hudzen
9. End Titles

As you'll have seen from the Menu Shots, the design will show four chapters on-screen at once, with the viewer choosing which half of the scene menu to view. The ninth chapter (actually the first) is once again cunningly designed as the 'Play Episode' button. This model is likely to stay the same through the rest of the releases - but we're learning as we go, so never say never!

More DVD details will follow soon.

Red Dwarf III is released in the UK and Australia on November 3rd. A USA (Region 1) release will happen in February 2004.

You can pre-order Series III and IV from the UK Shop and Australia Shop now.

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