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Randomize a DVD

16 Aug 2004 by Jason Fried

Here’s an idea: DVD players should be able to play the chapters on your DVD in random order. Could be a refreshing way to watch a movie that you’ve already seen (or a trippy way to watch one you haven’t seen). Might also be nice for TV shows on DVD. Potential or insanity? (Note: if you can already do this, please tell me I’m an idiot and I’ll just delete this post)

23 comments so far (Post a Comment)

16 Aug 2004 | Dave S. said...

Some of the dreck being pumped out these days would probably greatly improve from random shuffling.

I wonder how sequence-dependent films like Memento would fare?

16 Aug 2004 | chris said...

Or tarantino films.

It might not be a bad feature for TV box sets, but even those don't have too many episodes per disc (I don't own too many box sets, but the ones I do there's about 4-5 episodes per disc).

But if they're shows like The Sopranos or 24, it could cause damage. ("Uhm, why'd he kill that guy. I thought he was on their side!")

If it's just for fun... then why not. It can't be too hard to program.

16 Aug 2004 | Matthew Oliphant said...

I think we need to take another look at #2.

16 Aug 2004 | Brian said...

That might be cool, as long as the feature is marketed as the "Tarantinoizer".

16 Aug 2004 | patrick h. lauke said...

"if you can already do this, please tell me Im an idiot and Ill just delete this post"

no, you're not an idiot, but i've got an el-cheapo panasonic dvd player that lets me do this. i can also program it, just like a cd player, to play chapters in the order i like. don't have the exact model number of the player here, but it's pretty much at the lower end of the market...

16 Aug 2004 | Justin French said...

It would be great for music DVDs (live concerts, video clip collections, etc) and even for DVD-audio CDs, terrible for films.

16 Aug 2004 | Ross Hill said...

Sorry if it's pointing out the obvious (hey it's what 37s do) but surely you can use a software dvd player, and if it doesn't by default - there has to be a plugin somewhere to add this functionality.

16 Aug 2004 | Stef Noble said...

The best thing to do with DVDs is the following:

1. Set the audio to a language other than the one you speak.
2. If possible, set the subtitles to a different language than the one you picked above (also one that you do not speak fluently).
3. Zoom in fully on a slightly off-center portion of the screen.

PRESTO!

Instant arty flick!

16 Aug 2004 | Brendan said...

The Michel Gondry DVD from the Directors Label series appears to randomly play different introduction videos every time it is played.

16 Aug 2004 | pb said...

I'd settle for just being able to go to the menu immediately upon DVD insertion.

16 Aug 2004 | dave said...

On the 2nd DVD of Punch-Drunk Love, there's an unmarked button on the main navigation that plays all the special features in random order. It actually flows together surprisingly well.

16 Aug 2004 | but that's just me said...

Memento is the first thing I thought of, too.

Right on, pb. I'm sick and tired of getting that damn hand with the X through it when I try to get to the menu.

16 Aug 2004 | Peter Imburg said...

I really like the idea of being able to arrange the tracks of a DVD movie to a sequence you prefer... creating essentially an armchair director's cut. Really, this is no different than a playlist. If you could share the "movie playlist" with friends, it would provide a framework for endless dialog and repeat viewing.

If it's sheer randomness you're after, you might be better off with a random universal remote... it would open up more options.

16 Aug 2004 | Patrick H. Lauke said...

just to follow up on my previous post: i have a panasonic dvd s35. by going to "direct navigator", i can program the order of chapters and titles at will...however, not on dvds that have these features locked out (like the ones that won't allow you to skip the intro warnings etc). presumably if i hacked the player to be region free / crap free, it would let me do it here as well.

16 Aug 2004 | Chuck Farley said...

-- watch the currently playing DVD in random-chapter order tell application "DVD Player" activate set num to available chapters set num_watched to 0 repeat until num_watched ≥ num set rand_chapter to random number from 1 to num set chapter to rand_chapter repeat until chapter ≠ rand_chapter end repeat num_watched = num_watched + 1 end repeat end tell

16 Aug 2004 | Chuck Farley said...

Hmm, let's try this again:

-- Applescript to watch the currently playing DVD in random-chapter order

tell application "DVD Player"

activate

set num to available chapters

set num_watched to 0

repeat until num_watched ≥ num

set rand_chapter to random number from 1 to num

set chapter to rand_chapter

repeat until chapter ≠ rand_chapter

end repeat

num_watched = num_watched + 1

end repeat

end tell

-- eof Applescript

16 Aug 2004 | Jeff said...

Some DVDs might benefit from chapter or super-chapter randomness. I agree about TV programs (though their length makes this impractical) or maybe concerts.


I'm not sure about film though. Randomizing music tracks is one thing. Songs are each self-contained units, and their order is demonstrably variable across different media (cassettes and CDs for instance). This indicates that the order isn't important.


Not so with film. We're talking about a sustained narrative. When I saw Mulholland Drive on DVD for the first time, I remember being impressed that Lynch translated the film into one long chapter, with only two selections... the beginning and the end.

17 Aug 2004 | Brendan said...

Does anyone know what mechanism allows the selection of random tracks on the aforementioned
"Punch Drunk Love" and "Michel Gondry" DVDs?

20 Aug 2004 | Elaine said...

re Mulholland Drive: hated that "feature" when I first saw it on DVD. (y'know, when someone else in the house watches a movie when you haven't finished one, and you don't want to sit through the whole thing twice....)

24 Aug 2004 | ben said...

I like the randomize feature on my el cheapo DVD. [I think it's an older Samsung that I got at the pawnshop two years ago for what you can buy them new this year.] I use the feature for background noise, when I put in a favorite like 'Lebowkski.' Even better is when you've got cartoons or sketch comedy, where you don't really need the linear narrative.

What would be killer would be to take a 5-disc player with random function, put in some anime / music video discs, shut off the sound, then accompany it with some equally random music in your favorite format -- iTunes party shuffle, another CD changer, etc.

We used to do that with late night cartoons when I was in college. Kind of a 'Wizard of Oz' meets 'Dark Side of the Moon' effect, especially with Kool Keith, for some reason.

25 Aug 2004 | Don Schenck said...

I'm Jason not sure idea this great is.

12 Sep 2004 | Arran Green said...

I'm actually producing a 'random' version of 21 Grams for my MA degree project.

The DVD will still have a general narrative structure to it [ie. Start, middle, end] but will 'randomise' each of these three sections in turn.

It's more of an investigation as to how the story of the film will be effected by introducing a random order. And because of the way it's already produced it is the perfect film to use.

I just thought it'd be an interesting idea... You never watch the same film twice... Granted, a bit annoying if you really liked one version and wanted to show someone else... But hey, that's part of the fun...!

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