DVD Library

[zedz]

In terms of shelving, I went with Lundia a long time back and it's followed through a couple of moves. It's got the very big advantage of being completely modular, so it can be adapted to a wide variety of spaces and added to and can be dismantled and mantled very easily. For DVDs and CDs, you need the narrowest shelf size (230 mm, I think).

Which gives me an excuse to try out the 'panorama' setting on my new-ish phone:





Yes, I live in a carnival funhouse.

[Drucker]

Zedz that Buster Keaton poster is wonderful.

[hamsterburger]

Zedz that Buster Keaton poster is wonderful.

I agree. Is it Danish?

[domino harvey]

I'm not sure why but I never would have pegged zedz to be a Criterions All Together type. It's always fascinating to see people's shelves, isn't it? One more reason I'll always take physical media over a download-- how do show off a hard drive?

[triodelover]

-- how do show off a hard drive?

youporn.com?

[knives]

He also seems to have his Second Runs together.

[domino harvey]

I can't tell if the scissors on the shelf are near his copy of AntiChrist though

[domino harvey]

David, I admire your commitment to saving space but part of me dies a little when I see all those blank disc holders! I even rescued all my roommate's CD cases out of the recycling bin after they decided to just keep 'em in giant CD binders, so this is probably some sort of deep psychological issue on my part

[zedz]

Yes, Buster is Danish. There are some other great posters on the walls (e.g. the Metropolis one that plasters a whole wall in Spione, Irma Vep - not the sublime one-sheet, alas - and a wonderfully pulpy one for John O'Shea's Runaway) but they got covered up by encroaching bookcases! The other door (not visible) has Institut Benjamenta on it, so for a while we tried calling the room that, but it didn't stick.

It's not just Criterion and Second Run that are lumped together, but just about any series that I have a decent amount of, so the eagle-eyed may also be able to spot Edition Filmmuseum, MoC, BFI Blus & Flipside, Re:Voir, PWA, Index, Korean Film Archive, and the French Cinema periodical-with-disc. All those Slovakian discs are below the sightline. This is mainly to make the room look a little less incoherent and overwhelming to intruders.

The latest, and most adorable / ridiculous addition to the room is an antique tea trolley to store the kevyip.

[zedz]

Now I feel like sticking some fucking doilies on it. You're a bad influence, David.

[martin]

IKEA's Billy:

[Jonathan S]

now even discarding a lot of clumsy badly designed BD boxes...

I'm impressed you've managed to retain the packaging for the space-hogging Universal Laurel & Hardy DVD set (bottom right on your shelves) - far bigger than it ever needed to be, thanks to the inclusion of toe-curling colorized versions. Even as the author of Another Fine Dress*, I couldn't justify it and had to re-package the discs in 9mm double cases, so it now takes up less than 12cm of shelf. (For the Roach talkies, the recent R1 set has superseded the Universal anyway.)

My usual space-saving method is in fact to put related films - or different editions of the same film - which I'd store adjacently anyway, into normal-width 2, 3 or 4-way Amarays. The advantage is that I can store the original sleeves underneath each other so if I need to sell one, I just extract the sleeve and disc and put them in a normal case. It doesn't work for non-standard packaging or editions with thick booklets of course.

I can't display most of my discs anyway as they have to be stored floor-to-ceiling along a wall which is parallel with the projector beam. The reflections on the plastic cases would be very distracting, so most of the shelves are covered with a matte black cloth. To find a disc I have to go underneath this like a Victorian photographer...

*after nearly 20 years of public indifference, now receiving one-star reviews on Amazon.com and .uk, including one beginning ominously, "I certainly have nothing against any sexual deviance between consenting adults...."!

[bamwc2]

zedz, that is gorgeous! My family currently owns a condo, so 95% of my collection is in storage at my parent's place. We hope to be able to purchase a house sometime in the next few years and I would love to put together a room half that awesome.

[Zot!]

You guys need more swords and Batman statues and such. Seriously though, those are some impressive collections.

[jindianajonz]

Out of curiosity, Zedz, are those upside down Eclipse boxes in the bottom left of the first picture?

[twicebilled]

Out of curiosity, Zedz, are those upside down Eclipse boxes in the bottom left of the first picture?

Pretty sure those are Second Run releases.

[bugsy_pal]

David, are you in Australia? - just noticed the book about Rockpool... I am in Oz and have a room that is exploding with discs - I keep rearranging them but then I get more and that just messes it all up again. I cannot get rid of the packaging - I am a packaging fool. I am starting to gather a few 720 rips of films to tide me over until they come out on bluray, and stand in for sub-par DVD versions. And I am wherever possible replacing daggy PAL versions of films with HD or even NTSC counterparts - don't like that PAL speedup!

[bdsweeney]

I'm not sure why but I never would have pegged zedz to be a Criterions All Together type. It's always fascinating to see people's shelves, isn't it? One more reason I'll always take physical media over a download-- how do show off a hard drive?

I often think that ... but then realise there's no-one to impress.

[Tombed Visions]

New here. I've been obsessively collecting Criterion's for the past 5 months or so, I'm running out of storage space. I've used Ikea's BILLY range in the past, but like most people have stated, the shelves are far too deep for Blu's and DVD.

Has anyone had any experience using Ikea's BESTA range? The shelves are far less deep and look ideal to handle both Blu's and DVD's.

Thought I hit you guys up for some advice before I dispense with the hard earned! Cheers!

[domino harvey]

Sometimes I remember why I should never Google things: Some prominent Minimalists (who would not be a good fit with collectors anyways) have a message, seconded by Tony Robbins (!), for those who buy even their favorite films or watch the same film three or four times: "Get a life." Because the only life experiences that count are those that minimalists endorse, such as ephemeral pursuits of the "new." There's such a surprisingly strong anti-intellectual undercurrent to these kind of appeals to a return to only basic and social interactions, isn't there? "Don't think, just be!"

[matrixschmatrix]

Ooh, an argument ab dictionary, the finest form of debate. I do hope they're similarly 'minimalist' with their collections of friends and family- if you've spent time with someone once, why do it again? Sheesh, get a life and find someone different.

There's something deeply irritating about people who cite their former "six figure" incomes in trying to convince you that the way of life they've found is better than yours, and that they're worth listening to- a combination of Trustafarian blind privilege and a sense that they're no less materialist than before, merely trading in gross excess for a slightly more refined gluttony of flaunting the things they can do with out, with a value system that implies their paucity of objects is worth more because they could have a lot of stuff.

[mistakaninja]

I'd probably give that DVD collection away too. Or build a cabin out of them in the woods. Turn them into a new experience.

[Jeff]

They're all over grabbing that dictionary for synonyms of "collection," but apparently can't be bothered to look up "insanity."

What’s worse, watching the same movie over and over and over is, by definition, insane.

[mistakaninja]

Well, if they're expecting the endings to change each time...

[jindianajonz]

They're all over grabbing that dictionary for synonyms of "collection," but apparently can't be bothered to look up "insanity."

What’s worse, watching the same movie over and over and over is, by definition, insane.

I wonder how they get around having to eat and breathe.