Edited movies: Commentary about the business

In the summer of 2006, many companies that sold and rented edited copies of movies were found to be in violation of copyright law. By the end of 2007, all those companies had liquidated their entire inventory and closed. At the beginning of 2008, Good Movies was the only company offering edited movies.

At Good Movies, we sell movies. We provide each customer the opportunity to get a free edited copy of each movie purchased. We do not rent movies, nor do we ever sell just the edited copy. This and other operating differences make it so we can continue to provide our customers the opportunity to get edited movies.

We continued to be the only option for edited movies until April, when Family Edited DVDs started a business similar to ours. Even though most of their website content was taken directly from our website without permission, they still understood that in order to provide edited movies you have to sell the original DVD.

Now, Family Edited DVDs is closing and they are liquidating their inventory. We find this very strange since they did not stock original DVDs. They only purchased original DVDs after they were bought by the customer. This means they have no legitimate inventory to “liquidate.” Nevertheless, they have chosen to liquidate their inventory illegally by only selling edited copies of movies without the original DVD. Selling copies of edited movies without the original DVD is piracy.

Family Edited DVDs is encouraging their customers to purchase pirated movies. As of today, one of the questions on their F.A.Q. (frequently asked questions) page addresses whether you can buy edited copies without owning the original. They state that you can buy just the edited copies of movies because they are liquidating their inventory. This is not true! It is illegal to even own an edited copy without owning the original movie. We caution any one interested in edited movies to avoid buying them without the original DVD.

We are very disappointed in Family Edited DVDs and other companies that only sell copies of edited movies. This irresponsible behavior demonstrates a willful violation of copyright law. We hope they end this practice soon without doing further damage to their reputation or to the edited movie business in general.

What does audio editing mean to us?

Sound is major contributor to an entertaining movie experience. Sound is the audio aspect of the performance. Audio can be generally described as pertaining to everything audibly transmitted and perceived. In movies, there are many sounds to be heard. When we edit audio, we recognize that many sources of sound play an important part in the audience’s ability to be part of the movie. Three sources of sound that affect an audience’s sense of immersion are dialogue, sound effects, and music.

Dialogue is what is spoken between the characters. Movies usually involve multiple characters that interact with one another. It is the conversation between these characters that we as viewers overhear so we can better understand each character and their development. Dialogue is also used as a story-telling tool to drive the plot to the next major event. When we edit dialogue, we remove offensive language without awkward pauses or lip-reading. We preserve the emotion and purpose of the conversation.

The characters in a movie are not the only source of sound. Sounds are made by objects as well. There are many objects that can produce sound in a movie including engines, guns, doors, keyboards, and explosions. The sounds made by these and other objects are typically called sound effects. Our lives are filled with sound effects. Without these sounds, the audience would not be able to gain a true sense of immersion. When we edit any offensive content, we take special care to leave in the sense of immersion that comes from hearing sound effects.

Music helps an audience get a sense of immersion. It can produce an emotional reaction from the audience. This reaction allows movie viewers to get a sense of what it would feel like if they were in the movie. When we edit for offensive content, we preserve the music and the effect it has on the audience.

Audio editing means removing offensive content while maintaining the look and feel of the movie. It doesn’t mean only editing what you hear, but editing what you experience. This approach to audio editing produces the best possible result…a great movie experience!