In the world of DVDs, Easter eggs are entertaining tidbits -- including outtakes, deleted scenes, and documentaries -- that creators hide behind the scenes. As "Tech Live" reports tonight, DVD Easter eggs are popping up all over.
In the DVD edition of the movie "Mallrats," tinkering with the system menu leads to a video clip of director Kevin Smith chastising viewers for finding the egg.
"If you're here and watching this, I bet you thought this was an Easter egg, something hidden, something good, perhaps some naked footage of Ben Affleck. What's your problem? Get a life! Looking for Easter eggs on a DVD? Get out there and live, smell the air, sniff a dog!" he says.
According to enthusiast David Wolf, Easter eggs in DVDs have generated exciting discussions on his website, eeggs.com.
"I think what strikes me the most is how much effort seems to go into the making of an Easter egg, which in general is not even meant to be found," he said. "It's kind of amazing when you go through this complex series of steps to activate an Easter egg, then you find it, and it just absolutely blows you away."
The 4.7GB capacity of DVDs gives developers and film directors more space to insert such goodies. And studios increasingly use Easter eggs as a marketing tool. According to the DVD Entertainment Group, studios are now publicly acknowledging and actively inserting Easter eggs in movies on DVD.
Robert Engstrom and Robin Curts run a site called dvdeastereggs.com, a forum where people can share Easter egg discoveries. They say they think the eggs have had a tremendous impact on movie sales and rentals.
"The feedback I've gotten from users is incredible," Engstrom said. "People just sit around and wait for a new disk to come out -- they want to find the next egg."
However, enthusiasts worry that too many Easter eggs will turn rotten, taking the fun out of finding few treasures.
"I think you'll see more and more corporatizing of that; putting in Easter eggs may become more standard fare that just gets planned with the production of the DVD," Wolf said.
But for now, there's still the thrill of finding hidden treasures. If you're interested in looking at some Easter eggs yourself, here is a list of a few to get you started:
'Mallrats'
Go to the disc's Special Features menu, and select the Deleted Scenes. Then press the right arrow key to highlight the robot's eyes. If you press Enter, director Kevin Smith and another View Askew staff member will remind you to stop looking for Easter eggs on DVDs.
'Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace'
Disc one contains a hilarious two-minute gag reel, outtakes, and DVD Credits presentation for "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace." This little egg alone is almost worth the price of the set. Click on the Options menu, then highlight the THX logo. Key 11, then wait a second or so. The screen then resets with the Lucasfilm logo just above the THX logo just highlighted. Then press 3, wait another second until the screen resets. Then press 8, at which point the documentary will run automatically.
'The Matrix'
From the disc's main menu, go to the Special Features, then select The Dream World. Apart from the text menu entries, you will also see a red pill. Select it, and you'll uncover the "What Is Bullet Time?" documentary. Also in the Special Features section, go to Cast & Crew Bios, and then select the Wachowski Brothers. This will bring up another red pill. Select it, and it takes you to a 12-minute documentary called, "What Is Concept?"
'Moulin Rouge'
On disc two of the Special Edition of "Moulin Rouge," you will find the Green Fairy, which takes you to a hilarious outtake of Zidler dancing to "The Can Can." To get to this, simply press Down on your remote on the first menu, and select More. Once it takes you to the second menu, press Down six times, or until a little Green Fairy appears. Simply hit Enter on your remote to be taken to this very funny extra!
