Madeleine's work, enjoy: May 2014

DVD's, like most other media platforms, has a convention. When first playing the DVD if it's a film they'll always be adverts before the main menu, this is usually advertising other films. When playing a TV show they'll usually show the production companies involved in making the programme and they may show adverts for other TV shows on the same channel. Films will also show the production companies.

DVD's will also show copyright messages, and in some cases they will show multiple messages in different languages, like on the DVD of Friends. They may also show anti piracy messages:

The main menu screen on DVDs will be personalised to the film/TV show, but again will follow the same conventions. The main button you'll be able to press is "play" or "play movie", this means as soon as the menu comes up all you have to do is press "enter" and the film will start to play. Other features on the main menu could include "extras", which will be short clips of behind the scenes, deleted scenes and outtakes. There may also be an option to turn on commentary, which will play the film while the director or actors talk about what is happening. Finally there may be an option to turn on subtitles, but this can also appear as soon as you put the DVD on.

Main menu's tend to have music playing in the background, most likely from the film, and will be on a loop (around every 1-2 minutes). They may also be moving images in the background and the main menu can actually start with a short animation.

Due to on demand features many channels have (eg, BBC iPlayer) and companies such as netfilx, that make watching films online easier and without the need of DVDs, some say the DVD is dead. Personally I don't think the DVD is dead, lots of people like myself like to have a physical copy of something, but for many others not having to have the DVD is a lot easier. For example if you have netflix all your films are stored electronically so therefore doesn't take up shelf space in the real world. And films can be played on many devices such as laptops, phones and tablets which can be easier. DVDs can only be played if a device has a DVD player or disk tray, which of course means it's not as compatible as having films online.

Another issue the DVD faces is illegally watching films. You can find a film to watch online for free in a matter of seconds, and with DVDs costing around £10, sometimes even £50 if it's a box set, it's a lot easier to just find it online sometimes.

Despite DVDs scratching easily and not being as compatible as online films, I still prefer having a DVD to watching something online. For starters I like to watch films and TV shows with my family and it's easier to put a DVD on the TV then to add netflix to it, plus that requires an internet connection, but with a DVD all you need is a TV and DVD player. Another advantage is that if you have the physical copy then it's easier to decide what to watch, as you know what you have and you can see your collection.

To me buying a DVD will always be a lot more exciting than buying a virtual verison of it, but seeing as DVDs are a lot more impractical I think sadly, the DVD is dying.