Editing Audio commentary (section)

== History ==
The [[Criterion Collection]] introduced audio commentary on the [[LaserDisc]] format, which was able to accommodate multiple [[Track (optical disc)|audio tracks]]. The first commentary track, for the 1933 film ''[[King Kong (1933 film)|King Kong]]'', was recorded by [[Ronald Haver]], a curator at the [[Los Angeles County Museum of Art]], and was inspired by the stories Haver told while supervising the [[Telecine|film-to-video transfer]] process.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hunt |first1=Joshua |title=Sure, It Won an Oscar. But Is It Criterion? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/29/magazine/criterion-collection.html |website=[[The New York Times Magazine]]|date=29 February 2024 |access-date=1 March 2024}}</ref> Criterion expected that the commentary would only be of interest to serious film students.{{sfn|Barlow|2005|page=110}} It received a favorable reaction, and his commentary on ''King Kong'' is considered to ultimately have started the trend.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kennedy|first=Lisa|url=https://www.denverpost.com/2005/08/24/if-dvd-killed-the-film-star-criterion-honors-the-ghost/ |title=If DVD killed the film star, Criterion honors the ghost |date=24 August 2005 |website=[[The Denver Post]]|access-date=11 November 2019}}</ref><ref name="pratt"/><ref name="cinjournal"/> Haver went on to provide commentaries for Criterion for the rest of his life.{{sfn|Barlow|2005|page=110}}

Excerpt of Haver's commentary for ''King Kong'':

{{Blockquote|Hello, ladies and gentlemen, I'm Ronald Haver, and I'm here to do something which we feel is rather unique. I'm going to take you on a lecture tour of ''King Kong'' as you watch the film. The laserdisc technology offers us this opportunity and we feel it's rather unique — the ability to switch back and forth between the soundtrack and this lecture track.<ref name="crooked"/>}}