I organize mine by color so that they look pretty on the shelf.
Style over substance, baby.
Style over substance, baby.
How do you alphabetize your movie collection?
- Thread starter Vanyel
- Start date
We have--dvd, blu-ray, digital--easily 500 films.
This is a document listing, not a physical organization. I have pulled a few out, like Disney animation & live-action (~40), Marvel, DC (with "Batman" or "Superman" prefixing those series, and prefixing "James Bond" films. Or those beginning with a digit. All the rest are alphabetical. After each title, there may be a combination of "Season #," "blu-ray," "dig[ital]," "iTunes," "[whatever online sources]". Collections include the subtitles of the various films.
Physically, we use an armoire. Disney animation/live-action take up a drawer. The various martial arts films (whether Chinese or Japanese, movie or tv) are grouped, as are sf/fan, etc. Just too many movies.
This is a document listing, not a physical organization. I have pulled a few out, like Disney animation & live-action (~40), Marvel, DC (with "Batman" or "Superman" prefixing those series, and prefixing "James Bond" films. Or those beginning with a digit. All the rest are alphabetical. After each title, there may be a combination of "Season #," "blu-ray," "dig[ital]," "iTunes," "[whatever online sources]". Collections include the subtitles of the various films.
Physically, we use an armoire. Disney animation/live-action take up a drawer. The various martial arts films (whether Chinese or Japanese, movie or tv) are grouped, as are sf/fan, etc. Just too many movies.
I tend to keep mine in several cupboards (with doors) so they're not in view.
I agree
I love the bookcase that came with our new apartment. It's filled with my textbooks, travel/camping guides. I always regretted we never found a way to save a ton of books we used to have in the prior moves, as we didn't have room. Not to mention one huge box of textbooks from my undergrad days got lost in the mail during my move from Arizona to Cincinnati...too many years ago.
I promised myself not to get rid of too many books in the next change of residence- I'm hoping to rent a house in a couple years or so.
Movies, and TV series separate.
Movies by original release date, with movie continuities in movie order. (X-Men before LOTR/The Hobbit. Within the MCU - Thor-->Avengers-->T
ark World)
TV similarly (Doctor Who before Star Trek,)
Movies by original release date, with movie continuities in movie order. (X-Men before LOTR/The Hobbit. Within the MCU - Thor-->Avengers-->T
ark World)TV similarly (Doctor Who before Star Trek,)
I keep my physical copies grouped by subject matter (Star Trek TV shows & films in one group, Firefly based in another, Space 1999 etc,etc..)-then by year released or broadcast (so the TOS Blurays come first, TAS second followed by TOS movies, TNG episodes/movies then Abramsverse ) and so on...in terms of single films, it's often in year released order..from my oldest (Metropolis Bluray followed by Things to Come and Then the Flash Gordon serials in my collection to my newest in the collection..it keeps it easy for me to look up films in that way than any other..IOW if I want to watch Godzilla movies, I go to the Godzilla section in my library and pick out a specific one (except for that 1998 travesty--I'll never own that one!) plunk it in and enjoy... often I'll be in a 50s Sci-Fi mood and so I can watch several from that period in a row, rather than hunting them up ...
Mine are a crazy system. The blu-rays are kinder in alphabetic order, except it's kinder mixed up. Need to fix it up.
The fricking format is changing AGAIN!
I have a lot of DVDs, but I switched over to 3tb hard drives a few years back... The new phase of 3tb hard drives are about the same price, look/seem identical, even while they are missing a powercord...
The new (multi terabyte) external hard drives are a 1/4 the size they were a couple months ago.
A cigar box has turned into a match box.
It's not so much a question of display like back when my DVDs and VHS taps tried to share shelf space, this is about Tetris.
Tetris is the universal smallest denominator.
(Or my problem might relate more to Jenga?)
I can't keep my media appropriately organized (genre vs. date/decade), if I can't stack a new tiny 3tb hard drive underneath an old huge 3tb hard drive... Without my (expensive) terabyte towers tumbling, and bouncing down the hall.
I have a lot of DVDs, but I switched over to 3tb hard drives a few years back... The new phase of 3tb hard drives are about the same price, look/seem identical, even while they are missing a powercord...
The new (multi terabyte) external hard drives are a 1/4 the size they were a couple months ago.
A cigar box has turned into a match box.
It's not so much a question of display like back when my DVDs and VHS taps tried to share shelf space, this is about Tetris.
Tetris is the universal smallest denominator.
(Or my problem might relate more to Jenga?)
I can't keep my media appropriately organized (genre vs. date/decade), if I can't stack a new tiny 3tb hard drive underneath an old huge 3tb hard drive... Without my (expensive) terabyte towers tumbling, and bouncing down the hall.
Do you have Die Hard in with the Christmas films?
I do not have it anywhere. Enjoyed them in the theatre, but not ones I want to own.
I have to say that the OP's DVD dilemma is more in keeping with my book dilemma. I started collecting science fiction books in November 1975 (first two I acquired were Star Trek 4 and 6; still have them safely on my very large Star Trek shelf in the living room). I branched out into collecting fantasy in 1985, after a friend got me addicted to the Dragonlance series (now that series needs a whole big bookshelf all by itself).
Some time back a couple of people decided to help organize my books, and decided that everything with a yellow spine should go together because it "looked better." They were flabbergasted when I told them I would have to redo that because they'd mixed up authors, series, and genres, and some series aren't published by the same company. Just because a book has a yellow DAW spine, that doesn't mean it's got anything in common with another book with a yellow DAW spine. And when I tried explaining how I organized the Star Trek stuff, their eyes glazed over. Not sure why; organizing by genre, author/series, novel/anthology, edition, etc. seems pretty straightforward to me.
As for DVDs, thank goodness I don't have so many of them that I can't just glance at the shelves to have a look. Star Trek isn't a problem because I don't own any Star Trek DVDs - just two or three VHS tapes plus some audio versions of a few novels, and an 8-track recording of one of William Shatner's convention appearances (wasn't able to take the 8-track player with me when I moved, so I can't listen to it anymore). And there are no worries about Star Wars; I have the VHS set that came out before Lucas started "improving" them. That's good enough.
I have a Library Thing membership for keeping track of books (haven't updated it in quite awhile); I'll have to see if it could be used to catalogue DVDs as well...
As for displaying books/DVDs so people can see them? I don't care if other people like it. I'm the one who lives here, so things are organized to please me. If visitors don't like it, they have my permission not to look.
But in my experience, most people see the various SF/F/gaming stuff and tend to have a "gosh, you sure have a lot of books/movies, have you read/seen all of them?" reaction.
Nope. Not by a long shot. If I were to read a book a day of everything I haven't read so far, I would have at least 3 years' worth of reading before running out... assuming I never bought anything else in the meantime, and assuming I could actually get through some of those really long books in a single day.
As for the DVDs, I've probably seen most of what's in my collection. I don't tend to buy programs or movies unless i already know I like them.
Displaying stuff can result in interesting conversations, as occasionally happened when I used to have a couple of home-based businesses. Things got odd sometimes, though. My grandmother was upset at me displaying my D&D books ("what will your customers THINK?!"). It never occurred to her that her carved, shrunken heads might be a wee bit disturbing to people who didn't know she was a dollmaker... I just explained to my customer that my grandmother was a headhunter, smiled nicely, and got on with the reason they'd originally come over.
All you really need is help from THIS gentleman..
On paper, I have them alphabetized with an Excel sheet. Crude, but effective.
On my shelves... oh lord, what a nightmare. I generally have them organized by genre, then by year of release. I say "generally" because, for instance, I have the Star Trek, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Alien/Prometheus, and Indiana Jones films shelved separately from the rest of sci-fi/fantasy. There's so much Disney that I keep it separate from the other family movies, and even the Disney films I have split between Disney and Pixar. I am probably the only person who could find where anything is in my collection.
On my shelves... oh lord, what a nightmare. I generally have them organized by genre, then by year of release. I say "generally" because, for instance, I have the Star Trek, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Alien/Prometheus, and Indiana Jones films shelved separately from the rest of sci-fi/fantasy. There's so much Disney that I keep it separate from the other family movies, and even the Disney films I have split between Disney and Pixar. I am probably the only person who could find where anything is in my collection.
My wife has a strict alphabetised system, except in cases of a series (such as Marvel films, which are set aside in chronological order) and if I dare place a B by an N, I risk castration.
I have a far more sensible system that allows me to find what I need perfectly. Comic book movies all go in a row, with Blade at the end which them leads to vampire films, which ends in Blackula and leads perfectly into Pam Grier films. That ends on Jackie Brown, which takes me to films made by Tarantino, which takes you to films with Samuel L Jackson and that system, goes on until we get to "films from the 80's" which also includes Wedding Singer, set in the 80's, followed by musicals.
Then there's the Star Trek shelf, which is also where we keep Galaxy Quest and Trek related documentaries, which leads to sci fi, ending in British sci fi (well, just Red Dwarf really) which then takes us to British comedy, ending in spaced which naturally leads to Doctor Who (because Simon Pegg's in an episode), which then feeds into Bill & Ted and miscellaneous time travel films.
It's just far more logical that way.
I have a far more sensible system that allows me to find what I need perfectly. Comic book movies all go in a row, with Blade at the end which them leads to vampire films, which ends in Blackula and leads perfectly into Pam Grier films. That ends on Jackie Brown, which takes me to films made by Tarantino, which takes you to films with Samuel L Jackson and that system, goes on until we get to "films from the 80's" which also includes Wedding Singer, set in the 80's, followed by musicals.
Then there's the Star Trek shelf, which is also where we keep Galaxy Quest and Trek related documentaries, which leads to sci fi, ending in British sci fi (well, just Red Dwarf really) which then takes us to British comedy, ending in spaced which naturally leads to Doctor Who (because Simon Pegg's in an episode), which then feeds into Bill & Ted and miscellaneous time travel films.
It's just far more logical that way.
I have organized my collection by box width. My Blade Runner Collection box sort of acts has bookshelf holder. After the box sets the collection is followed by the Alien and Star Trek movie special editions. After that I put my regular DVDs.
The part of the collection I am not so keen on sit on a separate shelf. Over the last few years I got most of them away by selling them on the internet leaving just a few. That leaves my regular collection of about 50 DVDs (including aforementioned)
The part of the collection I am not so keen on sit on a separate shelf. Over the last few years I got most of them away by selling them on the internet leaving just a few. That leaves my regular collection of about 50 DVDs (including aforementioned)
I do numbers first, then letters and I do actually put the "the" titles in the T's section so sort everything that way.
