DVD Column: Title Found!

And the winner is… well, there is no true winner. I decided to go with something of my own. But here are my top five favorite suggestions:

  1. JeremyT: The Take-Em-Home Moving Pictures Nickel Revue
  2. Kelly Brown: Reel Strong Medicine: DVDs To Ease The Long Road
  3. Rob B.: The Reel Elixir
  4. Dr. Phil: The Amazing Elixir Vitae Of Doctor John Joseph Adams, D.V.D.
  5. Scott: Adams‘ Amazing Zoopraxiscope

#5 is more of an honorable mention–it wasn’t really one of my favorites, but I’ll tell you why it’s up there.  I liked the way he was combining Zoetrope and Praxiscope, and that sent me off googling archaic movie projectors and the like, which led me to my column title. 

All five finalists will receive a prize even though I didn’t end up using their entry. 

The title I chose is: “Laterna Magica.”  I offered this up to Orson Scott Card, and he liked it, but suggested that “Magick Lanthorn” might be more immediately accessible to readers.  In case you don’t know, here’s a definition: “a small optick machine, by means of which are represented on an opposite wall in an obscure place, many monstrous and hideous shapes terrifying to the beholder; and which, by those who are ignorant of the device, are thought to be effected by magick.”  (And here’s another, more complex definition.)

I’m undecided on which is better.  Perhaps a poll will help me decide.  Look for one in the extended entry.