The Program

Paparazzi: Vol. 1 presents two episodes of a documentary television series that delves into the world of celebrity obsession and virtual stalking. The episodes presented on this DVD follow the exploits of renowned celebrity photographer Louie D in his real-life efforts to get "the perfect shot." Louie himself began his career as a rock photographer, and was one of the first people to chronicle Madonna's career from the very beginning to the modern day. He moved to Los Angeles in the early 90s and learned the tricks of the paparazzo trade. He indulged his Madonna obsession by photographing her constantly.

In the mid-1990s, Madonna moved to Miami, just as the club/celebrity/fashion scene in South Beach was beginning to explode. Louie D followed her there just as the "Latin scene" was gaining international attention. At a fashion show hosted by Gloria Estefan, Louie was one of the first paparazzo to give North American exposure to a then barely-known Jennifer Lopez, even snatching photographs of her first wedding.

But Louie's primary obsession was still Madonna. He stalked outside her bayfront mansion, chased her car behind hotels, snuck into parties to capture her image, and followed her again to New York in 1996 to photograph Madonna while pregnant. After she gave birth and moved back to Miami, he followed her again to take photographs outside the baby's baptism.

Louie D's exploits are legendary within the world of the paparazzi, and clearly the several other celebrity photographers interviewed in this documentary have nothing but glowing praise for their comrade. Louie D has certainly succeeded in making a cottage industry out of his work: he utilizes a network of contacts and in-the-know people to determine where he can find his prey, and makes use of digital scanners and email to set up his own personal online "eBay" for his snapshots. And one can certainly argue the point that as much as celebrities resent the intrusion in their lives, without constant attention from the media their Q-ratings would certainly plummet.

(But man, these people are scum...)

Paparazzi: Vol. 1 is a workmanlike if not altogether memorable show. There are two episodes on this disc: a 44-minute segment entitled The Price of a Picture and a 22-minute segment entitled Louie D. Gets The Shot: Madonna & Kidman. The first is the more interesting of the two, as it chronicles Louie D's background and tenacity, while the latter repeats a lot of footage from the former. Unless your interests lie in the world of celebrity stalking, there's nothing too much of interest here.

The DVD

Video:

Paparazzi: Vol. 1 is presented in its original television full frame aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The show was primarily taped for television, and culls its sources from a variety of handheld video cameras. The result is a transfer of middling quality. Even excusing the limited resolution and quality of camcorder-style footage, the transfer is extremely noisy and shimmering. Compression noise is evident throughout the video, and the picture isn't particularly sharp or well-defined. The show is watchable, but barely.

Audio:

The audio is presented in monaural Dolby Digital 2.0, and is serviceable. The dialog is presented clearly and reasonably without distortion, hiss, or overall thinness. There is very little surround activity, and LFE activity is non-existent. The soundtrack gets the job done and suits the nature of the program quite well.

Extras:

The DVD contains a collection of still photographs, a 3-minute video segment about stalking Goldie Hawn, and a 1-minute video segment about stalking Harrison Ford.

Final Thoughts

For those of you interested in how one goes about obsessing over the lifestyles of the rich, famous, and beautiful, Paparazzi: Vol. 1 might be up your alley. For everyone else, I cannot really recommend this DVD, as it does very little to present a compelling piece of entertainment. The footage adds up to barely one hour of program, but then again for a retail price of $10 you could do a lot worse.