An 

audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or

comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be
serious or entertaining in nature, and can add information which otherwise would not be disclosed to
audience members.

The DVD medium allows multiple audio tracks for each video program. DVD players usually allow
these to be selected by the viewer from the main menu of the DVD or using the remote. These
tracks will contain dialogue and sound of the movie, often with alternative tracks featuring different
language dialogue, or various types of audio encoding (such as Dolby Digital, DTS or PCM). Among
them may be at least one commentary track.
There are several different types of commentary. The two main types simply define the length of the
commentary rather than the type of content. They are:

 Partial or scene-specific, which only covers selected scenes of the film. Sometimes

these are recorded without the speaker viewing the film and thus the commentator may
make more general comments than pointing out specific details.
 Feature-length or screen-specific, which is recorded in one session: the speakers
watch the movie from beginning to end and give their thoughts directly based on what is
happening on-screen.
Typically a commentary track will include feature-length commentary from the film's director, cast
members, or occasionally writers and producers. Occasionally actors will perform commentary in-
character. (In recording sessions with multiple speakers, a designated moderator may encourage
the discussion flow.) Some DVDs include outsider commentary performed by film critics, historians,
scholars or fans. In more elaborate productions, multiple speakers from various recording sessions
may be edited together for a single audio program.
Some DVDs feature commentaries with on-screen video enhancements, such
as telestrator prompts, (allowing the director or commentator to "draw" on the screen, pointing out
specific details), or the Ghostbusters "video commentary", where one of the subtitle tracks is used to
add silhouettes of the speakers in a manner where they seem to be in a theater commenting on the
movie as it was screened for them in the style of Mystery Science Theater 3000.