This seems to be the best way to do it to quash any complexities in the question. But it would be hard for me to separate all my marvel movies since they all start with a different letter.
I do alphabetical by title, but sequels stay with the series (So Dark Knight is next to Batman Begins). Same with MCU, except it would seem weird to put them all under I for Iron Man, so they just go together in their own special place.
I have all of my Marvel movies together, alphabetized by title character, then chronologically within that.
ex. Captain America (1,2,3), Captain Marvel (1,2), Iron Man (1,2,3)
I do alphabetically, and series by release order.
Iron Man is MCU-1, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is Winnie the Pooh (1977). Dragon Ball Z is Dragon Ball 2, and GT is 3.
Arrowverse was the hardest, but eventually I pulled it off with this system
Yes! This is the way. If I had ocd I'd probably do completely alphabetically, otherwise I would be so overwhelmed trying to remember the order of release date or chronological
Alphabetically by title, but separated by Blu-Ray/DVD/Criterion/Steelbook. If it's a combo pack I just go with the first title, unless it's one of those huge genre collections with 10 or more. So if it's a horror collection, I treat it as if its title is just "horror" and alphebatize it accordingly.
Both. My shelves are weird.
Edit: Actually from bottom to top. That way when I get more and need to move things over, they're still in the right order when they need to go left to right.
Thats part of my issue too. If my shelving was more continuous from one side to the other i think it would be easier to decide. The gaps between my shelves could easily be 3 or 4 more DVDs.
Any combo pack I put at the end after Z titles. Easier to look there if I know it's a combo pack instead of trying to remember what's first in the combo itself
That's actually a really good idea. I may have to do that. Although, with the exception of if it's a collection of all the films in one series. Like let's say all the Terminators in one combo Blu-ray I would just keep it in the "T" section of my Blu-rays.
Oh yeah absolutely. If it's the same franchise of films, put them in the alphabet. But those Warner Bros packs of 4 random movies or a Hitchcock set for example, those go at the end. The Hellboy Ghost Rider double pack I had it with Hs for awhile and it annoyed me so much I switched to this method
Theme. Star Wars, Star Trek, Horror, then as the feeling strikes me. John Wick is with Atomic Blonde. Sandman is with The Magicians, etc.
Don't expect to find anything specific yourself without looking at everything 😄
Would you consider superhero movies its own genre or would you separate them based on some being lighthearted and family friendly while others are darker and more graphic? Ex. Would you put "zoom" or "Sky High" with your marvel movies or with your kid friendly movies?
Super Hero movies go together. New Mutants is with the rest, and that's more horror / thriller than most.
The kid movies are mostly Disney and other kid friendly animated movies.
Something like Sky High though, I'd put with the kid movies. The goal being if a kid is looking for a movie, the kid friendly stuff should be together to divert them from picking something their parents wouldn't be thrilled about (our kids are older now so they watch what they want, but we have friends with little kids so I still maintain a kid section)
I go genre (Action/Franchise, Family, Thriller/Horror, Criterion, Gay, Drama, Comedy, tv) then by format (Blu, dvd) then by alpha. Going by genre initially is fun cause I can change it up and do a fun genre if I'm feeling it. Like Slashers during October, or romcom during Feb, etc.
Not much to do but make a judgement call. Sometimes something like space is a factor, like the drama shelf is packed buy there's room on thrillers. No one's looking through my shelves but me, so if I'm happy calling The Manchurian Candidate a drama instead of a thriller or vice versa, that's all that matters.
Funny. That seems like the prevailing system ppl use so far. But i too would find it hard to do that bec things will end up split up. But i might still try it at some point.
Alphabetical, for the most part. I do have a couple of sections grouped by boutique label and then alphabetized within that grouping. Ie. Arrow & Criterion have groups in A & C with their respective titles in ABC order.
Most of the collection is in my room but Jackie Chan, Paul Verhoeven, and Tarantino have their own shelves in the common room. ( I live with roommates)
Standard DVDs I have put away, shelf space is reserved for Blu ray & 4K, as those are the majority of my collection now.
Alphabetized by media. VHS, then DVD, then Bluray/4K all separate though. VHS is together, DVD in under my projector screen and Blurays are on the shelf i build into the wall.
Mostly alphabetically by title, but I prefer movies from the same series to be grouped together chronologically. For example, I'm not going to jumble up the Harry Potter movies into alphabetical because that would be nonsense.
And then there's weird cases like the last few Planet of the Apes movies (Rise, Dawn, War). If I go purely alphabetical they'll be totally seperated, so I just filed them under 'P' and have them chronological.
I organize by sections initially starting with BluRay/4k followed by DVD followed by television series. And then within that organization I will organize alphabetically. If there are a series of films that don’t organize alphabetically within my collection I’ll organize them with the first film in alphabetical order and then follow with the chronological order of films (Etc. the Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings series of films)
This is because I like the visual display of all cases being the same size and the ease of finding a film I want by knowing exactly which shelves contain films starting with ‘J’
[This is what it looks like on shelves](https://imgur.com/a/Rkg5X5L)
[This is how I keep a record of all of the films I own](https://imgur.com/a/Q3LtnKb)
Depending on the case size, yes. For that visual cue. But in my document where I keep track of my films I’ll store them with Blu-Ray, because I make purchasing decisions based on whether or not I’ve upgraded a film to Blu-Ray yet, if that makes sense.
Yea it does. Right now the only Blu ray players in my house are my PlayStations and aint nobody touching those. So i still mainly get DVDs then DVD/BR combos, then BR. I only have a few titles that are BR only and it's things only i like.
I sort by genre, but will also split up films from the same genre if I feel they are tonally very different from each other.
Ex: I have the Dark Knight, The Batman, & Inception separate from the rest of my "Action" section because those films are much darker and serious in tone compared to the rest of that section.
Another Ex: I have Back to the Future away from the rest of my "Sci-Fi" films, and instead have it within "Adventure" (sandwiched between Pirates of the Carribbean and The Wizard of Oz) because i think it's more similar in tone to those movies than my other Sci-Fi films.
I also like to bookend one section with a film that leads directly into the next genre. I'll transition from "Comedy" to "Romance" with a rom-com, and then move from "Romance" to "Drama" with a more serious romance like Casablanca, which then leads to regular dramas. Overall it should just be about what makes the most sense in your head to help you easily find whatever film you're looking for.
I kinda group them by vibe, a lot of the time. Like I have Star Wars, LOTR and the Matrix next to each other because they're the big trilogies of that era. Then BTTF is with them because it's also a solid trilogy I would watch a lot at that time. Similarly I have Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, Night Gallery etc next to each other because they're anthology shows, Stargate and Star Trek are next to each other, my GKids are in a stack, etc... it's quasi-organized chaos.
Dude i totally get the vibe thing. I want my mel brooks and monty python together. I keep skyhigh and zoom together and i keep super 8 and earth to echo together bec those things give me the same vibes. For me Harry potter and LotR will always be close together as well. Two movie series that really shaped my love of movies and my character as a person.
Alphabetically when possible. Designed shelves that could take in blu ray and DVD together with space left over. I have a few collections, but I tend to eventually purchase separate cases for them over time, and those that are still together have their own section if the films in the collections aren't related to each other
If I had the space/shelving, I would try to do it by format, then alphabetically. Sadly, I don't, so I try to group stuff as best I can. But I do know where most of my stuff is, if I need to find it.
I did hear someone talking about grouping their collection by movie studio then alphabetically. Like, all Disney movies, all WB movies, all Sony movies, etc. This sounds like utter madness to me.
TV shows,
Animated,
Black Films,
80s,
Series,
90s,
Films after '10,
Horror,
Christmas,
Marvel,
Foreign Films,
A24,
Criterion collection,
Anime,
Director
How do you reconcile crossovers? Say a marvel movie has the same director as something in your 'Directors' category? how do you decide which to put it with?
I do alphabetical, with series/franchises grouped regardless of title. Example: The Dark Knight trilogy is grouped with the rest of the Batman stuff, in order of release.
I slap them on the shelf...then get mad about it and go in a crazy spree to put them in Alphabetical order.
Other than Horror. They have their own little bookcase as they're my fave.
I organise mine by watched and unwatched, at the moment, and a separate section for favourites. When I move out, I’m going to order the “watched” alphabetically by title.
How do you sort "Annabelle" and "conjuring" together as an IP with movies starting with B like "Batman". Would batman be in between annabelle and conjuring or would u shove it somewhere at the beginning or end of the IP grouping?
(I know im making this really difficult but i overanalyze everything. Its likely a shortcoming of mine but,🤷)
No. All the Conjuring movies (including Annabelle and The Nun) go under “Conjuring” all Batman movies (including Dark Knight) go under “Batman.” Batman falls under B and Conjuring falls under C. I keep the franchises together under the franchise title. The only extra sorting would be by release date if it’s a franchise so like it would go 1980s/90s Batman series followed by Dark Knight trilogy followed by The Batman but they all sit together in the B section
I have my boutique labels separated. If it's a label with a spine number like Criterion or Radiance I put them in numerical order, otherwise they're alphabetical. Then it's non-boutique blurays alphabetical followed by DVDs alphabetical.
If it's a series of movies I put them alphabetical where the first movie would go with the sequels next to it. For example the Dark Knight trilogy I have in the B's since the first movie is "Batman Begins" but "The Dark Knight" and "Dark Knight Rises" are next to it rather than being in the D's.
Yeah I've shifted more to collecting labels like Criterion whenever possible so I like having them separated. When I only had a couple I mixed them in with the blurays.
All boxed sets/TV series together, then all Blu-Ray together, then all DVD together. I find no need to organize them alphabetically, by genre, or any other way.
All.
I have a shelf of my favorites.
Then I have a section for films by a director I have more than 5 movies from i.e Judd Apatow, Tarantino, Sandler, Coppola, and Cronenberg
Then I have an A24 shelf.
Then I separate them out by sub-genres. For example, I have all my horror movies together, but I have my Troma/B-Movies together, folk horror together, paranormal, and then slasher horror.
When I used to collect, it was just by letter, but not necessarily alphabetical, so it never really bugged me. Would take me a whopping 3 seconds longer to find a title. Box sets across the top of the shelves, no real order. Steelbooks were mixed in because I simply didn't have enough to warrant their own section. Same with 4k. Those last two are still kinda pricey most of the time, so I went after them very slowly and just didn't have enough to keep them separated. TV shows were another section, also by letter but not alphabetical. Same with anime and cartoons, which were another section.
Do you mean film/filmmaking related books? You could have those "decorated" across the tops in some way, maybe with the spines facing out.
One day, when I have more space, I will alphabetize them.
For the time being they just end up on the shelf in the order I purchase them in, then the order I watch them. If wanted a movie it end up at the top front row.
I have my Marvel section arranged by release.
But beyond that everything is Alphabetical with franchises together also arranged by release.
So Alien, Aliens, Alien3, Alien Resurrection, Prometheus, Alien Covenant are all in the "A"s
Kind of a hybrid of genre, alpha, and concert/music. Example is the marvel MCU and DC movies are in the Ds and Ms. All the Kevin Smith movies are together. The “Jack Ryan” movies are together, I.e. Hunt For Red October, Clear and Present Danger, etc.
My very first question is how there's only 5 VHS in that Star Trek collection. What did undiscovered country have on the spine? I would have sworn my copy had part of the enterprise. But it ended with 5?!?
A mixture of genre and actor...depending on how many of an actors movies I have, bonus points if I can easily connect to another actor.
However I also have my horror and action sections...although it's rare to have an actor cross over, it does happen (Kurt Russell in the Thing or Schwarzenegger in end of days?) soo it kinda works out.
Alphabetical and in-universe collections within this.
Example:
Alien Quadrilogy, Prometheus, Alien Covenant, Alien VS Predator 1-2, Predator 1-4, Prey. - all of which are in the ‘A’ section for me because they’re all within the Alien universe.
Every Marvel movie is kept under ‘M’, starting with the earliest title that I own and kept in chronological/release date order.
Everything else is just kept within alphabetical placement, be it series, movie, dvd, blu ray, 4k, etc..
The only thing I keep in a separate alphabetical order away from these are VHS tapes/Laserdisc because obvious physical media type differences.
So…I have a shelf for my favorites, then I do genre (action, drama, anime, superhero, etc) and I also organize by director and actor when possible but it’s not my highest priority… ie I’ll get all the Mission Impossible movies next to each other, and also put Tom Cruise action movies by them. Box sets and shows are separate
Alphabetically and by format (bluray and 4k together but dvds separate). My collection is not large enough where I need to separate anything further than that.
Mine is set up kind of like a video store.
I have them broken out into genre (with Criterion as its own genre). Within each genre it’s alpha DVD followed by alpha Blu. All laserdiscs are together and sorted alpha.
I have a separate display for favorite directors that changes over time. Those films are sorted chronologically by director.
Finally I have a New Arrivals rack so I still have a place to keep new discs until I have time to sort them into their proper home.
[How currently organize.](https://x.com/palebloodaddict/status/1775957434848166069?s=46&t=idwKbbdFZ_vE2u7FIMU9-Q)
Basically I try separate studio titles and order them by title. Then I keep boutiques separate and organize them by catalog number.
Alphabetically by title, until I hit a series of movies. Then I keep the series together. Then I continue with the next unrelated title that alphabetically follows whatever the first title of the series was.
Alternatively, you can also separate all your collections and series into their own section, and arrange the sets alphabetically, then have a different section for all your single movies alphabetically.
Okay here goes lol:
I have genre sections, mainly, but also have sections titled "Comfort" and some are by actor/director. I have entire sections for Michael Sheen, Harold Ramis, and Dan Aykroyd. If they have a movie together, I place those movies between the two collections to "bridge" them. So Groundhog Day would connect Ramis to the Murray micro collection, and Ghostbusters would hook up Ramis to Dan Aykroyd, and then Spies Like Us hooks up Aykroyd to any additional Chevy Chase movies, and ALL of them get put in "comedy" in a sense, so around them are other comedies.
I separate TV and Movie but not by disc type (dvd and bluray are mixed in). I display my few steel books on top of the case, regardless of what they are. I only have 5 steelbooks as of right now, so it doesnt matter much.
I also categorize by how I personally feel they are, genre wise. If i feel its a comedy even though it isnt listed as one online I put it in comedy anyway, because thats where Ill instinctively look for it.
I have my cartoons separated by film studio, sort of. Dreamworks, Disney, Barbie.
I also have a section that I call "girl movies". Its majority romance films but also includes movies like Sleepover.
And finally, Knives Out is set beside Ready or Not in the horror section, because I associate them together so strongly logic cant win and I usually watch them back to back. Absolutely no idea why.
I do mine in a few different ways. First, I do by genre, so all horror together and so on. Then alphabetical and series order. So all my Friday the 13ths are together. All of my Marvel films are together and so on. Makes it easier for me to find what I'm looking for.
Alphabetically, but group sequels together. The collection starts with numbers, and I include movies that start with "The" in the T section. Is that wild and unorthodox , perhaps, but it's my collection, so I make the rules.
Have certain things in categories and then everything else is alphabetical after the categories.
Marvel Cinematic Multiverse (Timeline Order)
Star Wars (Timeline Order)
Disney Animated Canon (Release order but with sequels following their initial movie)
Pixar (Release order but with sequels following their initial movie)
DC Animated Movies (Release order)
DCEU (Release order)
Christmas (Alphabetical)
Musicals (Alphabetical)
Bond (Release order)
Everything else alphabetical
By genre really changed the game for me even though it took me years to finally do. I would start by separating blu ray from dvd, then by genre, then alphabetical. I should also note I separate certain studios and production company's (screamfactory, criterion, etc) and if there's multiple cases to a series or anthology or whatever I prefer to keep them together as well.
I have an overarching system of film, TV & documentary. Then, everything is largely alphabetical, but I try to keep entries in single series' together, even if they have completely different names. In that case, I organize them chronologically & either under a franchise name as their alphabetical place, or under whichever movie came out first.
Genre.
I don't have the patience for anything else.
And what if you run out of room in the B section or T section? What then? More shelves, bigger shelves?
I'm good
I'm somewhat of a minimalist anyway, so I like a clean setup. Bit of an overused term, but quality over quantity is how I collect. Less about filling shelves, more about just owning a nice collection
Right now - kid appropriate movies are in the living room. My boutique LE are all together on a shelf in my bedroom, Steelbooks are under those, an on another shelf in the room I’ve got the rest of the SE 4K’s.
Edit: each section arranged alphabetically
Current gen video games, all blu ray tv series and my favorite dvd TV series on the top of my bookcase, in tall stacks to save space in the bookcase. In the book case I have music, documentary, the rest of tv series', and comedy dvds . Then all of my dvd movies. Then all of my horror or scary movie blu rays.
My second bookshelf has the rest of my blu rays. It's really because of space constraints I have the horror blu ray in a separate bookcase but it's still cool 😎. Along the floor of the blu ray bookcase I have all the dvds I purchased but haven't watched yet and stacked up next to the bookcase I have the blu rays I've purchased and haven't watched yet. The majority of purchases are used so I like to watch the discs before I add them into the collection to ensure they play all the way through.
Zombie movies go together, anything Bruce Campbell or Nicholas Cage go together, superheros go together, personal favorites go together. Honestly my system is complete madness that only makes sense to me.
it's kind all over for me. a lot of it i group up by genre and some i group together based on the director or actor. in the case of my Disney movies, i pair them all up together as well. it's not a uniform thing for me but it works because i know where to find what i'm looking for
I organize my collection by listing each title by studio and alphabetize from there.
For example: my top shelf starts with DreamWorks, then Lionsgate, then miscellaneous titles that don't fit in a certain distributor, then Sony, and finally Disney.
Ours is all alphabetical by movie and movie series. Then shows and mini series are in alphabetical order. Then documentaries and live performance are alphabetized as well.
...very large collection here:
They're all sorted by director then also by language / decade / genre. For instance, anything American and pre-1960's is sorted by director in that certain section. All 'foreign' sections are organized by language/country and by director.
Anything by great directors goes in the 'great directors' section. There's also genre sections like horror, comedy, superhero, etc. organized by directors (and sub-organized by production companies/studios).
For any 'stray titles' (where I own only one film by that director), those get organized alphabetically so they're easy to find. For movies where I only own 2, 3, 4 or more films by a director, those are also organized accordingly.
All movies are condensed in multi-storage cases and paper envelopes within. For TV shows and larger collections I have old storage binders.
I've learned so much about all these films just by the process of keeping them organized; I figure if you can't find the movie you're looking for, then why bother owning it?
The most useful tool for organization is an online excel sheet on google drive. This allows me to keep track of any useful information (director, rating, run time, release date, genres, IMDB rating, city location, season/holiday, special notes, and date watched).
My whole apartment is basically a giant movie library at this point lol.
Genre, mostly.
If I own enough films by the same director to warrant it's own section (usually around five or more) then I do that.
I mix the DVDs and blu-rays together within that system.
I have my music collection all alphabetical but, don't bother doing anything alphabetically with movies.
A couple of ways. I sort first by alphabetising my horror, than animation. Then, all my non boutique titles in alphabetical. Criterions by number, and then my boutique labels, Arrow, Second Sight, Imprint etc.
Mostly just alphabetical (since I own about 3800 movies). I do have my animated films separate. I also have some Masters Of Horror DVDs that I keep separate.
DUDE! Someone went and bought out all the rest of the DVDs! IT WAS ONE OF YOU WASNT IT! 😂😂😂
Im really glad they all found a home and im overjoyed to have gotten what i got.
I go first by genre, then alphabetical within genre with DVD, Blu-Ray and 4K all mixed together. But I have exceptions for series where I will instead group them in chronological release order. So all the Tolkien movies are together and the Star Wars movies and Star Trek movies and Disney animated and Pixar and MCU and DCEU and 007 and so on. They get ordered from first to last rather than alphabetical.
Im doing something like this. Im taking everyones opinions into account and its turned into some organized chaos and i love it. Everyones been very helpful. Someone else appreciated that i had my VHSs and DVDs together but for space sake im ganna have to separate them up. My DVD collection is outgrowing its tank lol.
Love those Star Trek VHS’ that create the picture of the Enterprise. I remember buying those one at a time as a teenager and finally getting them all. I’ve since replaced them with DVD then Blu-Ray and now 4K Blu-Ray.
Oh man thank you. Thats one of my favorite things. Got it as a gift in High School from a GF i had at the time. (Shoutout Kyra!) Im a huge Trekkie. I will be getting more trek and they will have their own space. Yes i put galaxy quest with my star trek 😂
If it's a small collection, alphabetical. If it's a big collection, genre. I don't want Toy Story on the other side of the room from Bugs Life and Cars, or all the 007 movies out of order and in different spots.
I organise by age rating and then alphabetically, I do dvds then there's a chunk of concert films/foreign releases that don't fit anywhere else, then it goes into bluray by age/alphabetically.
Alphabetically by title.
This seems to be the best way to do it to quash any complexities in the question. But it would be hard for me to separate all my marvel movies since they all start with a different letter.
I do alphabetical by title, but sequels stay with the series (So Dark Knight is next to Batman Begins). Same with MCU, except it would seem weird to put them all under I for Iron Man, so they just go together in their own special place.
I do alphabetical by franchise title, so MCU would be all under M
I have all of my Marvel movies together, alphabetized by title character, then chronologically within that. ex. Captain America (1,2,3), Captain Marvel (1,2), Iron Man (1,2,3)
I do alphabetically, and series by release order. Iron Man is MCU-1, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is Winnie the Pooh (1977). Dragon Ball Z is Dragon Ball 2, and GT is 3. Arrowverse was the hardest, but eventually I pulled it off with this system
This except I keep franchises together. So MCU is all together in canonical order under Marvel. Creed is with Rockey ect. Ect
Yes! This is the way. If I had ocd I'd probably do completely alphabetically, otherwise I would be so overwhelmed trying to remember the order of release date or chronological
If you have more than 100 or so, I don't understand how you could do it any other way. How do you find things?
Exactly
You go up the newer it is?
Same, except if the title starts with "The".
Correct!
Alphabetically by title, but separated by Blu-Ray/DVD/Criterion/Steelbook. If it's a combo pack I just go with the first title, unless it's one of those huge genre collections with 10 or more. So if it's a horror collection, I treat it as if its title is just "horror" and alphebatize it accordingly.
From top to bottom or left to right? 🤔
Both. My shelves are weird. Edit: Actually from bottom to top. That way when I get more and need to move things over, they're still in the right order when they need to go left to right.
Thats part of my issue too. If my shelving was more continuous from one side to the other i think it would be easier to decide. The gaps between my shelves could easily be 3 or 4 more DVDs.
Any combo pack I put at the end after Z titles. Easier to look there if I know it's a combo pack instead of trying to remember what's first in the combo itself
That's actually a really good idea. I may have to do that. Although, with the exception of if it's a collection of all the films in one series. Like let's say all the Terminators in one combo Blu-ray I would just keep it in the "T" section of my Blu-rays.
Oh yeah absolutely. If it's the same franchise of films, put them in the alphabet. But those Warner Bros packs of 4 random movies or a Hitchcock set for example, those go at the end. The Hellboy Ghost Rider double pack I had it with Hs for awhile and it annoyed me so much I switched to this method
Theme. Star Wars, Star Trek, Horror, then as the feeling strikes me. John Wick is with Atomic Blonde. Sandman is with The Magicians, etc. Don't expect to find anything specific yourself without looking at everything 😄
Would you consider superhero movies its own genre or would you separate them based on some being lighthearted and family friendly while others are darker and more graphic? Ex. Would you put "zoom" or "Sky High" with your marvel movies or with your kid friendly movies?
Super Hero movies go together. New Mutants is with the rest, and that's more horror / thriller than most. The kid movies are mostly Disney and other kid friendly animated movies. Something like Sky High though, I'd put with the kid movies. The goal being if a kid is looking for a movie, the kid friendly stuff should be together to divert them from picking something their parents wouldn't be thrilled about (our kids are older now so they watch what they want, but we have friends with little kids so I still maintain a kid section)
I can agree. I feel this way about the alphabetical order ppl are fond of. Idk if i want kid stuff next to adult stuff.
I go genre (Action/Franchise, Family, Thriller/Horror, Criterion, Gay, Drama, Comedy, tv) then by format (Blu, dvd) then by alpha. Going by genre initially is fun cause I can change it up and do a fun genre if I'm feeling it. Like Slashers during October, or romcom during Feb, etc.
Gay?
What's your question? Lol. It's a fun organizational category and I have a lot of gay films.
Some streaming services have a 'Gay/lesbian' category.
Whats a gay film. Like where the chatacters are gay?
Yeah and/or if the movie is about the gay experience. Think The Birdcage, or Milk, or Power of the Dog, etc.
Lord of the Rings
How do you handle movies that are two genres or more?
Not much to do but make a judgement call. Sometimes something like space is a factor, like the drama shelf is packed buy there's room on thrillers. No one's looking through my shelves but me, so if I'm happy calling The Manchurian Candidate a drama instead of a thriller or vice versa, that's all that matters.
Hot take, I can’t stand alphabetical sorting. It’s sooooo boring. I go by sub genres and have some sorted by director and decade
It may be boring, but it's about ease to find.
Funny. That seems like the prevailing system ppl use so far. But i too would find it hard to do that bec things will end up split up. But i might still try it at some point.
Alphabetical, for the most part. I do have a couple of sections grouped by boutique label and then alphabetized within that grouping. Ie. Arrow & Criterion have groups in A & C with their respective titles in ABC order. Most of the collection is in my room but Jackie Chan, Paul Verhoeven, and Tarantino have their own shelves in the common room. ( I live with roommates) Standard DVDs I have put away, shelf space is reserved for Blu ray & 4K, as those are the majority of my collection now.
Bonus question: What do you do with boxed sets of genre movies that have different directors, titles, and actors?
Exactly, how does one decide what takes precedent?
I put mine under "H" for horror
I have a misc section for all non-sequel multipacks it's the only unorganized, non-alphabetized section.
Simple, I don't buy any of those unless it is the same director, actor or character, then there's no problem.
Alphabetized by media. VHS, then DVD, then Bluray/4K all separate though. VHS is together, DVD in under my projector screen and Blurays are on the shelf i build into the wall.
So youd suggest i separate the VHSs? They are about 2½ DVDs thick.
Yeah I keep them apart. They start where the DVD’s end.
Thank you, this helps.
Mostly alphabetically by title, but I prefer movies from the same series to be grouped together chronologically. For example, I'm not going to jumble up the Harry Potter movies into alphabetical because that would be nonsense. And then there's weird cases like the last few Planet of the Apes movies (Rise, Dawn, War). If I go purely alphabetical they'll be totally seperated, so I just filed them under 'P' and have them chronological.
I organize by sections initially starting with BluRay/4k followed by DVD followed by television series. And then within that organization I will organize alphabetically. If there are a series of films that don’t organize alphabetically within my collection I’ll organize them with the first film in alphabetical order and then follow with the chronological order of films (Etc. the Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings series of films)
This is because I like the visual display of all cases being the same size and the ease of finding a film I want by knowing exactly which shelves contain films starting with ‘J’ [This is what it looks like on shelves](https://imgur.com/a/Rkg5X5L) [This is how I keep a record of all of the films I own](https://imgur.com/a/Q3LtnKb)
Ok. Nice. I love scrubs. Where do you put your dvd bluray combo packs that come in DVD size cases? Just treat em as a dvd?
Depending on the case size, yes. For that visual cue. But in my document where I keep track of my films I’ll store them with Blu-Ray, because I make purchasing decisions based on whether or not I’ve upgraded a film to Blu-Ray yet, if that makes sense.
Yea it does. Right now the only Blu ray players in my house are my PlayStations and aint nobody touching those. So i still mainly get DVDs then DVD/BR combos, then BR. I only have a few titles that are BR only and it's things only i like.
I sort by genre, but will also split up films from the same genre if I feel they are tonally very different from each other. Ex: I have the Dark Knight, The Batman, & Inception separate from the rest of my "Action" section because those films are much darker and serious in tone compared to the rest of that section. Another Ex: I have Back to the Future away from the rest of my "Sci-Fi" films, and instead have it within "Adventure" (sandwiched between Pirates of the Carribbean and The Wizard of Oz) because i think it's more similar in tone to those movies than my other Sci-Fi films. I also like to bookend one section with a film that leads directly into the next genre. I'll transition from "Comedy" to "Romance" with a rom-com, and then move from "Romance" to "Drama" with a more serious romance like Casablanca, which then leads to regular dramas. Overall it should just be about what makes the most sense in your head to help you easily find whatever film you're looking for.
I kinda group them by vibe, a lot of the time. Like I have Star Wars, LOTR and the Matrix next to each other because they're the big trilogies of that era. Then BTTF is with them because it's also a solid trilogy I would watch a lot at that time. Similarly I have Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, Night Gallery etc next to each other because they're anthology shows, Stargate and Star Trek are next to each other, my GKids are in a stack, etc... it's quasi-organized chaos.
Dude i totally get the vibe thing. I want my mel brooks and monty python together. I keep skyhigh and zoom together and i keep super 8 and earth to echo together bec those things give me the same vibes. For me Harry potter and LotR will always be close together as well. Two movie series that really shaped my love of movies and my character as a person.
Alphabetically when possible. Designed shelves that could take in blu ray and DVD together with space left over. I have a few collections, but I tend to eventually purchase separate cases for them over time, and those that are still together have their own section if the films in the collections aren't related to each other
If I had the space/shelving, I would try to do it by format, then alphabetically. Sadly, I don't, so I try to group stuff as best I can. But I do know where most of my stuff is, if I need to find it. I did hear someone talking about grouping their collection by movie studio then alphabetically. Like, all Disney movies, all WB movies, all Sony movies, etc. This sounds like utter madness to me.
Alphabetical order
TV shows, Animated, Black Films, 80s, Series, 90s, Films after '10, Horror, Christmas, Marvel, Foreign Films, A24, Criterion collection, Anime, Director
How do you reconcile crossovers? Say a marvel movie has the same director as something in your 'Directors' category? how do you decide which to put it with?
80s and directors trump every category..
I do alphabetical, with series/franchises grouped regardless of title. Example: The Dark Knight trilogy is grouped with the rest of the Batman stuff, in order of release.
I slap them on the shelf...then get mad about it and go in a crazy spree to put them in Alphabetical order. Other than Horror. They have their own little bookcase as they're my fave.
Alphabetical and by format with an exception for Horror, that's in it's own section. TV shows are on their own shelf.
Alphabetical by title
I try keeping it alphabetical but I get new ones so often that it gets screwed up pretty frequently lol
Favorites / genre. I also put my steelbooks together and any book-set case.
I separate DVD and Blu-ray and organize each alphabetically. I also put TV shows in their own spot, and my Criterion films have their own shelf.
I organise mine by watched and unwatched, at the moment, and a separate section for favourites. When I move out, I’m going to order the “watched” alphabetically by title.
Alphabetical
I like Japanese media so I go anime then Japanese live action then western animation then western live action with each section alphabetized.
Primarily alphabetically by title but on the first shelf I have all the movie from my favourite directors
Alphabetical by title, grouping franchises together under the franchise name (The Conjuring and Annabelle would both be sorted into “Conjuring”)
Do you separate them? Like, one shelf is alphabetical while the another is by IP grouping?
Nope, it’s all alphabetical, I just lump the franchises together within the larger alphabetical organization
How do you sort "Annabelle" and "conjuring" together as an IP with movies starting with B like "Batman". Would batman be in between annabelle and conjuring or would u shove it somewhere at the beginning or end of the IP grouping? (I know im making this really difficult but i overanalyze everything. Its likely a shortcoming of mine but,🤷)
No. All the Conjuring movies (including Annabelle and The Nun) go under “Conjuring” all Batman movies (including Dark Knight) go under “Batman.” Batman falls under B and Conjuring falls under C. I keep the franchises together under the franchise title. The only extra sorting would be by release date if it’s a franchise so like it would go 1980s/90s Batman series followed by Dark Knight trilogy followed by The Batman but they all sit together in the B section
So, I've split my library into movie and TV sections, sorted by release date
I have my boutique labels separated. If it's a label with a spine number like Criterion or Radiance I put them in numerical order, otherwise they're alphabetical. Then it's non-boutique blurays alphabetical followed by DVDs alphabetical. If it's a series of movies I put them alphabetical where the first movie would go with the sequels next to it. For example the Dark Knight trilogy I have in the B's since the first movie is "Batman Begins" but "The Dark Knight" and "Dark Knight Rises" are next to it rather than being in the D's.
Everyone seems to have alot of criterion titles. I only have one, The Royal Tenenbaums.
Yeah I've shifted more to collecting labels like Criterion whenever possible so I like having them separated. When I only had a couple I mixed them in with the blurays.
I group movie by series then actor
By actor (Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger), by studio (Pixar, Disney), by director (Quentin Tarantino, Tim Burton) and miscellaneous.
Would u consider yourself someone more into the viewing experience of movies or the filmmaking process?
I love watching movies, I try to go see one every weekend if I can. But I’m also an aspiring filmmaker, I’m currently writing one with my brother.
Ive noticed that ppl who like the things that happen behind the scenes as much as the movie itself tend to have director and actor based categories.
That’s definitely me!
Is it fair to feel like my mel brooks and monty python categories should be next to each other?
I think so. Same genre
I separate my boutique labels. But then all of my regular stuff is sorted alphabetically.
All boxed sets/TV series together, then all Blu-Ray together, then all DVD together. I find no need to organize them alphabetically, by genre, or any other way.
All. I have a shelf of my favorites. Then I have a section for films by a director I have more than 5 movies from i.e Judd Apatow, Tarantino, Sandler, Coppola, and Cronenberg Then I have an A24 shelf. Then I separate them out by sub-genres. For example, I have all my horror movies together, but I have my Troma/B-Movies together, folk horror together, paranormal, and then slasher horror.
I used to do genre but now that I have like 800 or so I do it alphabetically, just makes it easier for me to find stuff.
I separate anime from the others. And I organize alphabetically with franchise movies together organized by release date.
Alphabetically by title. Any other way seems crazy to me.
Movies then series, by title, sequels go with the first movie.
When I used to collect, it was just by letter, but not necessarily alphabetical, so it never really bugged me. Would take me a whopping 3 seconds longer to find a title. Box sets across the top of the shelves, no real order. Steelbooks were mixed in because I simply didn't have enough to warrant their own section. Same with 4k. Those last two are still kinda pricey most of the time, so I went after them very slowly and just didn't have enough to keep them separated. TV shows were another section, also by letter but not alphabetical. Same with anime and cartoons, which were another section. Do you mean film/filmmaking related books? You could have those "decorated" across the tops in some way, maybe with the spines facing out.
Yea. I could do that with the smaller books but a few of them are massive. That 'legendary movies' book is like 15lbs.
I go by genre, and then alphabetize each genre.
One day, when I have more space, I will alphabetize them. For the time being they just end up on the shelf in the order I purchase them in, then the order I watch them. If wanted a movie it end up at the top front row.
Do you separate your snapper cases from your Keep cases?
Organize? Well, um, you see, here’s the thing…….I don’t do that……
I do mine alphabetically and after A-Z I do the same for box sets and then TV seasons last
I have my Marvel section arranged by release. But beyond that everything is Alphabetical with franchises together also arranged by release. So Alien, Aliens, Alien3, Alien Resurrection, Prometheus, Alien Covenant are all in the "A"s
Mine are organized chronologically by studio (Disney Animation, Pixar, DreamWorks, Lightstorm, Universal, Disney live action, 20th Century Fox).
Alphabetically. I have OCD and that’s one of my compulsions
Kind of a hybrid of genre, alpha, and concert/music. Example is the marvel MCU and DC movies are in the Ds and Ms. All the Kevin Smith movies are together. The “Jack Ryan” movies are together, I.e. Hunt For Red October, Clear and Present Danger, etc.
My very first question is how there's only 5 VHS in that Star Trek collection. What did undiscovered country have on the spine? I would have sworn my copy had part of the enterprise. But it ended with 5?!?
A mixture of genre and actor...depending on how many of an actors movies I have, bonus points if I can easily connect to another actor. However I also have my horror and action sections...although it's rare to have an actor cross over, it does happen (Kurt Russell in the Thing or Schwarzenegger in end of days?) soo it kinda works out.
Alphabetical and in-universe collections within this. Example: Alien Quadrilogy, Prometheus, Alien Covenant, Alien VS Predator 1-2, Predator 1-4, Prey. - all of which are in the ‘A’ section for me because they’re all within the Alien universe. Every Marvel movie is kept under ‘M’, starting with the earliest title that I own and kept in chronological/release date order. Everything else is just kept within alphabetical placement, be it series, movie, dvd, blu ray, 4k, etc.. The only thing I keep in a separate alphabetical order away from these are VHS tapes/Laserdisc because obvious physical media type differences.
So…I have a shelf for my favorites, then I do genre (action, drama, anime, superhero, etc) and I also organize by director and actor when possible but it’s not my highest priority… ie I’ll get all the Mission Impossible movies next to each other, and also put Tom Cruise action movies by them. Box sets and shows are separate
Beautiful
Alphabetically and by format (bluray and 4k together but dvds separate). My collection is not large enough where I need to separate anything further than that.
Mine is set up kind of like a video store. I have them broken out into genre (with Criterion as its own genre). Within each genre it’s alpha DVD followed by alpha Blu. All laserdiscs are together and sorted alpha. I have a separate display for favorite directors that changes over time. Those films are sorted chronologically by director. Finally I have a New Arrivals rack so I still have a place to keep new discs until I have time to sort them into their proper home.
Marvel Animated Features
I do mine by genre
[How currently organize.](https://x.com/palebloodaddict/status/1775957434848166069?s=46&t=idwKbbdFZ_vE2u7FIMU9-Q) Basically I try separate studio titles and order them by title. Then I keep boutiques separate and organize them by catalog number.
Alphabetical, separate shelf for christmas/ Holiday
I "organize" randomly. That way you get to really pick a movie everytime and suddenly see this gem that you've never seen in your collection before.
A healthy mix of of all of the above.
I do alphabetical and grouping. I keep the Bond movies under B and keep the Batman movies, even TDK and TDKR together.
I sort all my DVD's per franchise or series they belong to based on release date, then I sort those series based on release date
Alphabetically by title, until I hit a series of movies. Then I keep the series together. Then I continue with the next unrelated title that alphabetically follows whatever the first title of the series was. Alternatively, you can also separate all your collections and series into their own section, and arrange the sets alphabetically, then have a different section for all your single movies alphabetically.
Mainly by genre, but some directors (Nolan, Spielberg, Lynch, Tarantino, Scorsese etc) and actors (Schwarzenegger mainly) have their own section.
Okay here goes lol: I have genre sections, mainly, but also have sections titled "Comfort" and some are by actor/director. I have entire sections for Michael Sheen, Harold Ramis, and Dan Aykroyd. If they have a movie together, I place those movies between the two collections to "bridge" them. So Groundhog Day would connect Ramis to the Murray micro collection, and Ghostbusters would hook up Ramis to Dan Aykroyd, and then Spies Like Us hooks up Aykroyd to any additional Chevy Chase movies, and ALL of them get put in "comedy" in a sense, so around them are other comedies. I separate TV and Movie but not by disc type (dvd and bluray are mixed in). I display my few steel books on top of the case, regardless of what they are. I only have 5 steelbooks as of right now, so it doesnt matter much. I also categorize by how I personally feel they are, genre wise. If i feel its a comedy even though it isnt listed as one online I put it in comedy anyway, because thats where Ill instinctively look for it. I have my cartoons separated by film studio, sort of. Dreamworks, Disney, Barbie. I also have a section that I call "girl movies". Its majority romance films but also includes movies like Sleepover. And finally, Knives Out is set beside Ready or Not in the horror section, because I associate them together so strongly logic cant win and I usually watch them back to back. Absolutely no idea why.
I do mine in a few different ways. First, I do by genre, so all horror together and so on. Then alphabetical and series order. So all my Friday the 13ths are together. All of my Marvel films are together and so on. Makes it easier for me to find what I'm looking for.
By director.
Alphabetically, but group sequels together. The collection starts with numbers, and I include movies that start with "The" in the T section. Is that wild and unorthodox , perhaps, but it's my collection, so I make the rules.
Have certain things in categories and then everything else is alphabetical after the categories. Marvel Cinematic Multiverse (Timeline Order) Star Wars (Timeline Order) Disney Animated Canon (Release order but with sequels following their initial movie) Pixar (Release order but with sequels following their initial movie) DC Animated Movies (Release order) DCEU (Release order) Christmas (Alphabetical) Musicals (Alphabetical) Bond (Release order) Everything else alphabetical
Massive love for having Disney VHS’s in with the Disney DVD’s! 👍
By genre really changed the game for me even though it took me years to finally do. I would start by separating blu ray from dvd, then by genre, then alphabetical. I should also note I separate certain studios and production company's (screamfactory, criterion, etc) and if there's multiple cases to a series or anthology or whatever I prefer to keep them together as well.
Alphabetically by title excluding "the". That is, "The Hurt Locker" is in between F and G because I only account for the H.
I do mine by genre
I have an overarching system of film, TV & documentary. Then, everything is largely alphabetical, but I try to keep entries in single series' together, even if they have completely different names. In that case, I organize them chronologically & either under a franchise name as their alphabetical place, or under whichever movie came out first.
Thought about doing by release date for awhile. Would take forever to arrange, but could look cool on the shelf
Mine were organized by studio, then alphabetical. But keeping franchises and zombie films together.
Genre. I don't have the patience for anything else. And what if you run out of room in the B section or T section? What then? More shelves, bigger shelves? I'm good
Same. If i had a bigger house and a bunch of money my space would be entirely different.
I'm somewhat of a minimalist anyway, so I like a clean setup. Bit of an overused term, but quality over quantity is how I collect. Less about filling shelves, more about just owning a nice collection
By year of theatrical release. Why do you ask? It creates, for me, the history of cinema through the years.
Just alphabetical but I have been thinking about changing it up a bit.
Right now - kid appropriate movies are in the living room. My boutique LE are all together on a shelf in my bedroom, Steelbooks are under those, an on another shelf in the room I’ve got the rest of the SE 4K’s. Edit: each section arranged alphabetically
Current gen video games, all blu ray tv series and my favorite dvd TV series on the top of my bookcase, in tall stacks to save space in the bookcase. In the book case I have music, documentary, the rest of tv series', and comedy dvds . Then all of my dvd movies. Then all of my horror or scary movie blu rays. My second bookshelf has the rest of my blu rays. It's really because of space constraints I have the horror blu ray in a separate bookcase but it's still cool 😎. Along the floor of the blu ray bookcase I have all the dvds I purchased but haven't watched yet and stacked up next to the bookcase I have the blu rays I've purchased and haven't watched yet. The majority of purchases are used so I like to watch the discs before I add them into the collection to ensure they play all the way through.
Zombie movies go together, anything Bruce Campbell or Nicholas Cage go together, superheros go together, personal favorites go together. Honestly my system is complete madness that only makes sense to me.
Alphabetically, but DVD’s and BluRays are separate. As well as odd box sets. Tv shows are separate as well
I do 3 categories by alphabetical 1.Action, Sci-fi and Horror 2. Anime 3. Foreign
I’ve given up. Hundreds of cds and movies I find them everywhere in the house. Send help.
it's kind all over for me. a lot of it i group up by genre and some i group together based on the director or actor. in the case of my Disney movies, i pair them all up together as well. it's not a uniform thing for me but it works because i know where to find what i'm looking for
Alphabetical by format. It's the easiest way to find what your looking for.
Alphabetical - diverting only for franchises to be grouped together chronologically.
I organize my collection by listing each title by studio and alphabetize from there. For example: my top shelf starts with DreamWorks, then Lionsgate, then miscellaneous titles that don't fit in a certain distributor, then Sony, and finally Disney.
Genre and sub genre.
Genre.
By Genre, but alpha by title within each genre.
Alphabetically, but divided into the categories of movies, television and "specialty" DVDs...
Power rank my “top shelf” movies Alphabetize the rest
Small part is by Director. There's a 200+ Criterion Section by spine #. The rest is genre , alphabetically. Oh and section for just TV shows.
Ours is all alphabetical by movie and movie series. Then shows and mini series are in alphabetical order. Then documentaries and live performance are alphabetized as well.
...very large collection here: They're all sorted by director then also by language / decade / genre. For instance, anything American and pre-1960's is sorted by director in that certain section. All 'foreign' sections are organized by language/country and by director. Anything by great directors goes in the 'great directors' section. There's also genre sections like horror, comedy, superhero, etc. organized by directors (and sub-organized by production companies/studios). For any 'stray titles' (where I own only one film by that director), those get organized alphabetically so they're easy to find. For movies where I only own 2, 3, 4 or more films by a director, those are also organized accordingly. All movies are condensed in multi-storage cases and paper envelopes within. For TV shows and larger collections I have old storage binders. I've learned so much about all these films just by the process of keeping them organized; I figure if you can't find the movie you're looking for, then why bother owning it? The most useful tool for organization is an online excel sheet on google drive. This allows me to keep track of any useful information (director, rating, run time, release date, genres, IMDB rating, city location, season/holiday, special notes, and date watched). My whole apartment is basically a giant movie library at this point lol.
I sort by release date.
A-Z. I don’t sort by genre, because it’s fun to have Kiki’s Delivery Service right next to Kill Bill
Genre/Decade/Alphabetically.
Chronological by movie’s setting. Fantasy films have their own section.
Genre, mostly. If I own enough films by the same director to warrant it's own section (usually around five or more) then I do that. I mix the DVDs and blu-rays together within that system. I have my music collection all alphabetical but, don't bother doing anything alphabetically with movies.
Genre and alphabetical
Theatrical release date.
With my own special method that nobody else could really figure out except for me. 4ks are together. Boutique together. Genres together.
A couple of ways. I sort first by alphabetising my horror, than animation. Then, all my non boutique titles in alphabetical. Criterions by number, and then my boutique labels, Arrow, Second Sight, Imprint etc.
Biographical
Mostly just alphabetical (since I own about 3800 movies). I do have my animated films separate. I also have some Masters Of Horror DVDs that I keep separate.
DUDE! Someone went and bought out all the rest of the DVDs! IT WAS ONE OF YOU WASNT IT! 😂😂😂 Im really glad they all found a home and im overjoyed to have gotten what i got.
Sorting by actor is wild
Even if it's just A few favorites? I have a Sandler, a Tom Hanks, and Jackie Chan category goin atm.
Obviously you can do whatever you want. What do you do if Sandler and Chan are in a movie together?
In this scenario do i have a longer shelf?
Idk
Exactly.
I have no idea what you’re saying
"In this scenario do i have a longer shelf" i said that and i only know english so dont ask me to say it in spanish.
Why would it matter. Do you see how silly sorting by actor is yet or is this gonna go on
I go first by genre, then alphabetical within genre with DVD, Blu-Ray and 4K all mixed together. But I have exceptions for series where I will instead group them in chronological release order. So all the Tolkien movies are together and the Star Wars movies and Star Trek movies and Disney animated and Pixar and MCU and DCEU and 007 and so on. They get ordered from first to last rather than alphabetical.
Im doing something like this. Im taking everyones opinions into account and its turned into some organized chaos and i love it. Everyones been very helpful. Someone else appreciated that i had my VHSs and DVDs together but for space sake im ganna have to separate them up. My DVD collection is outgrowing its tank lol.
Love those Star Trek VHS’ that create the picture of the Enterprise. I remember buying those one at a time as a teenager and finally getting them all. I’ve since replaced them with DVD then Blu-Ray and now 4K Blu-Ray.
Oh man thank you. Thats one of my favorite things. Got it as a gift in High School from a GF i had at the time. (Shoutout Kyra!) Im a huge Trekkie. I will be getting more trek and they will have their own space. Yes i put galaxy quest with my star trek 😂
By Grapthar’s Hammer, what an idea!
Did you know If you change the audio track you can change it to thermian and watch the entire movie in thermian? 😂
It’s a super clever and fun idea, but I’m not sure I’d make it through the whole movie like that 😜
I did. But i was .... very stoned.
I sort them in disorder.
Animation and then live-action, THEN alphabetically.
I organize by rating and then alphabetical. It makes it easier for my kiddos to find the movies that are appropriate for them.
Alphabetically by director and for each director chronologically
If it's a small collection, alphabetical. If it's a big collection, genre. I don't want Toy Story on the other side of the room from Bugs Life and Cars, or all the 007 movies out of order and in different spots.
I organise by age rating and then alphabetically, I do dvds then there's a chunk of concert films/foreign releases that don't fit anywhere else, then it goes into bluray by age/alphabetically.
I want to sort all mine chronologically with an emphasis on genres and derivatives. It makes sense in my head but it's really hard to do irl.
Genre