Our film showed last night at the Kendall- I’m posting a link to the showing here, so that you can see for yourself what this was like. At this stage in our moviemaking, it’s not that having the short up on the screen is important- it’s not- it’s that getting the audience’s reaction, seeing what beats hit and what were missed, is valuable to gauge what and how to do next.
We had a pretty good turn out, with many of our actors and actresses (to whom I am deeply sorry) showing up to watch, and of course Sara, Tom, and myself there as well. It was Tom’s first time seeing the short, and I (foolishly) tried to set his expectations low by telling him that it wasn’t perfect, and that I hoped he’d be okay with it.
I think that he was a touch suspicious then, to see how badly we might have butchered his script…
They played the films in worst-to-best order, with the first couple being hilariously campy efforts by college kids and what seemed to be a group of stoned 30-ish’s। Our film, oddly enough, was smack in the middle of the pack, which is maybe a “feel good” comment on it- and it really served as the beacon or turning point between what was generally mediocre or bad, and what was pretty good to unfuckingbelievable.
Let me stop here and comment- the film “Composition” by Bait & Tackle was the best short I think that I’ve ever seen, anyplace. They obviously had a serious crew, and some God-given talent (nice to see that they’re not a bunch of 20 year olds!). I really have to give it to them- not important, as someone much more important than I certainly will. They’re raised the bar beyond what I could expect, and will more than likely take the whole competition this year. I really look forward to seeing the Best of, because if they have competition, it’s going to make for some other great flicks.
All of that said, when it came time and our piece played, people did laugh at some key parts (like when Tristan mouthed “what the FUCK” as the crazy lady offered a cookie), and they seemed to “get it” generally, which is more than I expected. The bad part came at the last scene, as Tristan delivered his final line, the punch line, and the audio dropped out entirely- we watched him give the line in silence, and the audience sat in some amount of confusion. I was stunned, but not entirely caught off-guard; these things happen.
It still sucked.
After the showing, Tom and I got up to be part of the filmmaker’s Q&A panel, and we each answered a few questions based on our experiences- I was concerned that he’d want to hide after seeing the result of our work, but he took it like a champ and still seems cool about it.
Expectations
We hit the expectations that I had- that we could make a short in 48 (again) that was better than the last one technically, and in such a way that our team would have fun doing it while having a good experience in the process.
Which means that I didn’t set expectations for the quality of the film itself. It’s my failing, my weakness, that I focused more on the experience; something that it was necessary to do in order that any momentum we built with this would not be lost and that we could progress further. I thought (and still think) that it was necessary to make a safe culture, a good place, for us to work in order that we could build and grow. Therefore, I should say that I had no expectations about the quality of the final piece, just of the quality of the production itself.
Next time will be a bit different. There are a few positions that we need to flesh out to gear up for the next level.
Location Sound Specialist
Editor – Tristan ?
Post-Production Music Assistant
Effects & Titles Artist – Sara?
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