Pinpointing Your Film’s Frailties

I received some great questions this week from readers of this column that I’ll use as I finish my new documentary post-production guide. Stay tuned for the announcement next week. I’m very grateful for readers’ input because many of the problems that filmmakers face in post-production are universal, and the input will make this new program even more effective.

To that end, I want to share a story that you may be able to relate to.  One of my story consulting clients held a disastrous rough cut screening earlier this year. He had invited several filmmakers to watch his provocative work-in-progress. He asked for feedback “strictly about structure”. Instead he received feedback that viewers found his film’s subject matter inspiring or alienating, depending on their political proclivities.

The problem is that this filmmaker expected guidance on his documentary’s structure and instead received opinions about the film’s subject matter. This frequently happens. While opinionated comments are wonderful after a completed film’s screening, such “feedback” generally clouds the goal of a rough cut screening: to pinpoint problems that you and your post-production team are too close to see, so you can fix them.

A carefully orchestrated rough-cut screening is an essential step in the post-production process. I’ve written a detailed guide that you can get for free at:

https://newdocediting.com/client-resources/documentary_fil_rough_cut_screening/

In this column, I want to give you two big tips for your rough cut screening.

You’ll recall that my client had asked his test audience to focus strictly on structure. You would think that a group of filmmakers could do that, but the truth is that most people who are not trained to analyze rough cuts on a daily basis are likely to get caught up in your documentary’s drama (for character-based films) or provocative thesis (for topic-based docs). The good news is that beneath these emotional reactions, most laypeople and filmmakers will be able to pinpoint your rough cut’s problem areas.

As veteran filmmaker Jon Else says, test audiences are always right about what’s wrong with your film. But they’re rarely right about how to fix it.

Lesson: use the rough cut screening as a tool to identify problems, not solutions. Use a story consultant (and editor) to troubleshoot those problems and find answers. That process is the gist of my exciting new program, which I will make available next week.

For now, let me recommend that in your rough cut screening, you:

1. Use A Questionnaire

Design a simple questionnaire to hand out immediately after the screening. This allows viewers to record their fresh impressions before they are swayed by the group discussion. Make the questionnaire anonymous so people feel free to tell you exactly what they think without fear of hurting your feelings. Pose 7 to 10 questions. Start with an open-ended query designed to get at their overall emotional take on the material and its point of view. You want to get viewers’ polemic reactions to the topic out the way, as well as get a preview of how your film will land when it’s completed and the credits roll.

Try something simple like, “What did you think of the film?” Then progress to more specific issues (i.e., “what did you think of the music?”) that you and your post-production team are pondering. For more ideas about what to ask on the questionnaire, go to:

 https://newdocediting.com/client-resources/documentary_fil_rough_cut_screening/

2. Shut Up and Listen

During the discussion, you may be tempted to explain your choice of scenes or defend your ordering of the material. But trying to educate your test audience on what you were trying to accomplish is a waste of valuable feedback time.

Besides, if someone says they were bored in the middle of the film, you can’t argue with them. Feedback such as “I was bored from the get-go”, or “the film took forever to end” or “I was confused by such and such” is exactly the kind of structural information you need to identify and later fix problem areas. Try to elicit from your viewers precisely when they felt what they felt, and you’ll be halfway toward improving your documentary.

Armed with this valuable feedback, you and your post-production team are ready to brainstorm and craft solutions to your film’s weak areas. See my upcoming program for troubleshooting and fixing specific structural problems.

For a free copy of “How to Hold a Successful Rough Cut Screening,” go to https://newdocediting.com/client-resources/documentary_fil_rough_cut_screening/