What can I say besides I'm grateful, thankful, excited and more motivated than ever to get Every Other Night out to the masses.
With that out of the way. Here is a list of take-aways from the screening:
*Disclaimer - This is from what I was directly told, overheard, remember and what I observed. I reserve the right to be wrong.
Comedy
Received laughs when we expected to receive laughs. (Excellent.)
Received laughs when we didn't expect to receive laughs. (Even more excellent.)
Didn't get any laughing when expecting to get laughs. (If I recall correctly.)
Violence
Received the expected reactions on certain scenes.
There were two? places were we didn't get a reaction when expected too, but that's okay.
Acting
To be fair and transparent, this viewers did know and have worked with both Val and Allison on many projects. So of course there could be some biased feedback and/or some favoritism, but hey, this was a private screening. I knew going into this who 'most' of the viewers would be.
That said, most comments I did hear was both Val and Allison did a great job in each of their roles. So there you go.
Story
Viewers understood the story and was being told/shown.
A few viewers shared with me their own struggles with snoring and found it comical and creative.
One comment that did standout to me was asking if this was a dream. This one has stuck with me over the past few days. I really need to review the short again with that comment in mind. It is fair question which really makes me think if this aspect is present or not. (Thanks You Frank for that observation.)
Pace/Timing/Editing
Overall people enjoyed the pace.
Viewers enjoyed the building escalation and how it cut speed up.
Bottomline is it kept viewers attention.
There was one comment that again Rob and I need to look at is the beginning might have some spot where some more air can be taken out to help not only reduce the over time of the short, but to get to the point earlier. Again, another fair observation to be considered.
VFX
Received a lot of positive feedback on this topic. Which again a testament to the quality of work Rob can do.
Cinematography
No one really made any direct comments about this. Which is fine because again, this was not the final, graded version.
Sound/Score/Music/Etc.
No one really mentioned any thing directly to me about this. So maybe next time we direct/ask for feedback on this. Honestly I wasn't too concerned with this, but it is a large factor in any production.
I did observe that viewers were bobbing their heads to the speed metal track.
Final Thoughts
Every Other Night was well received in my honest assessment. That goal right there is really the goal every filmmaker, writer, creative is trying to chase. The feedback one receives during these type of events is usually positive and or course could have some biases. So I will always take that into consideration.
Now for my 'different hats on' perspective:
With my writers hat on: Story was received and understood. I will need to go back and review with the comment about it being a dream. I 'think' we're okay, but I want to make sure we're clear.
With my director/editors hat on: I think there are places where we can tighten it up with some small cuts; nothing major all just really minor.
With my sound designer hat on: Some pieces could be have the volume raised up, some places the volume can be dropped down a bit. Again, nothing huge but it needs addressed.
Other things that Rob and I know: We'll need to adjust the grade it was dark AF. Tighten up some of the visual effects. I think that's it.
In closing, I think it is a great opportunity if one can to do this type of screening with fellow filmmakers, writers, actors, etc because, I know for one, I (hope) can expect them to be honest with their criticisms as I would be if asked to do for them. I do want to be able to conduct a legit survey in the future before we actually have an official premiere but we'll see if we can get that setup.
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