Lessons From the First Screening

May 31, 2010

After working on The Drawing for six months, I finally finished in mid April.  Cinereach, (the group that sponsored my film along with three others as part of their Reach Fellowship), organized a screening at the Sunshine Cinema for all the fellows and it was my first chance to see the film with an audience.  The experience was uncomfortable and invaluable.

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There’s always a bit of pain involved when I watch one of my films with an audience because I see all the mistakes, but I also feel that this is the closest I get to objectively viewing the movie.  When I’m surrounded by audience members I’m aware of their reactions, which helps me judge the film, but more importantly I’m detached from the piece because I know I can’t change it.  As long as I’m watching the footage in an editing suite or at a test screening, I’m analyzing it.  I’m thinking about whether a certain shot should be 3 or 4 frames shorter or if there is a better take of a given moment.  Once I’m in a theater I have to give up all that because I know that there is no going back and making changes, and that makes me more receptive to the film.  I feel that watching my movies this way, even though it’s uncomfortable, is the only way I can grow as a filmmaker.  It teaches me what I need to do better next time.

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The biggest lesson I learned this time around?  The necessity of tension and clarity.  I think I’m going to write these two words on an index card and keep it in front of me at all times when I’m making my next movie.  I had these elements in the back of my mind throughout the production process, but the screening brought home their importance.

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Without the question, “What is going to happen next?” (aka tension), the audience has no reason to keep watching.  Part of the challenge in making a short film is setting up the fundamental question of the story at the very beginning.  With a feature you might be able to divert the audience’s attention with minor questions while building to the fundamental one, but with a short it has to be right up front in order to hook the audience.  I did ok with this.  My question was “Will the brothers overcome their differences and form a bond?” and it is stated within the first minute of the film, but this brings me to my second point.

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The tension has to be stated clearly.  This may sound obvious, but in my film, for example, I didn’t immediately clarify the stakes.  The audience is curious to see if the brothers will form a bond, but the importance of that bond only becomes clear halfway through the movie.  A good counter-example is The Maltese Falcon.  Immediately following the opening titles we are in Sam Spade’s office and Brigid O’Shaunessey is setting up the question, (a mysterious man has something she wants and Spade will try to get it), and clarifying the stakes, (a lot of money on one side and death on the other)*.  The dialogue is a little expository, but the viewer is immediately engaged.  The stakes are one aspect of the question that needs to be stated clearly, (the obstacle is another big one), but every question is unique, and I’ve found that each has to be stated clearly according to its own demands and characteristics.

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The need for clarity extends beyond setting up the fundamental question.  At the screening, the moments the audience really reacted to were the ones where the story was clearest.  When the set-up of the action and the intentions of the characters were clear, the moment worked.  The reverse was also true regardless of great lighting, a well delivered line, or any other non-story elegance.  Of course the best moments are the ones where all these elements come together, and I had a couple of these, but clarity in the story trumps all else.

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On paper this sounds very simple.  In practice, for me, it’s been a lot more complicated.  But what holds true is that I learn more and more with each project.

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