10 Things I learned Screening My Movie
10 Things I learned screening my movie
I couldn’t find any info about how to screen a movie properly, so I guess I’ll be the one to tell you how I went about it. And what I learned in the process.
- Movie theaters were $1k at the cheapest. I showed it at a bar in downtown Austin for free that I run a weekly show at. The bar makes money off drinks, and I get an awesome venue to show the movie.
- You never know what connections people have. One friend has an expensive projector, a comic I’m friends with has a giant projection screen, and another comic wants to cater the whole thing at wholesale. Couldn’t have been easier. That was without me even asking around, imagine if I’d even pushed further.
- Actors that have their reels probably won’t show up to the screening. The ones asking for the reel are usually working a lot and are used to seeing themselves on screen. Which is why none of the main actors showed up. Actors with the least lines were the only ones there. Thankfully there were many smaller rolls so we had a good crowd of about 30-40. I felt bad that they all showed up and only got to see themselves on screen for a few seconds.
- Some things I think will be hilarious, get no response. Some moments I think are weak and might need cut get huge reactions. Only a screening can tell you that. Robert Zemeckis was leaning heavy on cutting the guitar solo from ‘Back to the Future’ until the screening went crazy for it.
- Everybody has an opinion. I’ve screened it twice and emailed it to several people. Somebody’s favorite scene can be somebody’s most hated scene. I just look for what everybody seems to be in agreement with.
- When you let an actor improv a line, people think you wrote it. For better or worse.
- I felt like I was bombing because I wasn’t getting the number of laughs per minute I do with stand up. But that ratio is different for a movie. By movie standards, I was killing.
- Everything is magnified on a projector. If it has a cool dark look on a computer, it looks like a god damned film noir on a projector. If you hear background noise on your computer speakers, it’s dialogue crushing on a pa system.
- I’m self-conscious the entire time they’re watching it as it might be like a joke in my head that I think is funny but bombs on stage. Thank god they really liked it.
- After the 1st screening, I want to screen it as many times as possible, like working out new material. Keep what works and cut what doesn’t. Which I’m doing now for the film festival submission.