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August 12, 2006

Unscripted, pt. 2

GDMF had its first public screening this evening, and aside from the fact that the sound was horrendous (not our fault, completely), it went really well. James wasn't sure if the audience was enjoying it, but as it's the sort of film that doesn't really exude positive vibes, I don't think the lack of audible response was a gauge of much. More telling were the two people who walked out - but considering the scene they left in, it's probably a sign that we did something right.

I wrote back in May that I wasn't sure the film was going to work, that it might need some reshoots, that the improvisational approach had muddled the film. And indeed, it was certainly riddled with problems - but we'd also just finished that cut in the space of a week, and I wasn't at a point where, as an editor, I couldn't look at it with any constructive objecitivity. So we went off to New York and forgot about it, then I stayed gone for a few more weeks while James went back and played around with some of the more troublesome scenes and figured out what exactly he wanted them to be; what he was guiding the actors towards back when we shot it. And as it turns out, everything we needed was there. More than we needed, in some cases. We cut out a few unnecessary scenes, lengthened another by about five minutes, and rearranged others to tighten the focus of the story. And now it's really strong, and I'm pretty proud of it, and proud of James for making it. I actually love watching it.

Even tonight, when the sound quality made it almost unbearable. Where did all that bass come from?

Posted by David Lowery at August 12, 2006 03:23 AM

Comments

Posted by: frank at August 13, 2006 06:11 PM

Posted by: Bryan Poyser at August 14, 2006 01:56 AM