The Ian Report #511 - Fallout From The Screening

The screening went swimmingly! There was a great turnout, and the response was quite positive. I think a lot of folks were kind of blown away by the changes between version 13 an 14.

What I think is interesting is that each screening version sets a new status quo, both in story and VFX. We do a pass getting rid of all the problems that jump out at us, but once those are fixed, the things that weren't quite as big of problems before are suddenly as big a problem as the stuff we just fixed. It feels good to be able to say that I think we're finally just getting down to the nitpicks (the stuff that, years ago, we wouldn't ever have believed we'd be specific enough to address). Basically just an effective process of going over it with finer and finer sandpaper.

I'll be honest with you guys; a lot of energy is being spent retroactively fixing things that would have been a fairly easy fix back when writing the original script. Obviously, you don't want to get stuck in the trap of infinite rewrites (so easy to fall into!) but an extra month in pre-production could save you five in post.

Everyone filled out little sheets and stuff, which was pretty great, and I've had a pretty fun time reading over all of the responses from everyone. A few people suggested some really simple but equally dramatic changes that could be done with just a little voice over work, that I think might actually give an entirely different edge to the beginning of the movie (and make the antagonists a bit more antagonisty).

We may be having a meeting tomorrow to discuss the pros and cons of changes we may want to implement, which'll be good! I'll let you know how it goes!

Ian Hubert
Writer Director

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