Wassup!

Colleen's thoughts on writing, directing and coaching, and her unique take on life itself!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

The Whole Truth is screened!

I'll just say this: it was incredibly successful.

The response was so positive .. and of course we can actually *hear* people laugh, which is the biggest payoff for a comedy.

How difficult it is to sit through a drama you've filmed as the audience sits there tight-lipped - so you never know if they like it until they leave (or you read about it in tomorrow's newspaper).

Stephen Meyers, our editor supreme, and I locked the film today, cutting bits and scenes here and there to make it tighter, a better paced story and staying true to the characters.

I lost two of my favorite scenes. Ow. It hurt to make those decisions. But it has to be done for the sake of a better film. They were fine scenes but the created a small lull in the otherwise fast-paced story. One was just plain downright gorgeous. The other touching.

We'll include them as extras when we create the DVD.

Some of the comments:

"Elisabeth Röhm is phenomenal. She carries the story from the first frame of the film to the last."

"Eric Roberts was unbelievable. I had no idea he could be so f**king funny!"

"I loved Sean Patrick Flanery. He gave the film a real warmth."

"The film is hilarious - and the characters are still believable."

"Loved the music. It was perfect - in the parts where there was music." (The rest of the music is on its way from composer, who will finish scoring the locked film.)

"The film was actually logical. I liked that. Lots of comedies leave logic behind."

"The actors all felt like they were having a great time - like they were having so much fun performing their roles." ('tis true! We all had a wonderful time and want to work together again!)

There were many comments on the excellent acting - straight across the board, from beginning to end - not a weak link in the group.

The most wonderful comments revolved around how entertaining the whole film is - and how it felt like they were seeing a "real movie" - the first they've seen in a long, long time. Our budget may have been limited, but our imaginations and resourcefulness were not. It has the look of a film with a much greater budget - thanks to the whole cast and crew.

Folks left feeling like they were genuinely entertained by a film that didn't take shortcuts or "write down" to its audience or stupid-up the script to get a cheap laugh, even though there are many "over the top" moments.

Producer and hyper critic Larry Estes was in the audience and was *heard* laughing! Executive producer Gary Allen Tucci laughed all the way through the feature. That was *good* news!

Other things viewers loved:

The wardrobe! Rebecca Luke is the general of our clothing batallion in our "aesthetic army!"

The look of the film! Rachel Thomson is our production designer; Ted Barnes the gaffer (lights!)Paul Mailman the DP (camera!), and Greg Smith our grip (action! Moving and coordinating all the electrical cords and stuff).

We can only hope the audience we invite to the January screening feels the same with all the cuts and improvements we've made. We'll also have an elementary sound mix, the proper opening, color correction and special effects included. After that, we have one more go at the edit, proper sound mixing and the film is ready for you to see!

Whew.

Now back to work on pre-production for our next feature, The Lonely Goatherd!

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7 Comments:

  • At 6:02 PM, Blogger The Entertainment Corner said…

    Wicked!
    Wonderful to hear the positive feedback from the screening. I'm very excited for all of you.

    Yes, please do include the cut scenes as extras on the DVD release ... and any singing the cast did in between takes :)

    Anxiously awaiting our chance to see this ...

     
  • At 6:18 PM, Blogger cp said…

    Bonjour, Mireille!

    Et LOL!

    There is so much of us singing between takes - together and a capella - there may be little room left for the film itself!

    I even made up a song for/about Sean that is absolutely silly about one of the scenes in the film, but found pretty funny.

    After you see the film, I'll write it here or maybe even put me singing the ditty on the website.

     
  • At 6:54 PM, Blogger The Entertainment Corner said…

    Bonjour CP!

    Whatever goodies you can share on the DVD will be greatly appreciated... of course!

    You wrote a silly ditty about/for one of Sean's scenes ... I am grinning ear to ear just thinking about it. Can't wait to read/hear you sing it :) :)

    Hope you are doing well and thank you for keeping us all updated.

     
  • At 9:42 PM, Blogger Digger said…

    Wow! Sounds like you couldn't have hoped for a better, more positive screening! Fantastic comments! I've always been *dying* to see it, but now I'm champing at the bit!

     
  • At 3:50 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I can't wait to see this movie: since I live in Italy (and here it's not always possible to see any movies you like, in theaters..as they have strange criteria of selection :S , I was asking myself when, about, a DVD version would be available, maybe in UK too: it's fair easy to have expeditions, from there

    Many congratulations for the movie, I hope you'll have all the success you deserve!!!

    Simon.

     
  • At 10:28 AM, Blogger ryan dot cooper at gmail dot com said…

    This is big news! Glad to hear it went so well. I'm looking forward to seeing at some point. RC

     
  • At 1:09 PM, Blogger Spencer said…

    Hey it's Spencer Howell,

    That is awesome that it went well. I can't wait to see myself in the background as one of the injured! If you ever need a good actor I am more than willing to act. I myself am planning to become a profession movie director and actor when i get older! I have many videos of me on youtube: www.youtube.com/zanitari and I can do a lot of different voices. I am currently planning a video to put up that has a lot of examples of my own voices and characters. I hope you read this and please contact me if you need to use an actor with great potential! Can't wait to see the movie! It was very fun to act in a real movie for once! Good luck with all your movies! You can contact me at metroidphantom@gmail.com if you are interested at all!

    P.S. Give me a chance. I know you won't regret it.

     

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