{"id":171519,"date":"2022-08-17T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-17T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/?p=171519"},"modified":"2022-08-15T16:37:27","modified_gmt":"2022-08-15T21:37:27","slug":"test-audience-screenings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/test-audience-screenings\/","title":{"rendered":"A Guide to Handling Test Audience Screenings for Your Projects"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Find tips and tricks for hosting your own test audience screenings and how to improve your projects with the feedback.<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s always funny to me to watch famous films (or shows) about filmmaking. Not just indie documentaries showing behind-the-scenes of modern avant-garde projects, but I love watching the fictionalized stories of big-budget classic Hollywood productions. One facet of big budget filmmaking (and the films that document or mockument them) always fascinated me: test audience screenings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In part, it\u2019s entertainment, of course, but in many ways, it\u2019s a way to learn about how the big studios actually work\u2014and often, you can see why they still do the things they do.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take, for example, the concept of test audience screenings. For many up-and-coming indie filmmakers, this might not even cross your mind as something you should try out. Yet, if you were to watch the drama unfold behind the scenes from some of your favorite Hollywood classics, these undoubtedly played a massive role in what scenes stayed and what scenes were cut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just because you\u2019re not at that level (yet) doesn\u2019t mean you shouldn\u2019t include things like test screenings in your filmmaking process. It’s more attainable than you might think. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, for anyone interested in conducting an audience test screening for their big feature or more naturally hosting some friends over to watch and review your latest short film, let\u2019s get some tips to help you make the most of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Give Context and Set Expectations<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Now let\u2019s dive into some actual tricks for handling your test audience screenings. First and foremost, while it might be fun to just have friends over and show them a film, if you really want to get feedback and data from them to help inform your editing decisions, then you need to provide context and set expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means being clear beforehand on what your project is, what point of the process it is at, and what your goals are for the feedback. (If you\u2019re just fishing for compliments, at least be up front about it. But if you do genuinely want to know people\u2019s thoughts on how your characters are developing, the soundtrack is mixing with the audio, or if the dialogue is coming out naturally, then ask for your audience to be mindful of these things up front.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Specific Feedback Over General<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

From there, the name of the game is specific. Trust me, no one benefits from broad statements or wide-ranging feedback. For example, \u201cI thought it felt uneven and too loud at times,\u201d is really hard to work with. However, \u201cI thought the scene where we introduce our protagonist felt forced,\u201d and \u201cthe sound effects were too loud in the train scene,\u201d are much more helpful\u2014and not that hard to solicit either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If they want to give you general encouragement though that\u2019s great, just remind them though that it doesn\u2019t ultimately help the process. Overall, try to remind your viewers to remember that any feedback they give should be with the purpose of you making a specific change in your film to make it better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Try Different Online Test Screenings<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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