As the film & television industry moves from it’s relationship and gut driven business decision to a more metrics driven industry the onus is falling on the producer to prove the numbers behind their claims. Test screenings are a great way to both show what the audience thinks of your film. But additionally its helping films understand who the early adopters of their film are and which demographic to target their markting to and advising a lot of their decisions.
What are Test Screenings?
A test screening is a preview screening of a film or television show before its general release in order to gauge audience reaction. Preview audiences are selected from a cross-section of the population, and are usually asked to complete a questionnaire or provide feedback in some form. It is a valid source of getting some idea of the audience response to a rough cut. Feedback from a test screening may be used to alter the film before it is released. Everything from changing the title to changing the ending is possible after a test screening.
Test screenings are recommended even for starting filmmakers even if a film festival is fast approaching. While few directors take solace in the brutal feedback a group of strangers may give his baby, capital and distributors want the feedback data to see how they can maximize returns.
Is it really important to test screen my film?
From an investor’s point of view, every film is a new venture. New ventures don’t have a readymade market waiting to buy their products, they have to find them or build them from scratch. Unless you are an established film franchise your audiences will not know exactly what your film is about or if they will like it. Therefore, there is no guarantee people will go see it in enough numbers to make a profit. A lot of films are made about best-selling books, famous people or comic books because they already have an established market and audience base which gives investors a better chance of getting their money back. But even that is not enough to know whether the film will appeal to the audiences, which is why almost every film goes through the process of test screening. The test screening is a preview of audiences’ response to the film and whether the film has a market or not, if not then what can be changed to get a better response.
Examples of prominent test screening changes.
During the test screening of Shaun of the Dead before the film’s special effects were completed, audiences remarked that the ending was “a bit abrupt” and “lame”. The filmmakers shot and added an extra 15 seconds ending which was liked by the followup press screening audiences, leading to one reviewer changing his earlier bad review and giving it an “extra star”.
Films like Little Shop of Horrors, Mary Poppins, Final Destination, Fatal Attraction, Deep Blue Sea, I Am Legend and Titanic are perfect examples of cases where test screening prompted filmmakers to completely change the ending of the film.
What are the best practices for test screening?
The most widely used method for test screening your film is organizing a theatrical screening and inviting people to watch the film through promotions and giveaways. Theatrical screening provides a very controlled testing environment for the film’s market and you get to gauge audience responses first hand. If taken the necessary precautions to prevent any potential leaks, it can prove to be a very secure option.
Theatrical screening is the most costly option for test screening available to a filmmaker. This heavily outweighs all the pros in cases where the film doesn’t have a big enough budget to afford a theatrical screening. For Indie filmmakers trying to save a few extra grands, the next best option is organizing online test screenings for their film. It definitely doesn’t offer the level of control or interaction that you can have during a theatrical preview, but online screenings still manage to capture the soul of test screenings, which is feedback from your audience.
There are a number of good and secure media sharing platforms out there like Vimeo, Youtube, Cinando, Filmtrack and ofcourse, Indee that you can use for organizing online test screenings. But make sure you go with the one that provides the best security for your video. At Indee, we make the claim that we are the most secure media sharing platform out there but I will let you be a judge of that.
What precautions should I take?
It is best avoid filling an audience with friends and relatives. They will be too emotionally invested in giving you a positive review instead of an honest feedback. Ideally, your test screening audience should be a mix of strangers from all walks of life with a higher concentration of people you think are your target-audience.
Sometimes a negative response about a test screening can create a buzz that can potentially harm the film’s business. But being a filmmaker already puts you into the category of risktakers and the helpful feedback and positive buzz should outweigh the risk involved.
Filmstrategy.com has a standard questionnaire that can be used for feedback during test screening. You can find the link to the questionnaire here.
Please let us know about your experiences with test screening in the comments below.
Image courtesy : http://simplequestionmovie.com/
