Movie 120: The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of Twelve Monkeys

The making and post production of Movie 119: Twelve Monkeys

More or less. It’s the second part that’s the most important here really. As I said yesterday this seems like a bit of a cheat, the documentary was on the same DVD, but its not a normal behind the scenes look

It’s kind of a documentary of two halves. The first deals with some actual making of, and inspires the title. Terry Gilliam has a tendency to become obsessed with a tiny detail and fixates on it being right which delays production. It also leads to him having extremely detailed sets and little touches that you don’t always notice, and is a good thing. Aside from that it’s the usual movie making frustrations

There’s one point where the first actor who was going to play the lead as a boy kinda sucked. This piece of minutae was very important to Terry, and thankfully the back up kid didn’t suck. I know how that feels. I’ve only made the one short myself but it’s a bit heartbreaking when there’s something you had in your head that you just can’t get. I had to change the way a moment worked entirely and it still bugs me thinking about it, so I know how he feels. BUT he can also be a bit of a pain in the arse at times. Bloody artists….

The second half is the most revealing. Not so much the editing and marketing stuff that they cover. That’s interesting and all but is covered plenty of places. No, the interesting part is the test screening.

This would be spoiler territory for a movie but fuck it this is a doc. When they’re in there with the audience, Terry and I think it’s the producers get a damned good vibe from the film. The reaction they want. Everything seems great, but the score cards and sample group come back less than positive.

I have a bit of a problem with test screenings. A lot of the time a film is unfinished and its VERY hard to judge a movie when there are temp scores and effects. It takes you away from the rest of it a bit, unless your used to that kind of thing. Random mall people aren’t used to that, so I think the whole system is flawed.

The main issue with test screenings, which thankfully DIDN’T happen in this case, is that movies are changed based on them. Why? All a test screening should do is tell you who to market your film to. A random sample of a few hundred people shouldn’t have any input on the creative process. Neither should studio executives. If your such a good film maker, make a fucking film don’t mess with the people who are doing it.

Fact is, what happened here should always happen. A few minor changes then the film went out. A studio should know that they want to make a film based on the script and the pre-production. They know what’s coming. They shouldn’t then change things after the fact bar some suggestions that the director either agrees with and changes or doesn’t. That’s it. WHY people have to negotiate for final cut I don’t know….

This is worth a look just for the eye opening second half, but if you can’t stand behind the scenes stuff this won’t change your mind. And Lost In La Mancha was better on a similar subject.

Next up: Crank: High Voltage