Half of a capacity crowd, with four of the interviewees and 'TV presenter' Jenni to the fore, with Megan and Talia visible further back.
Two nights ago All Heart was screened for an audience of cast, crew and friends. I’m happy to say it went down extremely well; we had the inevitable cancellations and the obligatory technical problems (and some uninvited snow!), but the problems weren't disastrous and frankly if anyone else had turned up we’d have had to hang them from the ceiling. The room was rammed. After watching it with small test audiences (including my family who sometimes didn’t laugh because they weren't sure double-entendres about lesbian sexual practices were intentional...) it was gratifying to have 60+ people, enough to ensure that some of them would get each joke and prompt the others to enjoy.
The other half of the crowd; interviewee Lucy far left, musicians Luke and Joe red-eyed at the back.
We had, I admit, disappointingly few of the main cast, due to various hitches and glitches, but crucially the three leads were there, and were very pleased with how the film turned out. I also had compliments from several people I consider quite difficult to please. Which was nice.
Talia, Jess & Megan with an example of my prop-making...
So, a success. And I managed to relax for nearly a whole day afterwards – guilt at not working didn’t kick in until fairly late afternoon…
In the interim between this and the previous post, the film has acquired a Facebook page, and I’ve had a third attempt at a trailer, which still doesn't seem to quite encapsulate the film; I suspect starting right from scratch is the best approach.
So, what next? There are still some grading issues to try to resolve, and some minor tweaks to sound. The soundtrack from Luke and Joe was delivered just in time to slap it on the cut, but that needs a little adjustment, too.
Dunno why this guy doesn't sit down so we can get on with it...
A branch of Britain’s oldest cinema, The Duke of York’s Picturehouse, have expressed an interest in the film as a possible part of their proposed new night, Visions of Brighton, so we’ll see what develops there. There are festivals to consider; I might be able to get the whole thing done and dusted for the final Raindance deadline.
For now, I’m at least, oh...0.0001% more relaxed than I have been for a while. The process of editing has been a long one (unsurprisingly) and I have to admit a very lonely one. (That is of course partly my fault, as I could have involved others, but I really felt I wanted see what I could put together on my own before asking for feedback.) I missed the companionship of filming, and in particular my three leads, all so easy to work with – not to mention indispensable production assistant Sophie. On Wednesday night, awash in waves of goodwill, I felt rather less alone.
And a flashback to the beginning; Jess & Talia during our first visit to the main location.
