Giving and Receiving Feedback on a Rough Cut

Choose your viewers carefully. Invite three to five people who will be honest and kind. Include at least one person who knows nothing about the project, because they see the film as a real audience will.

Show it without apologizing. Skip the long explanation before the screening. Say that it is a work in progress and press play. If you describe everything in advance, you will not learn what actually confuses people.

Stay quiet and watch the room. Notice when someone laughs, looks at their phone, leans in or looks puzzled. Those reactions are information.

Ask specific questions afterwards. What was happening in the story? Who was the main character? Where did you feel bored? What did you wish you could see more of? Write the answers down without arguing.

Separate problems from solutions. If three people say the middle felt long, that is useful. Their suggestions for how to fix it may or may not be, so decide the fix yourself. Thank people, even for hard comments. Feedback can sting, especially when you have worked for weeks. Take a walk, then come back to your notes.

Giving feedback? Start with what worked. Be specific, such as, I understood the problem right away. Then describe one thing that was unclear, using I statements like I got lost when the scene changed.

Be kind about people, honest about the film. Comment on choices, not on the person who made them. Make a short list of changes. Pick the three that matter most, apply them, and then lock the cut.