Screening, critique, and the revision to final cut#
Week 12 — SLOP4555
The critique skill, turned on your own film#
Week 9 taught you to name exactly what’s broken in a sequence and decide fix or accept. This week asks the same question about the film you made, in front of your workshop group.
Lecture models; workshop practises#
Lecture: quality checks, specific critique, decision defence and honest limits, demonstrated on “Before It Stops” excerpts.
Compare a vague defence with one naming an alternative; practise one critique and a fix-or-retain judgement.
Workshop: groups of 4–5, cold screenings, three defended decisions per director, then one note to act on before the deadline.
A ritual shared across real directing programs#
AFI’s dailies review, NYU’s weekly Master Class, NFTS’s rushes cinemas — work in progress screened to a group on a fixed cadence, not just marked at the end.
The workshop adapts that format in parallel small groups: screen cold, then defend three decisions.
Critique means naming a decision, not a feeling#
“I’d have cut to her reaction sooner” is a critique. “It felt slow” isn’t — it has nowhere to land, the same problem a wish has versus a note.
Defend the choice you actually made, against the specific alternative raised.
A worked defence#
“Show Theo’s photo somewhere.” — Cut in week 6: the reach-and-stop insert already argues the estrangement.
“Start music under the first ring.” — The actual Week 11 cue enters near the reach at 17.6 s, placing its claim on attempted contact.
“Cut the wait before the reach.” — A pause may let the packing-task interruption register; B also missed immediate response. Distinguish an editorial decision to retain the pause from the generated timing failure.
Three practice challenges to recorded choices, not a report of a class screening.
Authorship: choice versus limitation#
Separate a directorial decision you made on purpose from a limitation you routed around. Both are real. Only one is a choice you’d defend.
The revision period is not slack#
| Milestone | When |
|---|---|
| Screening | today |
| Final cut due | 11 days later |
| The gap | the revision period |
Pick the one note from today that’s worth acting on. Leave the rest.
What actually transfers#
direct → generate → evaluate → redirect
This loop doesn’t belong to this semester’s specific tools. It’s the same loop from week 1, and it’s what’s left once the tools change.
This week’s task#
In groups of four or five, screen your near-final cut with no introduction. Then divide 40 minutes equally between directors. Peers propose alternatives for three decisions; defend each choice. Rotate timekeeper and note-taker. Leave with one critique note you intend to act on.
What you leave with#
A near-final cut that’s been defended out loud, and one specific note to act on before the final deadline.
Spend the revision period on the note that actually changes something — not on polish nobody named.