Week 12 Workshop: Screening and critique

A near-final cut is screened for critique, and each director defends three decisions before revising toward the final cut

17 May 2027

Production walkthrough: See how The Last One carried out this stage in a real production.

Before the workshop#

Bring your near-final cut and your director’s statement so far.

In the workshop#

Work in parallel groups of four or five. Each group runs its own screening and critique round; this is not a whole-class screening. Rotate the timekeeper and note-taker so every director receives the same time and a written record of the feedback.

Activity 1 — Recap and final pass (10 min)#

Instructions: State the lecture’s distinction between critique as a specific alternative and critique as a feeling with nowhere to land. Run a last continuity and quality check on your cut against your locked bible, and confirm it screens unattended in under four minutes.

Expected output: A near-final cut, checked and timed, ready to screen without introduction.

Activity 2 — Screening round (40 min)#

Instructions: Within your group, films screen back to back, no introductions and no explanation from the director beforehand. Watch each one the way an unattended audience would — nothing said needs to make sense of it that isn’t already on screen.

Expected output: Every film in the group screened cold, in sequence.

Activity 3 — Critique and defend (40 min)#

Instructions: After the screening round, return to each film in turn. Divide the 40 minutes equally between directors (eight minutes each in a group of five, ten in a group of four). Peers ask about three decisions, proposing a specific alternative for each rather than a general impression. The director answers for all three decisions, defending the choice actually made against the specific alternative raised, and names honestly where a decision was actually a limitation routed around rather than a choice.

Expected output: Three directorial decisions named and defended per director, against specific alternatives raised by their group, with notes recorded for the revision period.

Activity 4 — Choose the revision note (20 min)#

Instructions: Of every note raised about your film, pick the one that actually changes something if acted on — not the one easiest to fix, or the one that stings most. Write it down as the one thing the revision period will be spent on.

Expected output: One specific, written critique note you intend to act on before the final cut.

Activity 5 — Completion check (10 min)#

Instructions: Walk the three spec bullets together. Did your cut screen unattended, under four minutes, with no explanation needed? Did you name and defend three decisions against specific alternatives? Do you have one specific note you intend to act on?

Expected output: All three spec bullets verified.

Afterwards#

The critique you gave and received today is itself evidence for the reflection the final project asks for. You have until the final project deadline to revise — spend it on the note that actually changes something, not on polish nobody named.