My testing strategy for noise film alpha 77 is not too scientific. I brought it to Ben's house and he had some friends and relatives there so they saw the cut (Mona saw it because I was having lunch with her). The reaction of Britton and Elizabeth as outsiders was interesting. I think they were pretty interested in watching until the end when it all got abstract and seemed to peter out. At a certain point all you're seeing is text flashing by on the screen.
> Ben and Elizabeth, unlike Mona, didn't have any trouble understanding the very beginning scene.
> Unlike Mona Ben didn't have any trouble seeing the falling stars.
> Ben thinks the CU of the stars falling is confusing unneeded. I think he's right.
>He thinks the flashback scene of the broken spinner needs to be longer, more of a climax in his character's thinking. Sounds good to me.
>He really liked the interior shot of the spinner box. Much better than the old one. I told him that's one of the shots I did when I finally figured out how to light. It reads as old and mysterious now for him unlike before when he said it was too much like a Hollywood prop.
>The time lapse clouds don't seem to bother him too much, but EVERYONE mentions them in one way or another so I should probably get rid of them. I think they're just too overly dramatic and look like a royalty-free clip.
>I liked Britton's reaction during the bird scene. "What's that, a dead bird?" Then the close up cuts in. That's exactly the response I wanted. The prop seems to have worked well. At least no one tells me it looks fake. I found that styrofoam really looks like bird guts on camera.
>The shrine interior before the microfiche scene doesn't have enough oomph. That gave me the idea to reshoot it with the wide angle.
>Krissy said, "is that microfiche?" I was happy with that... at least it comes across. Better than, what the hell is that?
>Ben thinks there are too many words in the transition from ex nihilo to the red room. He thinks there should only be one long exposition. I think he's right.
>He really liked the red room sequence in terms of it making sense and the color correction. Almost everyone who sees the film thinks it looks nice in general. That's great, but every time I see it I think how much better it would look if I could use better lenses. Ben was also really happy with his bleary eyes that he created by gouging his thumbs into his eye sockets before the shot. No method actor he.
>He still thinks I have to make it clearer that the codex video is coming from the screen. He thinks brightening the screen in the red room will work. I told him I might have to reshoot a slow push in to the screen which is in a cabinet that David gave me. Problem: Ben uses it to keep paint.
>There was something that was bothering him about the last sequence--the ending, but he couldn't figure out what. I think I just cut too fast after head wipe.
>As the camera tilted up into the sky Ben made a white noise sound. He knew it was coming.
>I found that the credits are too small at standard DV resolution.
>Ben hated the final temp piano music (from Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain). Hmm. I thought it was pretty good in terms of mood.
>Ben tells people that this thing took three years to make. In December, it will be four years.
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