As I near the picture lock deadline for Ipseity, I have had the opportunity to show my film to people that have not seen, or knew too much about the story. I chose to show it to my parents, who were somewhat aware of my story, and my sister and her fiance. My sister, Jenny, had only heard about my film via Skype conversations, so it was nice to get a real outside perspective on my film. It was also interesting because her fiance is Russian, so I was curious how he would perceive Ipseity.
After the film, I asked them all a series of questions in regards to characters, the relationship between characters and whether there was anything that was unclear. My sister was quick to state that she did not understand the flashbacks Cameron has on her previous relationship with Jake. It wasn't until the third flashback that she understood what was going on and she had a better understanding of Cameron. Another comment she made was that the jump cuts were too distracting for her, which I can understand. It also was unclear to her whether Cameron took the job or not, and she seemed uneasy about it. Her last comment was towards Jake's character and that she wanted to see more of him and his relationship with Cameron. She thoroughly enjoyed the final scene and the final blow to Cameron when Lukas decides to leave.
My dad agreed that the flashbacks were a little confusing at first, but he picked up on it faster than my sister. When my sister would comment on how she didn't get her and Jake's relationship, or the choices she made, my dad actually defended those comments with the correct dissection of the character. Although he had a little knowledge going into, he wasn't as informed as my fellow classmates or teachers that have seen the process from preproduction to now. My dad understood right away why Cameron hesitated about taking the job promotion. He also made a point to say that as he felt for Cameron, he also felt for Jake. That comment was satisfying because in the early drafts of the script I wrote Jake as being a flat out jerk with no other meaning to life, and my instructor at the time persuaded me to write him with an understanding that everyone has a reason for being the way they are, even if they are a jerk. So I did, and I'm glad my dad was able to see Jake's unpleasant nature, but understand enough to feel empathy for him.
Andrey, my sister's fiance, had a harder time following the film because he just moved from Russia to America and his English isn't quite fluent enough. But once my sister cleared some things up for him, he was able to comment on it. He also stated that he felt bad for Jake. He also stemmed a conversation between my family that all of the issues Cameron is having is self-inflicting, yet interesting enough of a story to be intrigued.
In previous rough cuts, the relationship between Cameron and Lukas were unclear. This was important to me to clear up and my mom felt the connection between the two were very clear, in her opinion. Everyone seemed to agree with her statement. Also, people tended to feel the story was about Lukas more in previous cuts. This time around, everyone agreed that the story was about Cameron. I am also glad to hear that everyone understood the characters and each of their inner conflicts, even though they enjoyed debating their actions.
In conclusion, the main points I will have to focus on is making the flashbacks more clear. I think I can approach this issue with color grading and with sound, which was not part of this rough cut. Also, I am going to work on bringing more of Jake in, so there can be more of a connection between Cameron and Jake to the audience. Overall, this screening was very helpful to me to get an outside perspective, especially from the people I care
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