Screenings, shirts, and our current status
What a summer it’s been, we’ve been a little out of touch on here but the crew has been hard at work putting the finishing touches on the film. Thanks to help from Origins Gallery and Spread Sunshine for Josh we were able to host two different test screenings of the film over the past few weeks. In Nazareth, we screened the film at an event sponsored by “Spread Sunshine for Josh”, at the Nazareth Borough Park to an audience of about fifty people. This served not only as a fantastic fundraising and awareness opportunity for the film, but also provided us with vital feedback to lead towards continuing refinement.
We took the feedback we were provided with and immediately dove back into editing, trimming and reshaping certain passages to make sure our message is clearly communicated.
Some of the tasks were particularly straining, such as watching hours and hours of news reports about suicide and mental health, or returning to our archive of home movies and pictures surrounding some of our subjects. But these efforts really bring the film together in helping our audience connect with the stories we’re telling.
It’s always a balancing act, trying to figure out where the line is between what’s appropriate and what’s beneficial in telling these stories, so a lot of thought and discussion goes into these changes and we’re really glad to have the time to be able to do things the way we always intended.
We’ve also started reshooting some of the earliest interviews we had filmed. Our equipment, experience, and direction has evolved a lot over the three years since we started this whole adventure, and we felt it best to revisit some of these earlier stories. Not only was it great to have a better idea of the final direction of the film during the interview, but it was beneficial to see how our subjects lives have changed in the years since we initially filmed. On the subject of music, Becca Tomlinson is taking over from Graham Vasquez as Lead Composer. We’re very thankful for everything Graham has given to this project since it’s inception and everything he will continue to contribute as audio engineer but logistics make this a necessity and we’re excited with what we’ve heard so far. It’s just another reminder of simply how many hats everyone is wearing on this film, and how many talented volunteers are willing to give to this project.
If you had told me a year ago where we would be on this project today, I would probably have been frustrated. Making a feature film is an incredibly time-intensive task, and our continued struggle for funding hasn’t helped. We are an all-volunteer film, so naturally everyone has their day job, their real life, and that’s just something that makes scheduling very difficult. But we’re also not going to put out a product that we don’t believe is our very best effort, so this delay is natural and necessary. We’re going to be on the festival circuit next year, provided we can raise the funds, and we’re going to keep doing everything we can do to get our message out. 2016 is our year. Nothing makes me more sure of that than the reactions we’ve had at our test screenings, or having people walk up to me at concerts and events telling me they saw our preview online and that they connected with it, or having people tell us they wish they had seen a film like this when they were struggling alone.
Image courtesy the Forwardian Arts Society
We also screened the film for an audience at Origins Gallery in Stroudsburg to a wonderful intimate crowd of artists, filmmakers, and local guests. We had taken dramatic steps forward since the previous screening and we’re really proud of how it was received. Each attendee was given a feedback survey that helped us identify potential problem-points in the current edit as well as refine the pacing of the film. These have proved invaluable to us in the changes since.
Image courtesy the Forwardian Arts Society
Paul Smeltz of The Forwardian Arts Society said in his writeup:
“Although the film was presented as an unfinished work in progress, one could easily see the impressive cinematic skill and documentarian approach of those involved in the work. The issue of adolescent depression which often includes suicidal tendencies is presented in a series of personal stories that brings the very human emotions relating to the issue to the fore. This technique could have been easily overdone with the effect of jading the audience to the “Alright already” point but the film maker’s sense of cinematic language unveils the captivating effect of each person’s tale through the art of editing which sets a comfortable pace for the audience to follow and therefor maintains their unlabored attention. The look of the film (even in this stage of its development) is extremely well done which enhances its ability to inspire those who see it to discuss the otherwise unapproachable topic more fully and openingly than before viewing the film.”
We also have our “You Matter” Crest shirt back in stock, now printed by the wonderful guys over at 3E Custom Tees. You can pickup one at our online store or at any upcoming screening or event. Thank you for your continued support, we can’t wait to see what the future has in store.
Image courtesy the Forwardian Arts Society
Image courtesy the Forwardian Arts Society
Screenings, shirts, and our current status was originally published on Out of Sight
