3 ms·
Your story about feeling obliged to watch a bad cartoon over and over again resonates with me. I was a film projectionist at a single-screen theater in Harvard
by ilamont 8y ago
Your story about feeling obliged to watch a bad cartoon over and over again resonates with me.
I was a film projectionist at a single-screen theater in Harvard Square in 1988, the summer "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" was showing. I saw the opening scene (the baby cartoon with Roger subjected to various painful acts) several hundred times.
The first time I thought it was funny. After 10 times it was boring. After 30 it made me very uncomfortable. I probably saw it about 250 times in all.
A few months ago I started to watch it with my son (it was on Netflix or Amazon), but I had to stop a few minutes in. The feeling of mild revulsion was just too much.
ETA: Makes me appreciate the patience of editors and other film professionals who are probably sick of seeing certain scenes by the time it hits theaters or the small screen.
- jerf 8y agoI haven't specifically edited film, but I've done some similar things, and I've found when you have agency over the result it wears differently. You may still "get tired" of it, but it's a different sort of thing. I think it's easier to watch the same scene a hundred times if you're editing it actively than if you are just passively consuming it and making no active decisions. My bigger problem was really losing the perspective of someone who is brand new to the content than exhaustion.
- ilamont 8y agoYou're right. I had no creative skin in the game other than being the poor slob who was basically responsible for turning on a giant light bulb. Regarding loss of perspective, that's why focus groups/test audiences are so important. From what I understand, they are particularly crucial for comedies where the timing of jokes matters so much and a mishandled edit can ruin the scene.