Gopher Golf: Feedback from Second Viewing

Today I showed my film to an audience for the second time, with some people who had seen the first version and some who hadn't. The film was edited together in Adobe Premiere Pro CS6, my preferred editing software. It was the first time I was able to render the film in a H.264 format in 1080p HD.

The response to the film was a lot more positive than the first viewing. The comedy and timing worked a lot better and the audience laughed to most of the jokes, particularly the ending. There was a feeling that the film would work with noises coming from the Golfer and Gopher, such as annoyed grunts or chuckling noises, which I have always intended to include in the film.

The compositing also needed sorting out in some places. Notably, in this scene, when trying to use matte choker to erase the outline on the Golfer in After Effects, the golf club disappeared with it. I had to add the golf club again digitally and improve the lighting.

Before

After

There was also a scene showing the Golfer receiving the money during the end game, where it was unclear whether it was a dream or not. Therefore I added a white outline to make it more obvious it was a dream, matching the scene at the beginning where he dreams of the same thing.

The feeling from my audience was that the film will work a lot better with sound, but the narrative was highly praised and the film worked very well.