FEEDBACK SAMPLE
"CHROMOPHOBIA"
The director of Chromophobia wanted to receive honest feedback and get a deeper understanding of how the viewers interpret his film.
You can watch the film below and read a sample of the feedback the filmmaker received below, or you can read the feedback in Excel.
FEEDBACK #7
Age - 22
Gender - Male
Profession - Stagehand
Did you like the film?
Very much
Anything you'd like more of?
I think it wrapped up really well, the pacing was really good. Honestly if anything, would love to see more of the guy who played Arthur in other things- he did an incredible job. Maybe more of a hint at resolution while still keeping the ending so that the audience still has to put the pieces together themselves. I liked the critical thinking aspect but I think maybe the final moment could be ever so slightly more fleshed out. I’m trying to figure out where Arthur ties in with Dr. h’s mother etc- just little things that maybe could’ve been hinted at in a bigger way to really make the ending hit hard. Maybe a little more unraveling on Dr. Haver’s part too.
Were there any moments/scenes you particularly liked? (Please list and explain)
I was definitely immediately drawn in by the general tone- it’s beautifully filmed, the mood is effective. The sound design is also gorgeous. Really good stuff. I think, again, it was really well paced. The moment where the frame at the ending of the first time we see Arthur drawing- where the frame of him turns into the frame of the Doctor- I liked that a lot. Also really enjoyed during their conversation when their voices on the tape recording became their unmuddled voices and then were affected by the tape recording fuzz again. I loved that attention to detail. And the opening shot of the patient who killed himself- also found that to be really good stuff. I was definitely creeped out!
Were there any moments/scenes you particularly disliked, or felt didn't work? (Please list and explain)
I think Arthur’s big mural freak out at the end kind of fell flat- there was so much built up and the reveal was great but the frantic tension that had been building with the alarm and red light (also loved that contrast) sort of plateaued until the mural was revealed- he seemed extremely calm and that’s definitely a character thing but I wanted a little more out of that whole last two minutes or so. It seemed rushed maybe? (I know that might be silly because it’s a short film) Also- respectfully, this is way too good of a short for that title card! That was really the only glaring thing that I actively found myself not enjoying about this short!
Were there any moments you felt annoyed or frustrated by the movie? (Please list and explain)
That title card!!!! Don’t sell yourselves short!!! You deserve better!!! In seriousness: I generally shy away from depictions of the mentally ill/mental facilities in horror and I expected to be frustrated by that but I do think that the initial knee jerk reaction was definitely assuaged by what I feel wasn’t too hamfisted of a depiction. Other than that, not particularly. I was engrossed the whole time.
Were you confused at any given time? (Please list and explain)
I was confused about Arthur’s premonitions- was he making them happen when he used the color red? I assume so, but he seemed to also have a grasp on what he was doing, so when he flipped the switch from feeling aversion to a seeming 180 of wielding that power I definitely felt a bit of confusion. I realize that there was a separate projected Arthur entity existing in the studio, but it wasn’t really made clear that he was communing with both parts of himself simultaneously- did he predict himself going to the hospital? Was he already in the hospital when he drew the patient committing suicide? I also was kind of confused about the timeline of the ending: did the doctor feel compelled to go back to the house because of Arthur’s premonitive mural? Was her looking up at the house a flashback? Was she dead by the time she returned to the hospital because she killed herself at his studio? And how did Arthur know about the doctor’s mother killing herself? Did he make that happen too or is he just all knowing? Also- would’ve liked to see more of a conflict/thought process before the doctor went to Arthur’s studio. It seems like such a personal thing for a psychiatrist working on a ward to do. I guess in hindsight the compulsion could’ve been due to the fate that Arthur drew to her, but her motivation wasn’t really clear. Did she feel trepidation? Did she want to confirm that his studio was the scene from his drawings and see it for herself? That was indicated, but not particularly clear to me initially.
If this film was going to be expanded into a feature film, what part of the story would interest you to see expanded most? Please explain why.
I definitely would like to see more backstory with the Arthur split- I would be interested in expansion of the evil Arthur projection that was existing in the studio. I would also be interested in seeing more of Dr. Haver’s trauma backstory.
How would you explain Arthur's character?
To me it seems like Arthur is a transient omniscient being who exists both in the material and metaphysical planes. There is a physical Arthur who is adverse to the evil his darker double is doing, and while being fully aware of it, tries to stop it by not using color in his own drawings. There is also the Arthur doppelgänger who kills through Arthur’s hand, using the color red to compel his victims to kill themselves.
How would you explain Arthur's powers and what part of his power would you like to see more of?
Arthur seems to be controlled by an evil entity/split off part of himself that exists only inside of his studio. He has the power to kill through his drawings, and his hand is being controlled by this evil entity that is seemingly a part of his own psyche. I would definitely like to see whether or not his powers are premonitive, predicting these events before they happen, or consciously choosing for these events to happen.
What do you think is happening with Dr. Haver's character?
I think that she has fallen victim to the evil Arthur doppelgänger. She’s committing herself to trying to help Arthur, and so this evil fixates on her and persuades her to kill herself. The synopsis of the film indicated that she also begins to experience the same chromophobia that Arthur does, but I didn’t really see that as much as I saw her unconsciously becoming collateral in the killing spree of the evil Arthur entity.
If Arthur's character were a figment of Dr. Haver's psyche and Dr. Haver was actually a patient — would you find this to be a predictable story twist?
I don’t think this necessarily would be a *predictable* twist (though to be fair I am easily surprised), but I think it’s been done enough before that it wouldn’t be as interesting as another twist could be. The twist of “the doctor is actually the patient” could definitely be predictable to other people who are familiar with the mental illness horror canon I guess? I can’t think of one myself but I do think there are definitely more interesting turns that this could take considering that you already have a good story to work with. But this could be compelling! I think for it to not just seem like a twist for twist’s sake, there would obviously have to be a pretty airtight backstory as to why she’s making Arthur up in the first place.
Is there a direction the story might go that you would suggest would be very unexpected?
Still wracking my brain about this one. I mean my suggesting that Dr. Haver killed herself during her first visit to Arthur’s studio is maybe even more predictable than Haver being the patient the whole time, so other than that I got nothing.
Any other comments or feelings about the film?
This feels very much like it belongs in an ABCs of death. I really enjoyed watching it. There were many strong points that I already gushed about. I feel really positively about it and hope that this feedback helped! And hoping that I’m lucky enough come across the fully fleshed out version when it’s ready/if any changes are made, I would love to see it. This is something I would definitely recommend to my fellow horror lovers as a good short watch. Beautiful work! Happy to have gotten to watch it.