The MCU has been so far a runaway success and it is a franchise that has also ushered in some practices which will probably be copied by most studios going forward. One such practice is the alternate way that Marvel looks at re-shoots.

In a Marvel movie, they plan the re-shoots before they even start filming the picture, because they know that after seeing the first cut of the movie, they are going to have new ideas, or better ideas and they will need the crew and all the actors present to make those things happen. Marvel president Kevin Feige recently spoke about all the things his studio do to make sure a movie is as good as it can be when he appeared as a guest speaker for the New York Film Academy recently. You can catch the full video in the source section below, but Feige also went on to discuss how much he hates test screenings and yet acknowledges how vital a part they play in crafting the movies they make. He was asked about fan expectations and how to balance that against not just trying to please everyone all of the time, and how test screenings play a vital role in this.

“If we thought too much about it, if we thought too much about pleasing everybody about everything we’d collapse into a fetal position and never do anything, so we don’t do that. We think mainly about what we think would be interesting, what we think would be cool, what we think would fulfill a promise we’d set up, what we think would grow the MCU in an unexpected way that people aren’t anticipating, killing half of your heroes for instance. But, it is true that we always make the films with the intention of them working for people who’ve watched every other film we’ve made and for people who’ve never seen one of our movies. And yes with Infinity War and Endgame it gets tougher at that point, but we test screen all of our movies. Like additional photography, test screening, never become too arrogant to think that you don’t have something to learn from the audience would be one piece of advice I would give you.”

Feige then went on to talk about the Test screen process and how it works for them. It’s usually something that certain movie goers see as a bad sign, but Feige conformed they do it for every single Marvel Studios movie no matter how confident they feel.

“Test screenings are horrible, they’re painful, they’re terrible. All these people that aren’t making movies go ‘I’ll give ya my opinion!’ and I sit in the back and pull my hat down, but I stay there and I listen because there are things you don’t see.In those test screenings there are questionnaires, and from probably Avengers 1 we’ve had the question ‘Which of these movies have you seen? and now it’s just come down to ‘Have you seen other MCU movies before?’ and the next question is ‘Do you have to have seen the other movies to enjoy this movie?’ And here’s what happened almost every time. The people who write ‘Yes I’ve seen every one,’ and then go ‘Do you have to see them to enjoy the movie? Absolutely.’ But for the people who go ‘No, this is my first time,’ (Feige jokes about where they find these people for test screenings now)they go ‘How many have you seen? Zero. Do you think you have to have seen the other movies? No, I loved it. I enjoyed it.'”

The more common idea we as fans get of test screenings is that they happen when the studio is worried about a picture. Remember all the false rumors (still being claimed) that The Rise of Skywalker was trashed in test screenings and they had to re-shoot half the movie, those were proved false when director J.J. Abrams confirmed no test screenings of that movie had taken place until he delivered final cut and showed some friends and family. Though, perhaps Star Wars should be copying the model of Marvel studios and actually testing some of this content on audiences before they release it, maybe then we wouldn’t have as divided a Star Wars fandom as we have right now.

RELATED: Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige Doesn’t Want Fans To Trust Them

Marvel’s formula is working, and this includes test screenings, and re-shoots, and being willing to change the movie right up till release date, or even after in the case of Avengers. Maybe it’s time for other studios to look at the mechanics of what Marvel are doing and take a look at why it is working for them?

What do you think of Feige’s comments on test screenings and how important they are for Marvel’s movies? Leave your thoughts below as always.

Don’t forget to share this post on your Facebook and Twitter using the buttons at the top! Or you can react to the post down below.

—–

Have you checked out LRM Online’s official podcast feed yet The LRM Online Podcast Network, which includes our flagship podcast Los Fanboys, our premiere podcast Breaking Geek Radio: The Podcast, and our morning show LRMornings? Check it out by listening below. It’s also available on all your favorite podcast apps!

Subscribe on: Apple Podcasts |  Spotify  |  SoundCloud | Stitcher | Google Play

SOURCE: Kevin Feige via NYFA

  FOR FANBOYS, BY FANBOYS Have you checked out LRM Online’s official podcasts and videos on The Genreverse Podcast Network? Available on YouTube and all your favorite podcast apps, This multimedia empire includes The Daily CoG, Breaking Geek Radio: The Podcast, GeekScholars Movie News, Anime-Versal Review Podcast, and our Star Wars dedicated podcast The Cantina. Check it out by listening on all your favorite podcast apps, or watching on YouTube! Subscribe on: Apple Podcasts |  Spotify |  SoundCloud | Stitcher | Google Play