Test screening

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A test screening is a preview screening of a movie or television show before its general release in order to gauge audience reaction. Preview audiences are selected from a cross-section of the population, and are usually asked to complete a questionnaire or provide feedback in some form. Harold Lloyd is credited with inventing the concept, having used it as early as 1919.^{[citation needed]}

Feedback from a test screening may be used to improve, or at least alter, the movie before it is released. This may be as simple as changing the title of the film (as in the case of the film that became Licence to Kill),^{[citation needed]} or it may be more substantial. Cases exist of where test screenings prompted filmmakers to completely change the ending of a movie (by having a character die who would have survived, or vice versa, for instance); examples include Little Shop of Horrors, Mary Poppins, Fatal Attraction, Titanic and Pretty in Pink.^{[citation needed]}

It has been suggested^[who?] that the usual practice of testing the movie with an audience representing the general public may be counterproductive in some cases. If a film's appeal is only for a particular section of the population, comments from viewers outside the target audience may prompt filmmakers to make changes that alienate the target audience without significantly broadening the film's appeal. Such a film is said to be "dumbed down".^[who?]

In television, test screenings may be used before a series debuts, to help fine-tune the concept (as was famously done with Sesame Street, leading to a larger role for the Muppets),^{[citation needed]} or to pre-test specific episodes – an extreme case, the Australian children's series Play School reportedly tests every one of its episodes with a preview audience in the target preschool demographic, rejecting any that elicit signs of boredom.^{[citation needed]} According to Adam West's book Back to the Batcave, the initial test screenings for the 1960s Batman television series were so poorly received that, based on the reactions of the test audience, the evaluation cards were never actually read, and were simply shredded before word could get out.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] See also

• Film screening

[edit] References

This article does not cite any references or sources. (February 2008) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.