How to (Get) Critique(d)

A good friend of mine invited me to a Short Film Workshop that she went to for young, up-and-coming film makers to teach them what *not* to do when trying to make a great short film - the kind that win awards at Film Festivals and later become “Feature Films.” (ex. “A Guide to Recognizing your Saints,” “Primer,” etc.)

One of the many things I learned there was how few of the many “accomplished” filmmakers attending (who rattled off their resume every time they spoke) didn’t have a clue as to how to critique / get critiqued.

See, early on in the workshop, while they were discussing scripts (& where I paid the most attention), a “sample script” was passed around the table and the workshop leader asked what about the script “worked” and what “didn’t work.”

What “worked” about the script was that it was relatable, (it dealt with losing a parent) believable, and had a nice mix of humor and drama. (Answers given by workshop leader)
As to what “didn’t work,” a lot of people replied that they simply “didn’t give a shit about the main character,” but never said why.

…..which is like saying “I hate this. Fix it.”

Now aside from being overly harsh, (Really? You’re going to say ‘shit’ in your critique?) their critiques weren’t exactly helpful. No suggestions were offered as to why they felt it didn’t work; only that they knew it didn’t. But I guess that’s where the workshop came in. Here are a few of more important critique suggestions

• Pick your critics wisely – don’t pick someone who’s just going to give it a “Thumbs Up” / “Thumbs Down,” it’s obviously a work in progress and you’ll need them to be specific & analytical.


• A critique should be about form, not content – make them think about HOW you’re saying something, not WHAT you’re saying. Don’t worry about trying to find your audience because they’re out there and they will find you.


• Get it critiqued it multiple times – one person’s opinion is just one person’s opinion; if they don’t like something, that’s just their taste. But if several people say the same thing about it, *then* you know that something’s wrong.


• Focus your critiques for the critic: Ask them specific questions about things that you’re unsure of, let them know what you want their opinion on specifically and make sure that they fully answer those questions.


• Shut up & listen – if you have to explain afterwards, then you’re not showing it for them.

(There were a lot more lessons, but most of them were catered towards short films)

SIDENOTE - One of the other things I learned in that workshop was why filmmakers are so stigmatized as being ‘pretentious;’ (i.e. always going on about their accomplishments) they spend months (sometimes years) working on something (often alone) that may never be recognized as ‘valuable’ or even ‘worthwhile’ to anyone other than themselves. That’s something I never realized about artists before and will now vow to shut the fuck up whenever one of them starts talking to me about their art.

For the Fun of it

As most of you know, I’m a big fan of swing – the lindy hop in particular.

In fact, as soon as I got a car (which I’m forever grateful for, Nico) I drove on down, took me some free lessons and learned me to dance.

And I like to think that I’ve gotten pretty decent at it after five years.

But I recently joined this lindy hop dance practice group to basically become a better dancer. The people in this group are all really good dancers….and they’re constantly critiquing my form.

I understand why they’re doing this. See, everyone in the group takes this advanced class at the Lindygroove (where I go to dance) except me. Why? Because you have to *audition* to get into the advanced class. The instructors there like your form to be a certain way because it helps you learn what they teach you, I guess….

Everyone in the group wants me in the class because we tend to go over a lot of the stuff they learn there. And I actually did try out for it (the class) a few years back……..but didn’t get in. That was a harsh blow to the ole’ self-confidence, I tell ya. For a while afterwards, I focused a lot on making sure I was doing everything as I should’ve been….and it actually made me worse.

Eventually, though, I shook it off because I realized that this course of action didn’t make any sense. At that point, I knew I was a pretty good dancer - maybe not up to their standards, but decent enough. So why put myself through all the criticism and self-consciousness of getting someone else’s approval?? The whole point of lindy hop (or any hobby really) is to have fun. And I felt that if I did end up taking the class, I’d be more worried about where I was stepping or correcting my posture than anything else.

And that’s kind of how I still feel about trying out for that class.

I’ve heard a lot of people argue the opposite though: if you really like something, you’ll strive to improve at it because that’ll make it more fun….and I guess that’s the logic that I’m subscribing to at the moment.