Test screening
[1] In 2004, Roger Ebert, the late reviewer for the Chicago Sun-Times, wrote that test screenings by filmmakers are "valid" to get an idea of an audience response to a rough cut."[3] Edgar Wright, writer and director of Shaun of the Dead, said in an interview that in test screenings done before the film's special effects were completed, audiences remarked that the ending was "a bit abrupt" and "lame".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,[7] Mary Poppins, Final Destination, Fatal Attraction, Deep Blue Sea, I Am Legend, Titanic and Pretty in Pink.[10] In a test screening for the Harrison Ford spy thriller Clear and Present Danger, the audience started to applaud during the main villain's climactic death scene, but "it was over before they could";[11] this resulted in reshoots.[18] In television, test screenings may be used before a series debuts, to help fine-tune the concept (as with Sesame Street, leading to the Muppets appearing onscreen with human characters, rather than in separate segments[19][20]), or to pre-test specific episodes.Adam West in his book Back to the Batcave stated that test screenings for the 1960s Batman television series incorporated audience-controlled dials monitored by computer.][citation needed] During post-production of Carlo Carlei's 2013 adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, test screening audiences disliked the film, and cited James Horner's score as one of its weaknesses.