proper presentation of demo reel...

jlabrie wrote:

Random thoughts -

Finally - shots for your reel - if you don't have any work to show yet, then of course you need to get to work. You can grab your video camera (if you have one) and start shooting plates and elements for your roto and comp work. If that seems daunting, or you just need to know more about what you don't know, then I HIGHLY recommend you head over to fxphd.com and take a couple of classes in roto and compositing. It'll cost a couple hundred dollars, but it is money well spent as they will float temporary licenses in the necessary applications to you, and you will work with professionally shot HD/2K elements with good levels of complexity that are designed to end up on your reel. I assure you, anybody watching your reel will be impressed if your opening shot is a good composite of a miniature ship into a CG water plate with rain elements, etc. That's the kind of thing you can sink your teeth into at fxphd, without having to leave home.

And yes, those guys are friends of mine, but I wouldn't steer you there if I didn't believe in the quality of what they offer. It's awesome.

Good luck.

Thank you very very much jlabrie...this message sent some shock wave to my spine but I like it so much... Shocked

as a matter of fact you and Boz have made my day...

I'll really like to re-read your message again but the point was well understood...

thank you...

Hello. It's been a long time since I posted last (for reasons I won't bore you with right now!).

Jlabrie has given some excellent advice there - much of which I was going to write but he has saved me the effort! But here are my experiences, for a different perspective:

My reel was never really designed to get myself a job as a compositor, modeller, animator, etc. As a freelancer my primary target market was small-to-medium video production companies specialising in corporate videos, so I could provide motion graphics to them at rates I simply wouldn't get from someone who needed some visual effects for their short film. First and foremost I had to pay my bills, and although not as rewarding (for me at least), motion graphics is still challenging and creative. That said, the reel contains a fair number of effects shots - some from a friend's film, the rest purely personal projects I'd done to improve and showcase my skills. I've certainly had requests from low-budget film makers about doing shots for them.

The resulting reel is a mish-mash of different skills and disciplines that doesn't quite know what it's trying to sell. Who is this Christian Lett? Is he a modeller and animator? There's certainly evidence of that on the reel. Is he a compositor? Or is he a motion graphics artist?

I guess I'm a generalist. Which can be good or bad, depending on the facility you're applying to.

The upshot of all of this, is that the work showcased on my reel got me a job. And a damn good one too.

Back in January I spotted a job advert for an After Effects compositor in Cardiff (which is where I went to university, so my interest was piqued). Thinking I had nothing to lose I forwarded my online demo reel to them and got a favourable response. Fast forward to May and I'm invited for an interview, where we go through my updated reel one shot at a time. There are a few new shots, and some extra features on the DVD such as shot breakdowns, longer versions of clips featured in the reel, etc.

I was able to describe exactly how each shot was made because I'd had the luxury of doing practically everything on there, from shooting the background plates, greenscreen footage, modelling, animating, lighting, matchmoving & tracking, compositing, keying, roto, effects (particles).

I was offered the job of After Effects Compositor on a new BBC children's show - a dilemma since it would give me a much needed steady income and, as it turns out a dream job, but would mean moving away from my wife during the week to live in Cardiff - some 120 miles from my home; Just before I started I was promoted to Visual Effects Supervisor - it turns out they needed someone to supervise the greenscreen shoot (it's filmed entirely in front of greenscreen), and to supervise the compositors back in the office. Turns out my generalist reel came in kinda handy for that (plus the fact that I'd been an software development manager in a previous job)!

I guess what I'm trying to say is that putting a reel together isn't an exact science. Put your best work on there, present it simply and well (a few tips below) and back it up with a sound understanding of the techniques you used to achieve it.

- My reel is around 2 minutes
- I'm proud of every shot on there
- I included music but most people turn it off when they watch it anyway
- For each shot I superimposed a small number in the bottom right of screen (DVD version only), which corresponded to a brief description of the software & techniques used to produce that shot, printed on the DVD cover (and also provided as a PDF on the DVD)
- I included my contact details ALL OVER the DVD - on the disk itself, on the case, at the end of the reel and on a separate page off the DVD menu
- I included a few extras on the DVD - a layer-by-layer (ish) breakdown of a complex shot I'd comped for a film, a full-length before and after of my day-to-night conversion (inspired by but WAY WAY WAY more complicated than Video Copilot's version!), and my expression driven car (inspired by our very own Mr Stu, just in case they were looking for someone who can code).
- My DVD was printed with a clean and simple design, including my contact details and reel version number/date (e.g. version 2008.2 - May 2008) - remember I still use it for getting extra freelance work, so presentation is important. Please don't just scribble on your DVD in pen!
- If I was looking for a comping job elsewhere I would probably drop some of the motion graphics stuff and change my shot descriptions to be more compositing based. My reel would never get me a modeller or 3D animator job, no matter how I presented it!

You've probably already seen it but for a refresher my old reel is at www.quarterlightpictures.com. The reel on DVD is better, with updated and new shots. (I also know my website still sucks!)

Good luck,

Christian.

Nice info there Christian and congrats on the job is does sound like a dream! Hopefully I'm soon to follow Wink

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thank you guyz...I really dont know what to say...but what I know is...it will be so stupid of me...if I dont dont my demo reel done by early next next...I am supposed to start now but I am so engaged with work...I will be less busy towards the end of this year...

I think I might still have to reply the message, I dont think I totally digested everything... Rolling Eyes

I can assume its never a good idea to use music you do own the rights to? I see reels online all the time with music that clearly isn't royalty free but that is the unprofessional right?

Everyone puts music on their reels that they don't own. It doesn't matter anyway, most of the time reviewers turn down the volume when watching reels.

_________________
Filmmaker Redux
twitter: "bozfx"

Cool thanks for the tips Boz. Working on my first reel Smile

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No problem. Don't forget to post a link to it here on the forum. Good luck! Very Happy

_________________
Filmmaker Redux
twitter: "bozfx"