Top 10 things to never put on your Reel

[Hugh]

Fair point about them potentially stopping it and not getting to the end....

But if they do watch it to the end, then I would say that it'll be the last thing that they see that they'll remember best....

I definitely think that it should end on a high, though.... If your reel is good enough overall to make them want to offer you a job, then I can't see them not watching it through to the end.

[nathan]

Sigh.. A woman who knows about the 30 second rule but shes taken

[ShadowMaker SdR]

I watch this happen all the time with my boyfriend, if he's not reeled in the first 30 seconds, you've lost him

That must have been one quick first date then if he ended up being your boyfriend.

[anshul]

I've only got one thing to say And that's the repeating passes
so many times in showreel same passes gets repeat..
wht makes showreel bad...

[johnc]

I've only got one thing to say And that's the repeating passes
so many times in showreel same passes gets repeat..
wht makes showreel bad...

Agreed.

Nothing worse than excessive multiple-pass breakdowns on a straight forward shot.

JC

[Gentle Fury]

Good load of advice....

I'd amend Haz's advice by saying put your second-best piece of work first, and put your best piece of work last.... Leave them with a good impression at the end.

I say this, realising that I ought to re-cut my showreel a little.... The stuff at the beginning isn't all so impressive compared to a little later.... Ah well - I'm not looking for work at the moment - just showing off!

Hmmm, best work only, not first or last. Your reel is only as good as the worst thing on it. If you have anything that anyone would be like....eh, leave it out. If you have a comp that is so awesome you can't tell what was done and you dont have a raw plate....sorry, leave it out. As far as length. I know everyone wants to show off everything they have done in their life. But keep it at :60 for the main body of the reel (trust me, you can get a LOT in that time and noone will be bored)...I constantly see student reels that are like 5 mins long! You have NO experience, your reel should be the best damn :30 secs anyone has ever seen. Even 12 year veterans have :90 sec tops on their reel (but I still say anything over :60 is pushing it).

Another thing is, so many people are wrapped up (mostly students) in having cool transitions, and a killer title card. Your name and info in white on black for 5 secs is perfectly fine. Its your work you are selling, not your name! In fact, once you actually have a name in the industry you won't even need a reel.....kinda ironic

If you are an aspiring compositor. Go to boards and find independant films that are looking for people to work for free (there are plenty!) I didn't get my first professional job from my student reel. I got my first job after working on 2 flims for free....then getting paid very little to work on my 3rd, then did a music video as a favor. At that point I had actual work to show. This is a great way to get professional work done, and not need experience to get the gig....since they aren't paying you they don't care if you have 5 years production experience. This is also a great way to see if this is the right career path for you. If you can do some great work for free for an independent feature, love every minute of it, and still want to come back for more (possibly once again for free) you will get a much greater understanding of whether this is how you want to make a living. If you are like some people I went to school with, and wanted to be making Star Wars right out of school and would settle for nothing less. You will either A) be gravely disappointed, or B) never work in the industry. You have to understand that while you will get to work on cool projects, you will also work on the lamest things you have ever seen. If you can take enough satisfaction in the fact that you are actually paying the bills doing the thing you love it won't matter, and you will go far.

Got a little off topic, but I think that is very important. Anyways, to those just joining the industry. Good luck. To those already here...I hope you are loving what you do. I do.

[Matt P]

If you are an aspiring compositor. Go to boards and find independant films that are looking for people to work for free (there are plenty!) I didn't get my first professional job from my student reel. I got my first job after working on 2 flims for free....then getting paid very little to work on my 3rd, then did a music video as a favor. At that point I had actual work to show. This is a great way to get professional work done, and not need experience to get the gig....since they aren't paying you they don't care if you have 5 years production experience. This is also a great way to see if this is the right career path for you. If you can do some great work for free for an independent feature, love every minute of it, and still want to come back for more (possibly once again for free) you will get a much greater understanding of whether this is how you want to make a living. If you are like some people I went to school with, and wanted to be making Star Wars right out of school and would settle for nothing less. You will either A) be gravely disappointed, or B) never work in the industry. You have to understand that while you will get to work on cool projects, you will also work on the lamest things you have ever seen. If you can take enough satisfaction in the fact that you are actually paying the bills doing the thing you love it won't matter, and you will go far.

Although yes, it's off topic. I entirely agree - If you really have a passion for what you want to become then incorporating it into your life is a great way of creating work to use on a showreel as well as to learn techniques with.

I'm currently a runner - and enjoying it. Partly because my low-level experience and interest is leading me to a lot of interesting conversations and positive advice but also partly because the company is built up of great people.

Back ON topic - I think the 'work you didn't do' is the worst possible thing you could put on a CV. A while back some breakdowns of work I did was distrubuted as example footage for a small vfx application and I have since seen it appear in the show reels of a few certain 15 year olds. :P

I would like to add 'Footage that exclusively is of yourself' - Showreels which are built up of a single person doing different actions (pretending to fire a gun, running around on fire etc etc) really fall flat. Make sure you have some level of diversity or interest to you work - and if you can't get that through personal projects sign up to a course that will provide you with some footage.

ALSO - Don't use anything Andrew Kramer has already done. Anyone can follow tutorials. With that said, I think the fxphd tutorials are in some cases showreel worthy due to their scope and level of personal choice regarding the compositing. The 'Rig' footage I often see used by fxphd students comes accross differently and impressively each time.

-Matt

[drsanchez]

Do you think it's ok to put something in your demo you did at home, where I used the demo version AE plug ins with the rendered version that says something across the render?

It seems like places want us aspiring compositors to know some new plug ins, which I do, but I only have got OJT on 2. I just figured out how to download the demo versions which is a start, but that seems a little frustrating at how much they cost, just for us to buy to practice with.

Which AE plug ins are worth the money?

[faridzadeh]

Do you think it's ok to put something in your demo you did at home, where I used the demo version AE plug ins with the rendered version that says something across the render?

Sure. Why not? As long as it looks good, and you feel it helps display your skills as an artist, then go on ahead an use it.

[julievive]

I would have to agree with the lightsabers... Especially for rotoscpoing, lightsabers are sooo over rated... Some would even explain rotoscoping as, "Have you seen star wars? you know when darth vader and skywalker were fighting? The glowing sword?". Soooo over rated...

This is an interesting thread.

[BitterBri]

Hey Guys......

At one of the places I was working at...... I had access to a huge box of reels. So I ordered a pizza, stayed late and forced myself to watch the whole box to try and see what it's like to be a recruiter........ there were almost 70 of them........ and it sucked.

after about ten I was dying. It totally changed the way I make reels. My best advice would be....

"never give them a chance to hit fast forward"

Fast intro, shots, breakdowns, end. Really edit it down....... and then edit it again....... trim all the fat. Some of these reels had 30 seconds of color bars at the beginning, one played for almost 2 minutes before it actually started......... and then there was the stereotypical naked female super hero. They felt they needed to fly the camera into her crotch to show their anatomy modeling skills....... Unfortunately I'm not kidding.

Here is the link to the "Crazy I got the power monkey"

http://www.jackals-forge.com/downloads/monkeydance.avi

[kashyap7777]

thats nice

[ammon]

1. If someone would not pay you for it, don't put it on a professional showreel.

2. Storyboard your reel or build animatics. Animated cameras need to show me something not just fly around like a FP view of a hummingbird on crack.

3. Cut back the edit to make me want to see more and remember contact info at the end.

4. Give the beginning a 'hook' - your best work first.

5. If audio needs to be part of reel it should not detract from your content

6. Get as much critique from friends and enemies before 'going gold'

7. Did I mention that about the cameras?

[Huoliuhi]

Bump! thx !

[forkazoo]

(In reply to the spammer whose post will likely be deleted shortly)

You know, you are right. "How to make Runescape money," is probably a really bad idea for what to put on your reel! (Though, part of me is actually tempted now to track that into a billboard in the back of one shot on my reel.)