lordybob
Well-known member
Spark Productions reel for 2009 is live! Feedback would be awesome thanks.
http://vimeo.com/2282422
Regards
isaac
http://vimeo.com/2282422
Regards
isaac
Spark Productions 2009 reel. NEW, SHINY, ETC
- Thread starter lordybob
- Start date
oneinfiniteloop
Veteran
Watched this a few times and here are my thoughts...
From a reel standpoint...it's OK. You can see potential in your work thus far, but you have a long way to go. I'm not really hot on the music choice, your cuts are kinda slow for such a fast track, and it doesn't look like you have enough work to make a lot of cuts. It's short, which is good, so I'll give you that. I feel like the edit would have flowed better with a different song. I see where you were trying to go with the current track, but it's not all there, IMO.
I think you could have a more effective opening. The general rule with reels is that you put your best work first. Your quick little montage doesn't really show off your best work and it hits the viewer very suddenly. Maybe add a little intro with your info to ease into that, or rework it all together.
There also seems to be a lot of filler in there. The part with the screens that are playing various clips of your work is superfluous. It doesn't really do anything for you. As well as the shots of the planet with the lens flare that you use at the beginning and the end. Not really feeling that, a little cliche.
You obviously have the technical skill, now you need to focus on content, concept, design, etc. Motion graphics is a broad field employing many disciplines. You need to verse yourself in all those. Learning AE, PS, Illy, and a 3D program isn't enough. I see you've recreated some of the things you've seen, like the symmetrical logo thing with the cell phones, and the Stranger Than Fiction graphics. When you do this, you should try to give it your own style. In the case of the Stranger Than Fiction looking stuff, you basically rehashed what MK12 did without making it your own. No one likes a straight rip and it will hurt your credibility within the industry. With the cell phone stuff, I would add some more to the backgrounds, and change up that typography. It looks like a bad Live Type preset.
Two more things...one good tip I picked up from another forum is the 2.5 second rule. Obviously you can't pour your all into every project that you do, so for every project spend the time to make 2 1/2 seconds really good, polished, and top notch. That way you always have something to put on your reel. The last thing, your reel should reflect the type of the work you want to do, not necessarily the type of work you have done. In my case, I have enough material to cut together a solid 2-3 minute reel of my commercial work, but there's only 10% of that I'm happy with and it doesn't reflect the work I would want (that's if I was looking for work, I'm on staff so it's not a concern for me now). Keep that in mind...
Oh, and I like the Vibe TV ident, really well done, simple.
From a reel standpoint...it's OK. You can see potential in your work thus far, but you have a long way to go. I'm not really hot on the music choice, your cuts are kinda slow for such a fast track, and it doesn't look like you have enough work to make a lot of cuts. It's short, which is good, so I'll give you that. I feel like the edit would have flowed better with a different song. I see where you were trying to go with the current track, but it's not all there, IMO.
I think you could have a more effective opening. The general rule with reels is that you put your best work first. Your quick little montage doesn't really show off your best work and it hits the viewer very suddenly. Maybe add a little intro with your info to ease into that, or rework it all together.
There also seems to be a lot of filler in there. The part with the screens that are playing various clips of your work is superfluous. It doesn't really do anything for you. As well as the shots of the planet with the lens flare that you use at the beginning and the end. Not really feeling that, a little cliche.
You obviously have the technical skill, now you need to focus on content, concept, design, etc. Motion graphics is a broad field employing many disciplines. You need to verse yourself in all those. Learning AE, PS, Illy, and a 3D program isn't enough. I see you've recreated some of the things you've seen, like the symmetrical logo thing with the cell phones, and the Stranger Than Fiction graphics. When you do this, you should try to give it your own style. In the case of the Stranger Than Fiction looking stuff, you basically rehashed what MK12 did without making it your own. No one likes a straight rip and it will hurt your credibility within the industry. With the cell phone stuff, I would add some more to the backgrounds, and change up that typography. It looks like a bad Live Type preset.
Two more things...one good tip I picked up from another forum is the 2.5 second rule. Obviously you can't pour your all into every project that you do, so for every project spend the time to make 2 1/2 seconds really good, polished, and top notch. That way you always have something to put on your reel. The last thing, your reel should reflect the type of the work you want to do, not necessarily the type of work you have done. In my case, I have enough material to cut together a solid 2-3 minute reel of my commercial work, but there's only 10% of that I'm happy with and it doesn't reflect the work I would want (that's if I was looking for work, I'm on staff so it's not a concern for me now). Keep that in mind...
Oh, and I like the Vibe TV ident, really well done, simple.
Motherboard
Well-known member
awesome reel 
So it's a 2009 Reel of your 2008 work? Got it. Ha. got kinda confused there. I really like the pace of things and the music works out great. A few things came on a bit to quickly like the MTV electric logo. Yes I know it was MTV but I wanted to see what the effects looked like. Maybe a few seconds longer next time.
My favorite piece of work was the Vibe-TV.
Some good advice as well from the other.
My favorite piece of work was the Vibe-TV.
Some good advice as well from the other.