DP REEL for 2009

Dewy-dB

Dewy-dB

Well-known member
Hey guys,
I've been working on a new DP reel, and have got some feedback from my friends and girlfriend, but I wanted to run it past some strangers, and people that will tear me a new one.

Tell me what you like, hate, really hate, and if it's too long.

Thanks!

- Greg



Demo Reel - http://www.isicreative.com/videos/2009_demo_reel.mov

(and if you have an extra minute to view my old reel, linked below, tell me if that's better than my new reel). Thanks a ton!!!
 
Hi Greg:

Nice reel with some interesting looking and diverse content.

I hate the music for the reel, it is all wrong, its not cinematic, its abrasive and it competes with the images, especially in the music video clip, I wanted to hear a few seconds of the band in the video. You have all of these sort of genres, Western, War Film, Period stuff, the Santa thing, which all look pretty cinematic, then you have this sort of techno-Radiohead going on, doesn't work at all - no mystery, wonderment, etc. If I had your type of reel, I would hire a composer to custom score it. There are so many great composers out there who are starving and it would inprove the impact of your lighting and camera movement and composition to have great custom score.

Some of the shots are held too long, a few in the Western clips it actually bugged me. The Saving Private Ryan type footage looked pretty strobey/video-like, not too cinematic for all of that short shutter speed shaky cam.

Overall, you have some nice work. I would cut it a bit tighter and get a custom score. Music matters, it sets the emotional tone to look at your work and that music just puts me on edge as the images fight the music, the two are totally non-related.

Good luck,

Dan
 
Dan,
Perfect feedback thank you! The other 2 comments were that that they didn't like the music, and I did. So 3/3 tells me I'm off.

If you have a second would you tell which western shots bugged you, or was it all of them?

Thanks Dan,

- Greg
 
Hiya:

Shot of woman handing man something below camera line holds on him too long I thought.

Shot of cowboy crouching down on ground threatening other guy, I can't see the guy's face he is threatening and I can't really see the guy in the black hat's face very well either, it's just the angle, it's not compelling.

And yes, bag the music, trust me. Even though it's a hassle, lock picture and get it to composer and tell him/her what you want the reel to make the viewer feel like and let 'em go. It would also be more engaging to hear some sync audio as well on a few of the shots (gun shots for war stuff, a dialogue sound-up here or there).

Dan
 
I'll second Dan on the tips. And I'll also second him on the compliments: Awesome footage! You've got a lot of great work there!

-DES
 
It's very odd how we (American filmmakers) see to agree visually much more then we do audibly.

Everyone always pretty much agrees with the visuals but no one can ever agree on the song!

lol.
 
The way I see it, using a pre-recorded song is kind of a cop out because that is what everyone does. I have seen a few custom scored reels and they always stand out from the pack, just for that reason.

When your material is as strong as the OPs is visually, he is undercutting its uniqueness by just putting some random song underneath it, especially since he shoots what looks to be mostly narrative stories. There are so many composers out there who are starving who would custom score this for a couple of hundred bucks, seems a shame not to. Just takes some leg work and trial and error.

Dan
 
Enjoyed the footage. agreed with Dan on the shots, especially the western footage. As far as the music goes. i did not think it was bad. if this is what you have to work with right now then keep it. If you have access to other material where you can score your own track then go for it. Not sure what resources you have handy for scoring, but you might want to check out soon to be released new scoring product from Andrew Kramer in the coming weeks. click here to check it out. They will have a promo posted up soon with the release of the product.

I myself am waiting to see what this product can do. If you know anything about Kramer material; its top notch.
 
Dewy-dB said:
Hey guys,
I've been working on a new DP reel, and have got some feedback from my friends and girlfriend, but I wanted to run it past some strangers, and people that will tear me a new one.
Click to expand...


I wouldn't take too much criticism about the music too seriously. When people are looking at your reel all they are asking is "Do I want to talk to this person or not?" Judging from all the high quality shots in your reel, I would defiantly say Yes because it shows all high quality shots. I stayed for the whole reel because it moved fast enough, and I honestly wanted to know if you were getting those results off of film, or some HD camera.

Make your name appear longer at the end, and in a larger font. Make sure people know how to contact you.

Place your name and contact info in a lower right corner so that people can contact you in case they don't watch the entire reel.

And please for the love of god, don't use Quicktime to deliver your file. I have to tell people in the Compression forum all the time why its such a bad idea. You can deliver 720P video on Vimeo and Youtube now, so there's no reason to have a QT file, You're just cutting off your audience that way.
 
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