Demo Reel Length!

jgastelb

jgastelb

Well-known member
How long should a demo reel be?

I've seen 1min to 3min long in here as well as other sites. Just wondering what the demos of the "pros" are like. I have heard that it should be short because of the attention span issue. I know this is subjective.
Thoughts or comments.

Jgastelb
 
I would think it's about the same.

The temptation to make it long stems from your own personal involvement in the making of each shot. You remember how long it might have taken you to achieve something, and you'll be damned if it gets left out of your reel.

This is a mistake, if your showing your reel to people who view a ton of them- they don't care, they really don't. They want in and out, they want it over quickly and for it to be only dynamite work.
 
5 min is good length.

jsut make sure you have enough work to make a 5 min reel.

should also be entertaining from start to finish.. Hook with your best (most recent) work.

Of course this varies depending on what type of reel it is.. an acting reel is different from say a CG reel or a directors reel.
etc.
 
5 minutes seems like a lot to me. Mine is under 1min. I have plenty of material but I really want only the best shots there. Different strokes.
Jgastelb
 
I have a sample reel that is 2 and a half and a full reel that is 5 and a half. I get an interview I give them the bigger reel. I agree with TC...it is really hard to kill your children....
 
An acting demo reel can be from 1 minute to 5 in length, shorter ones tend to be better as no one seems to have any attention span at all.

Here is a link to two short demo reels (1 min each):

http://resumes.actorsaccess.com/courtneyhalverson

A longer reel (DVD or online) should also be available, but what you need is something that gives a quick thumbnail of the individual and their work.
 
5-6 is probably the max - but the shorter the better. I've seen many as short as 30 sec, but it depends on what your reel is for and how good it is.

Some people will have buttons on their DVD go to more material after the main part, but either way, definitely don't fill the reel with less than stellar material.

Garrett
 
Make it as absolutely short as you can, and make every single second count. The only time I've seen a longer reel, that I actually cared to watch, was when the reel was packed end to end with national Super Bowl ads (and some of my favorites, like the e*trade "money out the wazoo" and the clapping monkey ads.)
 
as short as possible unless what you have is groundbreaking and amazing. a demo real is used to catch people's interest. if they like what they see they'll ask to see more so there's no need to make it unnesecarily long.

I've seen too many long and boring demos and I notice my patience is getting shorter and shorter. just imagine how short the patience of execs is.

make it short and sweet (2 minutes max) and no clips should be longer than 10-15 seconds each unless there is a good reason.

oh, and no starwars lightsabre fights.

mor10
 
My digital animation/fx reel is a bit over four minutes...and hasn't drawn complaints for length.

I agree with limiting individual shots to about 15 seconds, though.

I also agree with making the reel as short as you can, if you know enough about the people it's going to, and their needs, that you can tailor it to be specific. The four-minute reel is my general 'here's everything' (well, not literally, of course) reel. When I have the time and information, I sometimes cut interview-specific mini-reels.
 
How long is a TV commercial?

Notice how fast you can tune out a bad commercial? even 30 secconds can seem like a long time.

The first 10 secconds of your reel count. After that they are only watching because they are interested to see more.

Don't ever "save the best till last". Most poeple will never see it that way.


A short powerfull reel with some longer samples attached is a good way to go.


- Mikko ... takes the opertunity to plug his reels: www.mikkowilson.com/?page=Videos
 
What kind of demo reel are you doing? That is, what kind of shooter are you? If you're looking for commercial (advertising) work, put 6-7 of your best spots on there and call it a day. More established guys will even have a current work and historical work section, just so viewers (potential clients) don't forget about the sweet stuff they did back in the day. For non-spot work, I don't have a clue. But it looks like others do. :)
 
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