HELP - Cinematography demo reel - Cutting the fat

PaPa

PaPa

Major Contributor
Hey friends and family,

I am requesting your help in making my demo video as sharp as it can be. I would like your honest opinion of what you think should stay and what should go. At the moment my demo is slightly too long, I would like to cut it closer to 3:30 if possible.

The purpose of this demo is because I am applying to IATSE local 667, which is the cinematographer's union in Toronto. I need to present to the board a letter of intent, a resume, a demo reel and leters of reference.

My goal with this demo is to show several things:

a) Various lighting styles ( low key, high key )
b) various types of moods
c) that i can shoot industry standard shots like talking heads
d) I have experience with steadicam
e) I can give looks ranging from sci-fi, to drama, to comedy and glamour.
f) I can plan shots and execute in camera editing ( telling a story in one shot without edits - thus the longer takes )

If you find that any of these scenes do not serve the purposes of a-f, then please make me aware of them :)

Here is the link to my rough cut:

http://youtu.be/uvex9WOCCQ8

1) What shots would you cut ( use time signature )
2) How would you organize the sequences? Strongest first? Strongest last?
3) How would you order the scenes? I wonder if there is a better way to put this together?
4) What do you think of the music selection?

Thank you very much in advance. I look forward to your feedback!

-J
 
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I love the way you tilt the cam as the actor leans down at 26sec. Thats a great shot man. Im gonna have to borrow that:). I think it looks great, I wouldn't change it.
 
maranfilms said:
Im gonna have to borrow that:).
Click to expand...

This sounds like you're going to use the shot in your demo reel with different color correction! :laugh:

Jonathan, first, is your reel going to be viewed isolated from any hosting page? Like where you won't see a description? It's nearly 10 seconds before we see the first shot. You basically have 30 seconds to hit them with your best (the reel needs to be cut in half time-wise as well). Unless it is going to be viewed outside of YouTube, then I'd kill the opening credits. Put it at the end. Having a title slate was a function of reels that were distributed via VHS and later DVD, but seems unnecessary these days when it's usually an e-mail sent with a link that (more than likely) will have your contact info clearly visible in the signature.

Start your first shot with immediately as he goes through the door (there's a moment where he's talking to the girl). Make "Badlands" title fade in faster and start it right at the beginning. Cut it after the spin around move and the push in (before the cut).

I like the shot that maran liked too, but I'd cut as soon as it stops the first time and move on to your next piece. You've got to hit them with all your best work as quickly as possible, and the moments following grind to a halt.

I don't want to go through all 4 minutes, but the best reels have lots of movement, complicated moves, interesting lighting setups, and are quick, lingering long enough to be impactful and then moving on. Such as the rest of "Badlands". After the cool tilt move (which is long after the initial movement), you get a super shallow DOF shot and then a silhouette shot. Neither of which have movement, neither of which have interesting lighting setups, which is why I recommend you cut them. If you love them, then use them by all means, but put them in later, towards the end. Remember, your first 30 seconds can make or break you when it comes to getting attention.

Hope this helps. Best of luck to you.
 
Gary, great feedback. Thank you.

I'll update my original post with the reason why I'm making the demo reel.
 
First of all, awesome reel if for no other reason then I got to hear that song.

All of the work is really excellent, but as stated above it tends to drag on. Some shots just need to be cut 10 or 15 frames, but some shots need to be cut two or 3 seconds. You could probably leave everything in, but save a lot of time by clipping the beginning and end of some of the longer clips. Just focus on the best part of the clip and trim the rest.

Just my two cents.
 
Thankls cleeton, do you have any clips in mind? The most specifics I can get from you folks, the better :)
 
PaPa said:
Thankls cleeton, do you have any clips in mind? The most specifics I can get from you folks, the better :)
Click to expand...

The clips where you can trim it as much as possible without losing what makes it a great shot, I would imagine.
 
Much better! I was just about to write down a bunch of suggestions but your re-edit already addresses them. Looks great. Are these mostly short films?
 
Two of them are shorts, three of them are web series, one from a feature and the products are from some wedding material that looked more commercial .
 
Cool, loved the look of the one in the snow. I'm quite intrigued by web series in general, have you found that any of the ones you've done have led to bigger or brighter things?
 
The series I did "Temps Mort" was nominated for a new media Gemini and ended up winning ( however i wsa not involved after season 1 ) a Gemini in their 3rd season. So that's pretty exciting :) But otherwise, the "Badlands" was a proof of concept a friend of mine wanted to use to pitch for funding, but he never saw the project through and then my web series "Cubed" does not have a means of reaching a greater audience. So our first episode has something close to 1000 views, and then ever episode almost halves in views. It's unfortunate, but we're working on ways of figuring out how to get our stuff seen.
 
I just wanted to let you guys know that I'm sending in my application for IATSE local 667 Monday. Very excited! Keep your fingers crossed!
 
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