How long should a good demo reel be

K

kdrums

Member
hello all. Any opinions on how long a demo reel should be. I am making my first one and I have alot of different types of shots I want to blend in. from weddings to bands to commercials etc. I want to display a good representation of all of my work without having clutter. I want it to be fast from piece to piece. Any thoughts/comments are appreciated. I have seen many reels on this site that are really cool and it seems like everyone has their own style. I am looking for a few" what not to do's"

Thanx
 
Re: How long should a good demo reel be

I honestly think it shouldn't be no more than 4mins. Most people have short attention spans so 3mins I think it was. Don't do what one guy did. His demo reel was 30mins long. DAm! Worse thing about it was it was boring.. my 1 cent..
 
Re: How long should a good demo reel be

here's another 1 cent....the only one im my pocket on this stuff.

Make it a two part reel (DVD).

Part A can be short (5 minute?), to the point with all the good stuff cut together for the client with little time.

Part B, can be extended versions, still with select cuts that elborate your work. (time ?)

The idea of this is to represent you skills with honest work so both parties will have a successful co-production, otherwise it'll be your last with them. Clients need to feel your abilities are appropaite for their work, they depend upon your performance for their future growth and so do you! ;)
 
Re: How long should a good demo reel be

I'd say the shortest you can possibly make it, the better it will be received. Make an absolutely killer reel in sixty seconds and everyone will appreciate it better.

Also, think about who you're making the reel for and what you're trying to get hired for. Putting samples of all the type of work you can possibly do on one reel will likely mean a confusing reel that won't get you hired.

If you want to do weddings, make a wedding demo reel and give it to wedding clients, wedding coordinators, etc. Don't have TV commercials and corporate videos on your wedding reel.

If you want to do graphic effects, make your reel with graphic effects footage, and don't have weddings and events on it!

Know your audience, and give your audience what they want. If that means four reels instead of one, then make four reels.

Here's another way to look at it: when you want a plumber, you look in the yellow pages, right? And you might see two ads:

one is for AJ's plumbing, which promises "30-minute service, plumbing is all we do, we're the best."

The other ad is for "Bill's Service Company: we do landscaping, home painting, portraiture, home repairs, still photography, wedding photography, DJ service, auto repair, website design, plumbing and gift baskets."

Which ad will you call?

Know your audience, focus your message, solve their problem and you'll get their business.
 
Re: How long should a good demo reel be

Barry, excellent advice....specialize it to the market, you get an A.
 
Re: How long should a good demo reel be

Thank you all for your comments. Barry, thank you, what you said is exactly what I needed to hear. I wasn't feeling ok about placing various things together. It is clear to me now that I have to be customer/reel specific. It is very helpfull to be slapped out of almost doing something stupid. Thanx again. Once I get my reel(s) together I will be sure to post so you all can check out.
 
Re: How long should a good demo reel be

A "bad" two minute reel is never watched for the full two minutes, it's tossed in seconds.

Put your best work first.

And I must disagree with Barry "slightly".
While you do want to keep your reel somewhat "customer specific", you are better off to show the range of work you can do.
It shows things the customer might not have thought of, or seen before, or may get you a job with them on another project.

Remember, a reel shows your best work, show it all, you may not get another chance.
 
Re: How long should a good demo reel be

How about a menu based reel that would allow customer to only view the segments they wanted, but allowed them to explore. Set up the main menu specific to the target customer, but the sub-menu could contain your other work???
 
Re: How long should a good demo reel be

I just tuned in... don't have much experience with video, but with web design, people don't want to navigate to get to your stuff. I suspect the same will apply to video...
 
Re: How long should a good demo reel be

Alright then, how about setting up the dvd so that it starts off with "target customer reel" and at the end of the reel segment, goes to dvd menu with other options/contact info etc..

Can that even be done or am I grasping for solutions.
 
Re: How long should a good demo reel be

Somethings to remember:

1: they won't search

2: it better autoplay

3: you have seconds to make an impression (literally)
 
Re: How long should a good demo reel be

Hey Barry, sounds a little like DALE CARNEGIE ;D
...but you are 100% right!
 
Barry_Green said:
I'd say the shortest you can possibly make it, the better it will be received. Make an absolutely killer reel in sixty seconds and everyone will appreciate it better.

Also, think about who you're making the reel for and what you're trying to get hired for. Putting samples of all the type of work you can possibly do on one reel will likely mean a confusing reel that won't get you hired.

If you want to do weddings, make a wedding demo reel and give it to wedding clients, wedding coordinators, etc. Don't have TV commercials and corporate videos on your wedding reel.

If you want to do graphic effects, make your reel with graphic effects footage, and don't have weddings and events on it!

Know your audience, and give your audience what they want. If that means four reels instead of one, then make four reels.

Here's another way to look at it: when you want a plumber, you look in the yellow pages, right? And you might see two ads:

one is for AJ's plumbing, which promises "30-minute service, plumbing is all we do, we're the best."

The other ad is for "Bill's Service Company: we do landscaping, home painting, portraiture, home repairs, still photography, wedding photography, DJ service, auto repair, website design, plumbing and gift baskets."

Which ad will you call?

Know your audience, focus your message, solve their problem and you'll get their business.
Click to expand...

There's gold buried in these boards.

I was just wondering whether a one minute reel for live music videos was too short and this post helped me out.
 
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