How long should a reel be?

Chris Messineo

Chris Messineo

Veteran
I would like to put together a director's reel from clips of the 8 short films I have done.

I have seen a lot of great cinematogapher reels, but not a lot of director reels to go by.

I imagine most of it will just be a quick montage of images with perhaps snippets w/ dialogue from 3 or 4 scenes.

What is a good length for the final reel?

Thanks,

Chris
 
I'd say don't go over ten minutes. That way they don't feel like they need more, and don't feel like its dragging on. Its all in finding interesting stuff to keep the reel moving along...
 
I don't think it should be over 5 minutes. If you put together 5 strong minutes that will blow their socks off that is good enough. If anything you want them to feel like they want to hire you to see what you can do next. Also after about 5 minutes people start to think about other things so keep it short and to the point.
 
Wow, ten minutes? really? That seems really long. I can't imagine many clients sitting through a ten minute reel, no matter how good you are. I would say, being a directors reel, and having dialog, 3-4 min max. Just use your absolute best work. Get a really good, tight edit. If you could get it even shorter, then do it. The tighter the better.
 
Yeah... I meant nothing over 10 minutes.... I personally would go for 4-5... but I'd say as a general rule of thumb, nothing over 10.
 
I agree w/ scharky- 3-4 minutes max. The dialog exchanges should be quick, to the point and gratify the viewer.
 
Judging from the short I just saw, I'd say it's very unlikely that you have any less than twice that.
 
its amazing no matter how much you surf the web theres always more stuff to find. Its like digging in your nose while you have a cold.
Cool link John.
 
thats a great link, yeah just check out those.

I agree no more than 5 min, but at the same time, i like the idea of putting extra scenes as extras on the disc ppl can watch if they want to, but don't have to. Cramb everything into the reel, and put 2 or 3 scenes in their entirety for those interested.

Anybody think that's a bad idea?
 
30-40 seconds.

Seriously.

the average commercial is 15-45 secs and they get their point across. Why should your reel (which is an ad for you) be any different.

If it's on a DVD then supply complete versions of selected projects for them to peek at.

In 30 seconds you can see everything you need to and then decide if you want to see more or not.
 
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1:30TRT maybe if you really want it...3:00 MAX. I don't suggest creating a music video, dialog and NAT's are very important.
 
rook said:
30-40 seconds.

Seriously.
Click to expand...

I don't know, that sounds a little odd. I've never seen anyones that was that short. You could certainly do a cool montage of images, but you wouldn't have time to do much more than that.

Have you actuallly seen demo reels that short before?

Chris
 
Yes.

Including mine.

40 seconds on the nose.

It all depends what you are using it for and where it's gunna be.

I use mine at the start of my DVD so when you pop it in it plays right away. Then you get a menu where you can play it again or see full pieces.

Just speaking from personal experience a very short and very tight reel is something I am likely to show my coleagues without hesitation but a longer reel will make me second guess. Even if you have 2 full mins of SOLID material, I seldom make it to the end.

-rook
 
Rook,

I definitely think less can be more, but that really sounds short.

Do you have a link to your reel or could you send it to me? I would love to see it.

Thanks,

Chris
 
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