My showreel....

I know everyone (almost everyone) feels they have to make a showreel because everyone else does. That's a mistake. They shouldn't imo until they know they're ready and capable of 'showing it'.

In this case I think your a little premature. But since I have a bad rep around here for having a bad rap, I'll leave it at that and let others post and you can go from there.

Fair enough? Cool.
 
Hey CordVision, nice sunset footage and good use of stop motion.

I would pick up the pace and keep it shorter, no more than a minute.

Assume that your client has A.D.D. Be constantly bombarding them with one interesting shot to the next. With each scene, I would only chose to show the most interesting part of that and then go to the next shot.

The intro title was a little slow.

You're getting there, keep at it!

Best.
 
Raptor is right, it's not ready.

20 seconds until there's anything (not good), and as has been said, too slow hard to watch....

You also have to be painfully brutal in your choice of clips, I'm not seeing anything that would grab attention, seems to be just a collection of clips rather than a showreel. Some livelier music would also help.

As it is, who would you be showing it to, and for what kind of work?




(ugh, I can't believe I was so easy on him):undecided
 
Last edited:
Michael, if I can make some recommendations rather than a critique:

-When using small chipped cameras with lots of DOF, it's even more important to shape your lighting so that the eye is drawn to the subject or action. It doesn't seem that much grippage was used to modulate and shape your sources, subject and background. Also soften your sources with grippage or other means (soft box, diffusion frames, etc.). You might want to work with a professional gaffer. Oddly when I first started shooting, I learned a lot from my gaffers because I came from a camera/lens background.
-The first clip is an intersting shot, but it's very low rez and seems to be stretched out. As well, the crowd doesn't look like it's having very much fun and is frontally lit (rather than back or top or side). Both the lighting and transfer lack both rez and contrast. Maybe you can get a better transfer?
-Interesting backgrounds make for interesting shots. Work a lot more on backgrounds with your eye, your lighting and the art direction. Even if it goes to black (like in the room), you can do more to shape the textures in the b.g.

Watching some of the Monsterfest entries, I notice that what distinguishes the good looking pieces from the bad, is not the camera but rather the lighting, art direction and shot choice. It says a lot that between a $1700 Canon 7D and a $20,000 RED, for projects shot for Web distribution, the differences and advantages have more to do with lighting than with the camera.

It's easy to criticize, I would never put my own reel up here, so I applaud your fortitude and hope you continue to shoot better and better stuff. Good luck.

Oh, and P.S.: You might want to separate out your Cinematographer's Reel from your Director's Reel. When people are watching your hire you, they want to know what role you played. To say that you did both, while it may be true, doesn't come off as very professional because the roles are usually separate.
 
Thank you guys for all your critique, I really appreciate it.

Raptor365 said:
In this case I think your a little premature.
Click to expand...

You are probably right... I actually aren't even looking for work just yet but thought it would be a good practice and might be a good starting point for later on. I definitely have to get better quality footage...


Blade Borge said:
The intro title was a little slow.
Click to expand...
Agree, I probably get rid of the cordvision logo animation, and I also have to tighten up or replace the shots after the suicide...

Pookie said:
You also have to be painfully brutal in your choice of clips...
Click to expand...
I should probably get rid of all my filmschool stuff and see if I can fill it with better shots...

Dadoboy: Yes, the first clip is stretched... I will fix that once I find the original clip. Several clips (everything after the suicide), was shot by me only on a 1/6" CCD miniDV camera ( without any lighting except for what I could find in the house (office desk light etc.). This is the reason why they are relatively flat and don't have a lot of texture. I probably should get rid of them since nobody really cares about the circumstances when shooting. I left them in because I liked the framing in some of them (Ex. ceiling fan). Thanks for your suggestions...
 
I just stopped back in to add to my original post and mention lighting , or lack of creative lighting , could be an area you could look into. I'd also add I liked the stopmotion you did.

But I see dadoboy summed it up much better than I could so I'll borrow his words to say what I came back to expand on. Very well said.

I notice that what distinguishes the good looking pieces from the bad, is not the camera but rather the lighting, art direction and shot choice.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
I would start with the guy about to hang himself, then I would go to the stop motion and take it to the punch line which would be the knife falling in, cut from there, take it to the gal on the computer cut at the reverse shot where she's looking at the computer, cut there, at the rest and keep putting in your best shots.

It's not only about lighting but it's about keeping the narrative, make me want to see more by coming in late in the scene and leaving early, we don't need to see the gal look at the ball on the floor, that's one too many takes on her.

Come in late, leave early, and go boom, boom, boom.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top