New 2018 reel

Hey Patryk,

Two main comments:

1) It's too long. I'd aim for 90seconds if you want people to watch the whole way through.
2) It leaves me confused about what you do. If it's meant to be a "DP Reel" as you've titled it, then get rid of all of the titles/graphics and just focus on showing your best images from a lighting/composition/creativity perspective. As it is right now I'd be more inclined to think this is an editors reel.
 
It's great - it shows a wide palette of work, but I agree, it is too long. You prove your talents in the first minute and after 2 minutes, it starts to seem desperate and exhausting due to the fast cuts. Perhaps you can make two reels that each focus on one discipline; one that shows commercial work and one that shows feature/documentary work.

I'd leave the graphics in the commercial reel. It's good to show who you've worked for.
 
Yeah, I see no issue with leaving in graphics, but your initial question about commercial vs art is easily answered by having dedicated shorter reels that are appropriate for different bids. It makes it more targeted, relevant, and also takes care of the length issue...which I agree with the above posters, it is an issue.

You have fantastic content though, and plenty of it. So, this should be a very easy tweak/fix.
 
Yep, I'd agree with the others. My primary impression was that there's just too much in it. Too many shots from each individual spot. I'd suggest simply pulling out the very best of those shots and throwing them together, at the moment it feels too much like you're watching each of the individual spots in turn.
 
Personally, I think reels should make the viewer feel that the DP has a large body of work and the more that shots from the same piece of work are used the more it gives the impression that you only have a limited body of work from which to pull shots.
 
And another opinion: I wouldn't mix all the different "genres" you seem to work in. When looking for someone to shoot a big-brand project with, I don't want to see all the corporate/PSA style shots in between. I'd rather go for separate commercial, corporate and docu/narrative reels. Speaking from a producers perspective here.
There are many interesting shots in there, but for me this reel says "I kind of do everything that crosses my path/I'm a jack of all trades" (no offence).
I stopped watching after 30 seconds and started skipping.
I guess this is OK if you want to attract mid-level jobs, but in my experience those come in anyways.
If you want to attract higher end projects, I'd narrow my reel down to that... Just my 2c of course:)
 
I watched it 3 times. Lots of excellent work!
My thoughts:
At the 2:50 mark it started to feel long, like it should be ending but is starting again. Not that there was excellent material throughout the rest, it just felt that way to me.
Your opening title graphic stays Director of Photography. So some viewers may think you just DP. Others may see the graphics in the reel and wonder if you do post too.

I really don't know what is best when it comes to whether to include everyting in one reel or make separate reels for each category.
One reel showing such variety says "wow! this guys everything" to some, but to others they only care about what you can do for their particular need. Such as the car dealer loves the Mercedes and Lincoln stuff but doesn't care at all about seeing the narrative. But if you make several reels then they may only see one and totally miss out on something you want them to see in the others.

I'm in a similar situation in that we do events, corporate, 3d animation and much more ranging from car chases to weddings so it's a HUGE variety. The corporate client doesn't care about the dance recitals or car commercials and vice versa. The furniture store owner doesn't want to see a bunch of outdoor aerial footage. So do you make one wham bam reel showing everything when they will only care about a few shots of it? Will they think "wow these guys do it all so they must be good" or "they do too much so they probably aren't the best at the particualar thing I need"?

So what you *might* do is make one main reel that focuses on what you really want to do the most. Show a little of the other stuff in it too so if they only see the main reel they know you can do more, but then make a separate reel that focusses on the other stuff.

I may be completely wrong but those are my thoughts.
 
Guess I'll be the dissenter here and ask, "Do people hire really hire you from watching your reel?" In some markets and niches, they may.
Your work looks excellent, but I feel as if way too much emphasis is placed on reels by those here.
I can say that nobody who has hired me to DP in at least three years has asked to see or has seen my reel.
They hire off of reputation, having seen a film or a show I DP'd in a theater or on TV. But it's mostly word of mouth and repeat customers.
Reels, to me, are a waste of time because the people I deal with who hire me don't see them or care about them.
 
Might depend what market sector you work in. I work on low end stuff and have been hired off reel after brief email exchange. But also word of mouth, interviews, etc. Youre kind of in a high end sector, to me.

Would absolutely advocate different reels. Just put them in some kind of categories/organization where someone coming across your work couldnt miss what theyre looking for...corporate guy should be easily able to find your corporate stuff and have to see anything else, commercial guy should be able to find commercial work and view it exclusively, etc.
 
Lots of great advice here! Thank you!

RE: Length. I feel we ALL do this. We start out and after a few seconds put the person in category: hire or no-hire. Then we simply skip to reinforce our "bias." I'v done this with with people i wanted to hire and people i didn't just to confirm that they are "no good." I have a shorter reel for my production company and i kinda like it WAY more: http://tupeloproductions.com/reel.html

RE: Commercial v Art. It's a complex question. Some director friends suggested to splice in more art because the kind of "quality work" that's shown through my commercials is delivered by pretty much any capable DP so it doesn't make me stand out. Moreover by talking to some art director who are responsible for bringing in people on various projects, they want more art than commerce (even if ultimately it's meant to be in service of commerce).

RE: Versatility. I agree that the question is difficult. To make separate reels for a variety of disciplines or one reel that shows my "jack of all trade skills" (with necessary implication that i might be master of none). I don't have answer to this one.
 
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