The Reel.... montage.. part 1

Loki

Loki

Veteran
I have started putting together my demo reel, as I now have enough work to make something decent I think.

I just finished doing the montage aspect of my reel; you know the part put to music with cool shots from my work...

so here it is:

http://www.dreamsoftfilms.com/films/media/Reel-Montage.mov

it isn't done yet, this is a first run at it, I've never done a reel before so comments on it are welcome. I tried to keep the pace of the images up by choosing mainly "action" scenes; scenes with lots of movement.

peas
 
definitely one of the better put together demo reels i have seen on this board. good job loki.

in the gun shot sequence, maybe actually put a flash on the gun shots, it looks goofy just having the actors jolt the gun with no effects there.

the looks you had were good. do you have anymore projects other than that one short film? if so, put them in there too.....i think you need various projects on the demo reel, not just one (which is what yours seemed like).

also, i don't know if many people are fans of the music you put on there. it didn't bother me, but people might be annoyed at the fact the guys screaming....you know what i mean? people are picky.
 
I like the music. In fact I was refreshed to hear something like that in a demo.

A friend of mine got a full time camera man gig at city TV (local station) and the music on his reel was some crazy hard core. Everyone said it was a bad idea. Guess they were wrong.


Idea:
I'd make the cuts shorter. Make the whole thing shorter actually. Give me a fast sampling of your stuff but don't show too much and don't take up too much of my time. Leave me wanting to see more and know more about you. This version gave me too much.


(As a side:

Dude, is that one apartment building shot in Ajax? I could have sworn it was down by the lake front. I grew up not far from there if it was.

-rook)
 
I think the scenes are way too long for a reel, especially the first scene. I understand why you did what you did but for a reel it's (most of your scenes are) too long.

In and out man, in and out. Make them want to see more, don't drown them with too much.
 
Good looking stuff. I agree with most of the comments.

First and foremost, there are some shots that linger just a bit too long to keep someone's attention. For example, that opening shot of the silhouette on the wall.....my 2 cents would be to only show the part when he blows the smoke...then move on to the next shot.

I'd also bring in your music video footage a lot sooner to mix it up. Otherwise, it looks like you're showing one project at a time...when you should be trying to show a good mix of your work ASAP. There are some really SWEET shots from the music video that I would showcase more in the beginning.

The main thing to think about is a lot of viewers only watch the first 30 secs or so of a demo reel to get an impression. So you have to load your best stuff up front. Don't save it for later. Really open with a BANG. Catch their attention. Then close it with a BANG as well.

My brother is a CG supervisor and gets demo reels all the time. He seriously tells me that he'll watch just the opening stuff of a demo reel....if it's interesting he'll keep watching....maybe even fast-forward a bit and scan around. If the opening is boring, takes too long, or is unimpressive, he'll just move on to the next one.

Having said all that, it's a fine art to do one. And I'm not saying that I can do it better b/c I'm still learning myself. Just hope it's good food for thought. :)
 
Needs some major work. The scenes like noted above are way too long. Who is the audience for this reel? Do you have any better footage you could use?
 
Angrius said:
Needs some major work.
Click to expand...

how so? do explain a little more.

Who is the audience for this reel? Do you have any better footage you could use?
Click to expand...

My audience, good question. Well, since I am still green on the way "commercial" directing works, I assuming here, my intended audience would be potential investors, and producers mainly. Production Companies as well.

and, out of curiosity, what is wrong with footage? specifically..

EDIT: I am gonna play around with it more tonight, the jist it seems is the scenes are too long. I agree for the most part, though I think some of the snippets are nice and short. The point of this montage is a little showcase of "action" scenes, movement etc. the 'meat' of my reel is selected scenes from my work(s). Think of this as more of an opener to the reel, since this is a showcase of my directing ability the heart of the reel is yet to come. I shall be plugging away on it.
 
Overall I think you're off to a really good start... getting things tightened up a bit will definetely improve your reel. Like the music as well. good feel to the whole peace.
 
That song is used in too many montages. And by that I mean, I've seen it used in 2.

But still, great montage.
 
i agree that it seems like some of the shots are a little too long.
it would be sweet if you could incorporate more graphics/flashy stuff (i'm not sure if that's one of your strengths, but i think it would add a lot of goodness)

one last thing, is it just me or did one of those actors have a striking resemblance to Mr Bean?
 
Loki said:
how so? do explain a little more.



My audience, good question. Well, since I am still green on the way "commercial" directing works, I assuming here, my intended audience would be potential investors, and producers mainly. Production Companies as well.

and, out of curiosity, what is wrong with footage? specifically..

EDIT: I am gonna play around with it more tonight, the jist it seems is the scenes are too long. I agree for the most part, though I think some of the snippets are nice and short. The point of this montage is a little showcase of "action" scenes, movement etc. the 'meat' of my reel is selected scenes from my work(s). Think of this as more of an opener to the reel, since this is a showcase of my directing ability the heart of the reel is yet to come. I shall be plugging away on it.
Click to expand...


Okay if your audience are producers...producers of what? Short format? Long? What exactly are you looking towards? Production companies...ones that do commercials? music videos? movies?
That would help narrow down some stuff. They all require a different look. I worked in Toronto for 6 years in the commercial/music video sector and can help you out with what they would want to see if that's where you are heading. Usually, people want variety. That being said, they want to see a continuity of style within that variety as well. Weird. Good luck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top