what can I put on my reel?

[randomname]

I'm about to put together my first demo reel, I've only worked on student projects so I'm not all that specialized (I've directed, DP'd and lit films) and was wondering if it would be acceptable for me to put things I've directed on a cinematography reel, as I think they show my sense for composition, movement, and lighting. Is it important that I only use things I have a director of photography credit on and will I offend people who have DP'd on my films? Also, is video work OK to include? I've done a few wedding videos and I like some of the images from those as much if not more than the films I've shot.

 

[dcarstens]

If you directed a film in which you had a DP, you should not use this on a cinematography reel of your own. I would also not recommend using non-narrative footage (especially wedding, as it's a bit stigmatized and stands out as obviously not narrative) unless you wanted to showcase documentary experience.

 

[Chris S. Alexander]

I agree with David. If you didn't DP it, it shouldn't be on your cinematography reel. That has happened to me a couple of times and I did not appreciate it. If you really like your wedding shots, I would say go ahead and make a separate wedding reel. There's definitely some money to be made in that market. Best of luck.

 

[Justin Kuhn]

Not kosher.

 

[randomname]

thanks for the input, but that leaves me with a few options. I can either make a less focused director/DP reel that specifies what my position was for each shot, a very short DP reel, or one that is very clearly only drawing from a few projects. Any thoughts on which would be the best?

 

[Tom Wills]

If there's one point I feel like I've made a million times, it's that you don't want to make people work to get what they need to hire you. For a producer, time is money, and if you make them take a lot of time to decipher something, they'll move on, just as they would if, for example, you sent them a 10 minute reel. Also, you want someone watching your reel to be moved by the piece - if you make them read text before shots, or think about how you worked on a shot, you're taking them out of the piece.

 

[Jordan Scott Price]

Tom's post really nails it.

Make it short.

A one-minute wedding reel and a two-minute narrative reel, since you're just starting out, are perfectly acceptable. Show your best work, and show your best best work at the beginning of the reel.

There are projects I spent an entire weekend on, and I only use one shot from them for 6 seconds in my reel. But it was the best shot, and it worked great in the reel.

Also, try to keep editing principles in mind when cutting your reel. For example, if someone exits the screen left, have someone enter the next shot screen right, or at least have the talent in the shot in screen right. If there was movement at the end of one shot, try to have movement in the next shot. Don't cut from a shot in a car doing 50 MPH to a paralyzed medium shot of the talent in a chair (unless the camera is moving). It's jarring, and you want your reel to be smooth - i.e. watchable and enjoyable.

And you may choose to compose your reel in order of projects: e.g. This Movie, That Movie, This Commercial, end. This is often done when there are drastically different projects in the reel, like a sci-fi film taking place on a starship in 2500, a contemporary domestic drama, and a televised product commercial. Cutting these up intermittently might be unsettling and messy. Another option is to use the best shots from everything and organize them as you please. I've seen both kinds of reels, and the good ones are effective no matter if they're cut one way or the other. It's up to you.