Demo reels question

[Bill Davis]

This is personal opinion only – and comes from a guy who wrote an article about Demo Reels 11 years ago for Ken Stone’s fledgling FCP site – that still ranks as the single most read and commented upon thing I’ve ever written – including the many dozens of columns I wrote when I was a Contributing Editor for a national magazine.

Once upon a time, a demo reel was an actual reel. In order to deploy it, you had to create it in advance, lock it down, replicate it, and send it out en masse.

That’s just not at all reality any more.

Today more than ever, you can keep a file of demo clips and rapid assemble them into anything that best matches the needs of whoever you’re pitching to.

That’s my recommendation.

If the potential client asks for something long – send them something long.

If not, I favor general demo’s that are no more than 2 minutes long – and, in most cases, 1 minute is twice as effective as 2 minutes.

The vast majority of the people who are going to book you will know in the first minute of seeing your work if what you do matches the quality and sophistication they need.

Everything else is secondary.

FWIW.

“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor

[George Loch]

So, for a short two minute demo, what do you put in it in terms of the number of samples? 4 or 5 edit sequences? ?

-gl

twitter: @georgeloch
web: https://georgeloch.com

[Shane Ross]

If I had to send out a DVD reel…I’d first target it towards the job I was applying for. Choosing work that matches what they do. Then I’d choose my best 2-4 clips for that…showing about 2 min of each.

But rarely do I get called to send a DVD. I get asked to provide a link to samples, which I do. I have 2-5 minute samples of my best work on a website, and separated out by catagory (Narrative, Doc, Commercial), and the client can click on the clips they want to see.

https://web.me.com/comeback/Shane_Ross_-_Editor/HOME.html

Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[George Loch]

Your website approach is right in line with what I was thinking – many short samples of a genre.

Thanks for the input

-gl

twitter: @georgeloch
web: https://georgeloch.com

[Mark Suszko]

The trap some fall into is that an editing demo is going to be different from just a demo of someone’s quality of photography. A simple sequence of very brilliant shots doesn’t necessarily make a successful *editing* demo. The point of an editing demo is what you *do* with the shots. Fast-cut montages used to be the “thing” in the 80’s, but today, just showing a really well-cut dialog sequence tells more about the editor than a spazzy montage. Telling a story is the point. If you can tell it very well, in just 2 minutes, you’re good.

[George Loch]

Yes, this was my question where I have seen several “editors reels” that were more of DP reels. This is what prompted my question. Shane’s samples are better examples of an editor’s capabilities.

-gl

twitter: @georgeloch
web: https://georgeloch.com