Gettin’ the Show Reel together?

[Andrew Yoole]

[Dario] “and in it he talks about NOT showing that your a ‘jack of all trades’ in your reel.”

That entirely depends on what kind of job you’re applying for. If you are seeking a job as a Flame compositor, there’s not much point showing off your DVD authoring skills. But if you are speaking to a production company who makes TV spots, DVDs and corporate videos, they will almost certainly WANT you to be a jack of all trades.

If you have an extensive range of skills and plan to apply for very diverse jobs, it may pay to cut separate reels which demonstrate specific skills.

[Dario]

Thanks, that’s the kind of advice I need (and still need if there’s more out there :).

Given that ILM, et al, are 3000 miles to my left and that I’m hoping to freelance (fingers crossed) I’ll skip the Flame stuff and shoot for local production companies.

Now that I think about it that site I mentioned does seem to veer towards high end Flame type stuff.

[Tom J]

To me, it would depend really on whether or not you are going to work for yourself or for a boutique. The one discussion I can add to your list of things is Branding, as it is a little off topic it could prove to be quite useful in your work, more on that below. I quickly read the article and one thing that totally stands out is topic #2!!! Without a doubt true!

I agree here with Andrew about using Flame (very specific and very involved by itself). I would add that it may be a lucrative turn out for you in some cases, but in the long run “working as” a jack of all trades could come back and bite you. Most facilities will by-pass you if you advertise yourself as a “jack-of-all-trades”. So produce a few different reels that focus on specific skillsets and use them accordingly when applying for a gig.

If your skillset is diverse then silently use that to your advantage in various projects by implementing or utilizing cross platform techniques and help yourself produce a better end result.

I think you have a good focus on some industry trades already. If you want to produce Network Id’s or bumps then I would suggest focusing on that, it’s alot of fun and the benefits alone to some can be quite rewarding. IMHO, some gigs like compositing or tracking can become very tedious or harmful in the sense that your creativity may lose focus over time so it could take a while to bounce back (especially with today’s advancement in technology).

Don’t get me wrong, if you love compositing and tracking go for it, just keep up with your creative side by working other gigs (scheduling permitted). Other approaches could be 3D character work, 3D pre-visual work, game level design, etc.

I know it is a little off topic but to add to your mix, I would personally add this. If you end up working for yourself developing ideas and producing projects for a client, you should always remember that it’s not always about advertising or showing off some grand animation and cool fancy effects or graphics. In the beginning it’s really about P.R. and Branding. Delivering a focused message into the common marketplace about a service or product that defines it as being introduced “first”.

PR and Branding 1st then advertising to sustain a competitive edge.

When you think or hear about the following, what single word or message comes to mind?
Volvo – ?
FedEx – ? (besides for the nickname brought on by customers)
Colgate – ?
CBS – ?

There’s my .02, hope that helps.

Tom

[Aharon Rabinowitz]

The term jack-of-all-trades usually refers to someone who is OK at many things, but not highly skilled in any one particular area.

Anything you show on your reel needs to be good. It’s as simple as that. A lot of animation houses don’t have the budget to hire a large team, so someone that knows how to do many things (well), is more likely to get a job there, than a guy who is the best rotoscope artist in town, but can’t do motion grpahics if his life depended on it. Of course if they are looking for a roto artists, your out of luck.

I’ve read a lot of articles about things not to put in your reel – but ultimately what really matters is that if you do anything, you do it well and differently enough that no one says – “Oh it’s the old lens flare again…”

The reason the article says to avoid space is that when you get down to it, almost every animator has started there. Most of us are sci-fi geeks. The prblem is that space, while cool, isn’t something you see or use everyday – animation houses are more interested in things that look real or that they can use on a daily basis. With the exception of one time, I’ve never been asked to animate space in all the time I’ve been doing this – would be fun though.

A lot of people can make space ship orbiting a planet, but very few people can set up a shot of a kitchen table with a tea set that looks really real, or a person walking that doesn’t look robotic. make sense?

So ultimately, make your reel interesting, get the content to be diverse enough that you’re not watching the same thing over and over, and make sure the quality of what your showing is good enough – don’t get too attached to anything just because you made it.

If you have several logo treatments, 3D shots, live action shots, cartoon scenes…etc. You may want to group them so there’s some flow between the reel.

Also, keep it under 2.5 minutes at the max. No joke. End with a bang (not literally, save a good piece for end too, just not your best.

*whew*

—————————————-
Aharon Rabinowitz
aharon(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
http://www.allbetsareoff.com
—————————————-
Creative Cow Master Series DVD
particleIllusion Fusion Volume 1
available @ http://www.pIllusionFusion.com

[Dario]

WOW, I didn’t expect such in depth responses.

That really helps. I guess I’d steer away from too much compositing and roto due to the fact that I can’t afford a video camera yet. Spent a MAJOR wad on the software. Plus, it seems to me that I could do the other stuff from the house all on my Mac setup.

I had another thought on the topic and that is to scour the web for others’ reels to see what they’re comprised of. Not to copy of course but to see what the market looks like at the moment.

So, are there any books available that might clue me in to the terminology and the various directions one could go beyond what the Total Training DVD’s will? I think I’m pretty well set with AE specifically, at least regarding reference and training materials.

[Andrew Yoole]

Don’t forget there’s a Demo Reel Forum right here at the Cow!

https://forums.creativecow.net/cgi-bin/new_view_posts.cgi?forumid=173

[Dario]

Oooooh! 🙂
I forgot about that.