• Demo Reel Advice?
    16 replies, posted
So I just finished putting together my 2010 demo reel, as I could soon be looking for a new art related job if the current one fails. I've never actually made a demo reel so I'd like to hear your opinions on what I did right and what I should change. [url]http://vimeo.com/18358255[/url] Thanks guys! :)
I hope you take this to heart because you need it. That demo reel needs to be about a minute and thirty seconds shorter than it already is. In other words, thirty seconds. They problem with it (really bugs the shit out of me) is that it's almost unwatchable with that music. It's so terrible slow and depressing. No one will hire you with music like that. You sound like you don't want the job and instead plan to mope around. Get something sweet and upbeat like Waters of Nazareth by JUSTICE. Don't use that song though. Another thing, the different clips should be paced fairly quickly. You aren't showing the whole piece, just a part of it so the employer can get the gist. One last thing, is there a framerate issue in the beginning where the cubes are following?
So I need dubstep to get hired? Alrighty then, I'll get on that. I guess I should also make a 30 second reel for the less patient employers. I'll also look into that beginning scene as I just noticed that there is some ghosting going on. Thanks you for the advice. :)
It's not dubstep and the 30 seconds isn't for impatient employers. They don't like to watch anything over thirty seconds. They have a lot of reels like yours to go through, trust me. It's 30 seconds max. Every year after that demo reel, add ten seconds. So on.
Personally I was following the advice of Pixar for demo reels, but then again I've never tried one and I'm not sure if other companies are the opposite of them. Thanks again. [url]http://www.pixar.com/companyinfo/jobs/howto.html[/url]
The difference between your reel and the kind of reels they are receiving is that yours is more of a 2d/3d motion graphics reel whereas what they are looking for is character animation and more time is needed for that sort of thing.
I think the music is beautiful, and love the sudden change in mood at the end. Reading the Pixar link, here are some things. [quote]Don't do a "collage" of your work, with interleaved random clips from all your different work. No, no, no. We won't be able to figure out what's going on. DO give each piece the time it deserves, no more nor less, and just show it once. Keep it simple.[/quote] I think this is pretty close to a collage of your work! Of course, many of the things you make are abstract, so maybe I'm mistaken. [quote]Lead TDs often have 10 - 20 reels to go through. They might watch the first minute, see if anything intrigues them. If so, they'll watch the other 2 minutes. If not, move on. Show your best, most impressive work first -- presumably the work you are specifically applying for. Make it clear on your demo reel, cover letter, and resume what type of position you're applying for. Don't try to change your demo reel because our website says we only need, say, lighting TD's now, either. Say what you're good at and make your reel demonstrate that.[/quote] Are you sure your best work is at the beginning? [quote]If you've done a sequence, show it at several stages of production. If you've done shading, show the basic color pass, the procedural shading, the painting, and a lit version. If you wrote clever software, include real work that was done with the software, and include on the title card, like, "Implemented simulation of Segway dynamics" in addition to everything else you did. Don't show screen shots of people using the software or screen grabs of C++ code.[/quote] I think you actually did this at one point, but maybe you want to do a really sped-up video of creating a 3D object. That's all I have to say. I probably misinterpreted a lot of stuff though, because I have no experience with this.
Heres my honest opinion, The music wasn't fast enough, if your trying to impress me, get me going n a groove or rhythm. Since the footage was for the most part very static i was relying on the music to uplift me and get me going. If your displaying pieces make sure you show me when you change from one to another, if you didn't label it demo reel i could have mistaken it for some pretentious music video. Check this link out for inspiration: [url]http://vimeo.com/channels/demoreels[/url]
I love the scene when the camera pans into that room with the glowing chair and lights, the water and reflections of light are beautiful.
I thought the length was fine, it was actually much shorter than most I have seen. I just didn't care for the music choice.
You forgot to add your profession. Are you 3d modeler, animator, vfx artist, 2d animator, cartoonist or what? If you do more than one thing and are good at both, do separate reels for each. Mixing 2d and 3d stuff together isn't a very good idea. Also most of your stuff doesn't really show any skill. The models are basic and so are the animations. Do more complicated stuff to put in your reel. Also your reel is boring. People advice you to shorten it because it's so boring it's hard to watch such a long reel. Although this is not a movie, you still need to keep your watcher's attention. Make stuff happen.
You hardly showed off your work well. A lot of those images were onscreen for less than two seconds. That's an awful small amount of time to really get the feel for an image. Also, many employers (Pixar included) just mute the reel unless you specifically ask them not too. If it doesn't look good muted, it isn't good.
I wouldn't hire you if you showed me that. And ease off the drugs man.
Thanks guys! I do better the next time I work on a demo reel. :)
-Pick out a few work and make each longer. -The total length should be shorter. -Don't do dub, a lot of companies don't even turn the sound on. (Never rely on sound!) -There is no sense of flow in your reel. -Order should be your best work and down. -Stop at your above average work. -Do not show your average work and down. I seriously wanted to stop the video when the clip began. The intro is terrible. It is so busy that I had no clue what I was looking at and that I did not know what to expect.
Keep it short and sweet, like everyone else said. Let the drummer record first, so there's a set rhythm, and if he/she needs it, for GODS SAKES make sure they're using a metronome. We recorded our first two demo songs, and our drummer didn't use a metronome, causing his speed to change up randomly throughout the song. This of course made it next to impossible to record all of the other horn parts, the vocals, the bass and the guitar =_=
[QUOTE=ewitwins;27366060]Keep it short and sweet, like everyone else said. Let the drummer record first, so there's a set rhythm, and if he/she needs it, for GODS SAKES make sure they're using a metronome. We recorded our first two demo songs, and our drummer didn't use a metronome, causing his speed to change up randomly throughout the song. This of course made it next to impossible to record all of the other horn parts, the vocals, the bass and the guitar =_=[/QUOTE] What do you mean? That music isn't made by him. And it doesn't even matter because as many said, most companies mute reels anyway
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