What makes a good portfolio or showreel?
In this blog I will cover the most important aspects that should be included in a Games Developer’s portfolio and showreel. Before I can do this however, I must explain what each of these are and why they are important to getting work opportunities in the games development industry.
What is a portfolio?
A portfolio is a collection of any of your previous work that you can showcase to potential employers and clients that shows of all your skills and talents that you can offer.
Portfolio — Quality over Quantity
The number one thing that must be kept into consideration when creating a portfolio is quality over quantity. It is generally better to show off only your best work rather than a lot of unfinished or unpolished work. Employers won’t log through all of your projects one by one so its better to keep it short and sweet, highlighting the work that you are proud of.
Portfolio — Try not to specialise
In one of the presentations for this module the creative director of the animation studio Ammonite, Glen Johnston, encouraged us not to specialise too much when building our skills in our subject of study. Most employers would much rather employ one person that has experience with multiple pieces of software rather than someone that only knows how to use one program to do one thing. This is because it saves the company money from having to hire multiple people for one thing and opens up a lot more potential work opportunities for you.
Showreel — Short and Sweet
Your showreel is going to be the first thing you want employers to see when viewing your online portfolio; a short video showing off your best work in an engaging fashion. I was given a number of tips during a presentation, again by Glen Johnston, on how to create an exciting and captivating showreel that will hold the viewer’s attention that I will list out below:
- Keep it short — The ideal duration is roughly 2 minutes in length and not much longer that it drags on and makes the viewer lose interest
- Open strong, Exit stronger — Always start and finish with your best work
- Keep it simple — Unless you are advertising one of your skills as a video editor don’t worry too much about flashy transitions and jump cuts. The key thing here is the content of the video itself.
- Make the viewer smile — If you can find a way to make the viewer laugh or smile through showing a certain part of your game or a small animation then be sure to add these in as it will make your showreel more memorable.
Start writing a blog
Starting a blog and keeping it updated with what you are currently working on shows your commitment to working on a project as well as gives you something to look back on and see how you’ve improved. It’s also a great way to remind yourself of what you have completed that day/week and allows you to set more realistic goals in reference to what have managed previously. If you decide to do this with a social media account it is recommended that you first, make a separate account for this and dedicate it solely to your professional life and second, make use of tags so that your posts will reach a larger audience and may even be noticed by a potential employer or client looking for someone of your skills for work.
The above video was created by Griffith University and goes into more detail about the advantages for students creating online portfolios to help get their foot in the door in the digital creative industries.
Do I need a portfolio to find work?
While it is possible to find work in the digital creative industries without some form of an online portfolio this isn’t recommended and you will be putting yourself at a great disadvantage at being considered for jobs. Most employers will want to physically see something that you have worked on previously so they can see what you are capable of.
My Online Portfolio
My portfolio is still fairly new as of writing this so it is still missing some of my larger projects from previous years in education as well as some things I have made in my own time. As I continue to update it however I plan to show off a good balance between my College/University projects and my more personal projects. Currently I am using ArtStation to show off my work but soon I plan to develop my own website about myself that I can update with blogs anything new I’ve been working on.
