DEMO REEL vs SHOW REEL | Portfolio to Stand out
Seven Ways to Standout our Demo Reel or Show Reel….
FirstWord: We’ve made it quick and convenient for to understand the terms in Short time. As We(VFX Artists) all know about these, just I am recollecting.
Americans tend to say ‘demo reel’ and us English tend to say ‘showreel’. but Technically
SHOW REEL : -Video showing the Production work, Software Exposure that you’ve already done in Films, TV, Gaming industries.
DEMO REEL : Video showing the Art works and that it demonstrates what we can do, Showcase of your skills & abilities, exposure of knowledge to Recruiters. As such, your reel is often show what you are.
Creating a Demo Reel / Show Reel which will showcase your talent and will make you stand out from the crowd in the competitive market is something to be focussed. After discussing with several VFX CG Animation supervisors and artists of reputed Production Companies we gathered several important factors necessary for Demo Reel/ Show Reel.
MAKE YOUR REEL FROM GOOD TO GREAT !!!
1. Entertaining and engaging & Funny
* To push the point even further I’d suggest being funny or at the very least ‘fun’. Wow people with your creative wit, not just the usual montage.
eg. Yum Yum London Happy Food, Bossbaby Trailer, etc.,
2. Don’t have a reel, have a portfolio.
* I think its pretty easy for anyone Now if you’re a DP, VFX creative, colorist or make up artist for example, then a montage probably IS your best bet is a nice looking shot. But for directors, editors, composers etc I think clients are looking to evaluate your work in the context of the whole experience, not just the specific shots. Portfolio sites like Behance or Wix.com, ArtStation, WordPress plugins like Vimeography make creating a professional looking portfolio online, incredibly easy.
3. Make Sure it’s Applicable to the Position or Studio
*Different studios and developers have completely different styles. When they are hiring they will be looking for artists that can slot straight in to the studio and understand what their work is all about. It is up to you to do your research to see just what they are looking for.
Concept Art Mentor Brandon Reimchen believes it’s all about making it clear you can have an immediate impact on the studio.
“Make sure the artwork you’re showing relates to the studio or product you’re applying for. Show the art director that you can slot straight into the team.”
343 Industries and Bungie develop games that are mainly sci-fi, first-person shooters. Where as game studios like Bioware and CD Projekt tend to focus more on third-person, open world role-playing games.
Although both make animated films, Pixar and Dreamworks have completely different art styles from one another. Video Game studios are the same. Although both Bethesda and Gearbox make open world first person shooters, they have incredibly distinctive art styles.
4. Explain What You Did, Specifically.
* Now understandably most of us don’t have the time or resources to create such a detailed video, but a short write up and a few behind the scenes photos, pre-vis or sketches can add depth to your work and help communicate just how valuable, talented and creative you really are. Also film is almost always a team sport so be sure to point out what you did specifically and give credit to those involved.
5. Only Include Your Best Work
* Including your best work is crucial to having a great reel. If something is kind of old, out of date then leave it out. The temptation is to feel like you might not have ‘enough’ stuff on your reel, but avoid that temptation!
eg. I read that a post production supervisor saying he hired someone to work on Troy because he saw a six second shot of an asteroid hitting cardiff and it had realistic looking dust in it. Six seconds in a whole reel, got the job, because he could do dust and they needed dust.
6. Add Tags
* You would probably recognise any shot from any of those films instantly. But we like about added short text captions to reference what we did in the shot and what project it is from.This is especially important if the shots in your reel aren’t as recognizable, enabling clients to follow up with you on specific shots (that they might like for some creative reason).
7.Pass word protection. DO NOT PASSWORD PROTECT YOUR SHOWREEL! *The only thing this achieves is make your work harder to view for the people who need to see what you can do. It is not a game of hide and seek. You can show your work if it has already been made public in the form or a trailer, ad or behind the scenes vignette. A company cannot stop you from showing work on which you directly contributed that has already been released or published. If, on the other hand the work you want to show has not yet been released, or is still in production, then DO NOT SHOW IT! Full stop.
Do Nots
- Don’t show violence acts,
- Bad selection of shots will lead your reel into the bin.
- Never put a shot in your demo reel until and unless you are 100% satisfied.
- Don’t mention about the software which you have used only one time.
- You’re only as strong as your weakest link. Also don’t overly repeat stuff as it
will just look like padding.
for more information on Demo Reel please go through:
DEMO REEL | Demoreel Formula
References: Animal Logic Entertainment, JONNY ELWYN, Animation Calcutta. https://www.cgspectrum.com/
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