What makes a good demo reel?

I need to make a demo reel so I can get a job in post production. I'm expecting I'll have to start out as an assistant editor or a similar position. Unfortunately I don't have any projects I've done already that I feel show off my talents and skills effectively. I have some projects that I only edited, but the projects themselves aren't that great. Also, I don't have a camera at the moment to shoot my own projects for my demo reel (I'm waiting for the HVX200). What material is recommended for me to use to make a demo reel? Would making some trailers from movies do the trick (I would have to rip from DVDs)? I can use FCP5, Motion 2, Soundtrack Pro, and DVD Studio Pro 4, and I have Adobe CS2 on the way. I was even thinking of authoring my demo reel as a DVD, including my resume within the DVD menus. Anyone have any suggestions?

Here are some good tips

[www.lafcpug.org]



Michael Horton
-------------------

Thanks Michael. That helps a bit. Does anyone else have any input on this subject? What did you like about some of the best reels you've seen?

This is my personal 2¢:

A Demo Reel is serious business to some, and a pain in the a$$ to others. This is the opinion of someone that takes the Demo Reel as SERIOUS BUSINESS.

I love this subject because I am one of the rare birds that enjoys creating Demo Reels. Personally, as a Senior Designer at my previous employer (Ad Agency) and a Motion Graphics Designer / Editor (Broadcast TV), I have seen hundreds of Demos and there are a lot of forgettable ones...but there are 2 kinds of memorable ones: "Really Good" and "Really Bad".

The "Really Bad" ones stand out in my memory because the Artist / Editor didn't make an effort to "Design" the Demo. It was mainly just a bunch of poorly produced clips thrown together with a black & white still slate with no rhythm or thought about a "look" and your basic "Matrix" or "Carmina Burana" music track (please carefully select your music). I have seen my Art Director toss a few Demos out for this reason (he has a "Really Bad" box that he keeps in the room for group viewing when making a point on what NOT TO DO). If the person sending the Demo doesn't care enough to CREATE a Demo "Experience", how's he going to care about our facility and our workload?

The "Really Good" ones grab you with the simplest thing - the opening info. This sets you up for what's coming. I am a big believer in "The Demo's The Thing", so I like to keep everything moving with Motion Grafix Intros, chapter bumps and motion close slate.

You have to GRAB 'EM in the first 10 seconds or it's pretty much "on to the next reel". If they like the first 10 seconds, they might just watch the rest of the reel. Make sure your contact info is legible appears at the open & close.

The clips (I CAN'T STRESS THIS ENOUGH - BEST WORK FIRST - RULE OF THUMB) are edited to a catchy-cool music track (I've even seen mixed music tracks to accompany different clip area "looks". I say "BEST WORK FIRST" because a prospective client / employer is not going to sit through 2 minutes of crap to see the good stuff.

No more than 3 minutes in length. Long demos = snore.

I have 3 different Demos for 3 different types of clients...one for straight editing - Advertising "Branding" spots, one for Advertising "Retail" spots, and a Motion Graphics Design / Editing Compilation. Now obviously, you wouldn't send a Design reel for an Assistant Editing position because that's not what they want to see (you need to gear your Reel towards who you are targeting).

On a side note: My Demo DVD package font matches my Business Card and my website. The opening animated slate on my Reel matches the design on my website's splash page. There is a theme running through all my materials and it makes it all memorable to the client. When they see a serious concerted effort to plan, produce, update and maintain your Demo materials, it usually ends up in a gig.

There's more, but that should fry your brain for a while. I hope this helps.

- Joey

It does help, and without frying my brain too. Actually, I'm a little surprised my brain isn't fried at this point, but I guess if I didn't fry my brain in college taking 21 units in one semester while working 40 hours a week, there's nothing that can fry my brain. I've been spending ALL my free time the last 3 weeks learning all the FC Studio apps. It's nice that Apple made them fairly easy to operate. Once you get the hang of things in one app, the rest just seem to fall into place. I'm real comfortable with all of them now, and I'm close to being ready to start some projects with my first demo reel being #1.

If I have to start at the bottom in an Assistant Editor position, what should I have in my demo reel? Someone told me I shouldn't even bother with a reel for that kind of position.

If I don't have good source material to incorporate into my reel, what should I use?

I was thinking of authoring a DVD for my reel to showcase my skills as an editor and motion graphics designer. I woudl have some cool motion animations and motion menus, have my resume on the DVD within the menus, and then some clips of something I've done (haven't figured that part out yet). Is that a good idea?

Regarding what I use for clips, would it be okay to make some movie trailers from DVD movies? One problem I see with doing this is that the movies are copyrighted and I would be using the material for my demo reel without permission. I could add a short disclaimer at the beginning that it's copyrighted material used without permission for skill showcase and demo use only. Would that be okay?

Thanks!

Mike,

It is never written in stone what it is that employers look for when they look at your demo materials. Good Art Directors / Creative Directors will sift through the demo and see glimpses of things in your abilities that they can use.

My first gig out of Film School was obtained with a single clip on my website. It was a personal project done on my own time to showcase compositing & sound design. My employer told me that he was so impressed that I took the initiative to go out, shoot the ftg and Post it myself that he saw a work ethic that was what he was looking for. He didn't even look at my Demo Tape until after I was hired and started working.

Put whatever you want on your reel, but be ready to break down every single scene & graphic in regards to how you did it. For a Motion Graphics Designer, a single piece could be done by many different people. Only explain what YOUR part is. Be careful not to take credit for someone else's work.

Good luck.

- Joey

i'll keep this as brief as i can.

for post production, i'd say - handle your type well! thats the ONE thing that about 90% of all newbie (and seasoned pro's alike) have no grasp of. a lot of people think that type is easy or boring and just want to get on to the sexy volumetric lighting and 3D stuff. i fully disagree. ive always thought if you cant tell a story with type, youre not worth your salt as a motion graphics artist.

look at companies like imaginary forces (www.imaginaryforces.com) these guys are what got me to make the leap from straight print into motion graphix and video. a big chunk of what they have done (at least historically) was extremely type heavy.

and im not just talking about the nuts and bolts tech stuff of how to make type look good on screen OR just the creative part. but really break down the psychology of what the individual characters represent.

for this, i reccommend 3 books:

1. the graphic language of neville brody, by jon wozencroft
this book pretty much was my bible for the first few years of my career. its almost 100% print, but it will help you with sensitivity to type.

2. motion graphics - graphic design for broadcast and film by steve curran

3. motiongraphicsFILM+TV by ziegler, grecco and riggs

2 and 3 are pretty much just samples with short case studies, but they will give you a wealth of inspiration.

and here are my two most important rules for motion typography:
a single character MAY, but a full word or sentence SHOULD almost NEVER move diagonally.

for every action there almost always is a (not necessarilly equal or opposite) reaction.

let us know if we can give you any other advice - and best wishes to you!

wG

Wow! Great advice re: demo reels. I'm starting at looking to make one myself and all this great info will come in handy. However, for someone looking for an assistant editor position, is a demo reel all that useful? I would imagine that we all know an offline editor who could make a tasty demo but couldn't produce a usable EDL if their life depended on it.

It's been my impression that organizational skills, experience (ironically,) knowledge of the tools, and work ethic (as Joey wrote above) are what people are looking for in an assistant editor. Maybe equally important is the desire to actually be an assistant editor for a while, and treat it as a serious, albeit ultimately transient position. My advice would be to create a clever DVD that somehow highlighted these qualities as well as your creative skills. I guess effort is the key. Make them know that you are serious enough to work hard, keep learning, and yet still remain humble and open.

That's my 2¢ from lowly assistantland.

Best of luck!

and thats a SUPERB 2¢ justin!. at the end of the day it all comes down to what the cat hiring wants to see. to me (as joey says) work ethic is number one. beyond that its subjective...

the question kind of comes down to how a person sees themselves and how they want to be seen. and thats where your reel comes in.

present yourself to whom and as whom youd like to. pay attention to the current mainstream media (if thats the industry you want to get into) and invent yourself accordingly.

the biggest advice id offer anyone is to watch TV, watch movies, read magaizines, view boring-ass corporate videos, etc... see whats happening, take it for what it can show you, take it home make it yours and figure out how to make it better and you'll never be wanting for work.

cheers! - wG

<<and thats a SUPERB 2¢ justin!>>

Thanks Wayne. That's very kind of you to say.

- - - - - - -

Lately I've been kind of the evangelist for starting as an assistant editor, or similar position. The recent trend has been to try jump right to editor, and I've found out that you can miss so many skills and so much wisdom doing that. I think we've all migrated towards this field because we're somehow naturally creative. But the reality is that if we really want to make this our "day job," and do it for life, we need to train some proper "left brain" skills as well. I resisted this for a while, regretfully.

As far as the specifics of the demo reel, I couldn't say. In my limited experience, hiring goes on largely by word-of-mouth. It's not necessarily an "insiders" network. It's just that people value a personal endorsement over a random reel or resumé. All the more reason to get your foot in the door as an assistant, and start working with people as soon as possible.