Podeloy Productions Blog

Podeloy blog reader John Wouk asks:

“I’m trying to apply for a job I found on Craigslist directing a short industrial film.  The person who placed the ad is asking for applicants’ reels.  I’m a student at a local college with a few student films and short documentaries under my belt and am confident that I could do a good job on the industrial film, but I’ve never created a reel for myself.  How is it done? Is there a difference between a good reel and a bad reel? Should I just give him one whole student film I made or should I just show the best parts? Any advice would be appreciated.”

Thanks for writing, John.  Its a great question because it applies to directors, actors, editors, cinematographers, and anyone else who needs to create a reel to show off his or her work to a client or producer.

There are two broad categories of reels: (1) specific and (2) eclectic.  A specific reel shows off long scenes of projects (or perhaps even entire projects) whereas an eclectic reel shows off very brief clips of a variety of different projects.  Whether you want to create and submit a specific reel or an eclectic reel depends on a variety of factors including the project you are applying for, the client you are applying to, and your own personal strengths and experiences as an artist.

Cutting an specific reel is fairly easy.  You hardly need any editing skill at all.  All you do is choose the best scenes from your best projects, put them on the timeline, and add your fade ins and fade outs as necessary. This is best for directors and actors who want to show off their skills at creating and sustaining emotion.

Eclectic reels are a little more tricky.  What I like to do is get some fast-paced music (make sure to get the rights first) that would appeal to a variety of musical tastes, lay it on the timeline, and then just cut cool looking or action oriented shots from projects together so that it looks like you’re a jack of all trades.  The eclectic reel should look a little bit like a music video.  Confidence in getting the job done is the dominant feeling the client should be getting, rather than the sensitivity that the best specific reels are best at.  Eclectic reels are best for cinematographers, visual effects artists, and (sometimes) editors who want to highlight their technical craftsmanship.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 20th, 2009 at 6:39 pm and is filed under Job Hunting, Networking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.