Eventually...my showreel comments welcome.

Location > Networking > Forum > Eventually...my showreel comments welcome.

	Topic: Eventually...my showreel comments welcome.
Posted : 17/08/10 / Views : 619 / Replies : 6 /
DER 64 posts last on: 20/10/11 send private reply	After a wait of what seemed like 20years I eventually got a showreel! View it on my profile or click here Thoughts most welcome.

[add comments | all topics]

	Reply #1
Posted : 11/08/10
PeterMcCrohon 140 posts last on: 07/02/12 send private reply	I think it's a first class showreel. Good quality and good performances. Montage is just the right length and clips don't outstay their welcome. Just an idea, but should Doctors, as the 'profile' job, go on first?

	Reply #2
Posted : 11/08/10
leeravitz 1543 posts last on: 6 hours send private reply	Yes, I think this is a showreel that does everything you need a showreel to do - coupled with the fact that you have substantial material capable of being taken from each film to showcase you (which is not always possible). Whether or not 'Doctors' should be upfront or not, I'm not sure - I can see why the production quality of many of the films that you have featured is considerably higher than the (broadcast!) TV series. It is also interesting that a number of casting directors of my acquaintance seem to hold that feature film making (even low budget feature making) tends to demand especially nuanced performances, excellent camera work and subtle scripting, whereas TV work comes in a poor second in comparison - so, if you are aiming to secure work in features and shorts, perhaps the emphasis is actually right!

Reply #2

Posted : 11/08/10

leeravitz
1543 posts
last on: 6 hours
send private reply

Yes, I think this is a showreel that does everything you need a showreel to do - coupled with the fact that you have substantial material capable of being taken from each film to showcase you (which is not always possible).

Whether or not 'Doctors' should be upfront or not, I'm not sure - I can see why the production quality of many of the films that you have featured is considerably higher than the (broadcast!) TV series. It is also interesting that a number of casting directors of my acquaintance seem to hold that feature film making (even low budget feature making) tends to demand especially nuanced performances, excellent camera work and subtle scripting, whereas TV work comes in a poor second in comparison - so, if you are aiming to secure work in features and shorts, perhaps the emphasis is actually right!

	Reply #3
Posted : 12/08/10
Simon30 236 posts last on: 6 hours send private reply	Hi David, My tuppence worth- The early scene where you reveal your job is killing people - I was initially a bit confused,the scenes evenly weighted between the 3of you, I felt like I was watching a promo for the film, not a promo for you. As the scene unfolds it clearly focuses on you more,maybe you need to cut into it later? Equally it's been a long week and I might jus be a little slow this morn! My only other thought was that the showreel comes across like a 2parter, nasty man / nice man. I thought it might be interesting to mix the two, take the casting director from one extreme to the other and back again, it might get their casting juices flowing (eww) and see you in a wider scope than goodie baddie. I love all the content, love anything with guns :0) all the clips are of good picture quality too. As ever,only my thoughts - feel free to ignore. It's such a subjective art! Si

Reply #3

Posted : 12/08/10

Simon30
236 posts
last on: 6 hours
send private reply

Hi David,

My tuppence worth-

The early scene where you reveal your job is killing people - I was initially a bit confused,the scenes evenly weighted between the 3of you, I felt like I was watching a promo for the film, not a promo for you. As the scene unfolds it clearly focuses on you more,maybe you need to cut into it later? Equally it's been a long week and I might jus be a little slow this morn!

My only other thought was that the showreel comes across like a 2parter, nasty man / nice man. I thought it might be interesting to mix the two, take the casting director from one extreme to the other and back again, it might get their casting juices flowing (eww) and see you in a wider scope than goodie baddie.

I love all the content, love anything with guns :0) all the clips are of good picture quality too.

As ever,only my thoughts - feel free to ignore. It's such a subjective art!

Si

	Reply #4
Posted : 14/08/10
DER 64 posts last on: 20/10/11 send private reply	Thanks for comments so far, much appreciated and interesting to see different views. Aren't Showreels a nightmare. It took a long time to get the footage I did, and it still isn't all the stuff I wanted on there. Here is where I was coming from when I put it together. I read a post on here entitled 'to montage or not to montage', or something like that. All very different opinions expressed. I remembered a CD once said to me that most of the time CD's have made up 80%-90% of their mind about you as you come through the door an open your mouth. I figured this is the same with Showreels, so I included a montage that says 'this is what I look like and this is what I sound like.' Didn't want that to be too long though. I have seen Showreels that are basically 2-3 minutes of montage. I think these may be done in a rush to get a Showreel out in the casting domain, but I'm not sure that they contribute in a positive way towards getting work. Hence, me waiting for so long until I had some long clips. Figuring which order the clips should go in was another matter! I take the point of putting a 'profile' clip first. However I wanted one of the strongest clips at the beginning, also Ante is indeed a promo and I thought it looked a bit different as an opener and maybe would help sustain attention (I read somewhere that CD's watch around 20 secs and then decide. If that's true getting them to the first clip is an achievement). So although Ante is strong I also agree with the weakness of it taking time to get to me. It's the clip I gambled on and the one I will change once I have more footage of that film. Sometimes I think we view CD's as creatures other than human. If I'm honest when I first view a showreel I watch the first few seconds then jump through it using the navigation bar at the bottom of the clip. If the people casting us do the same, and I suspect they do, then maybe all of our worrying about order of clips etc is a bit out dated? It's difficult, we are all trying to find that little something or tweak the percentage of us getting cast by some minuscule amount in our favor. Anything that gives us an advantage. We do this because it's largely out of our hands and doesn't follow the norms of common sense. But we gotta enjoy trying!

Reply #4

Posted : 14/08/10

DER
64 posts
last on: 20/10/11
send private reply

Thanks for comments so far, much appreciated and interesting to see different views. Aren't Showreels a nightmare.

It took a long time to get the footage I did, and it still isn't all the stuff I wanted on there.

Here is where I was coming from when I put it together. I read a post on here entitled 'to montage or not to montage', or something like that. All very different opinions expressed. I remembered a CD once said to me that most of the time CD's have made up 80%-90% of their mind about you as you come through the door an open your mouth.

I figured this is the same with Showreels, so I included a montage that says 'this is what I look like and this is what I sound like.' Didn't want that to be too long though. I have seen Showreels that are basically 2-3 minutes of montage. I think these may be done in a rush to get a Showreel out in the casting domain, but I'm not sure that they contribute in a positive way towards getting work. Hence, me waiting for so long until I had some long clips.

Figuring which order the clips should go in was another matter! I take the point of putting a 'profile' clip first. However I wanted one of the strongest clips at the beginning, also Ante is indeed a promo and I thought it looked a bit different as an opener and maybe would help sustain attention (I read somewhere that CD's watch around 20 secs and then decide. If that's true getting them to the first clip is an achievement). So although Ante is strong I also agree with the weakness of it taking time to get to me. It's the clip I gambled on and the one I will change once I have more footage of that film.

Sometimes I think we view CD's as creatures other than human. If I'm honest when I first view a showreel I watch the first few seconds then jump through it using the navigation bar at the bottom of the clip. If the people casting us do the same, and I suspect they do, then maybe all of our worrying about order of clips etc is a bit out dated?

It's difficult, we are all trying to find that little something or tweak the percentage of us getting cast by some minuscule amount in our favor. Anything that gives us an advantage. We do this because it's largely out of our hands and doesn't follow the norms of common sense. But we gotta enjoy trying!

	Reply #5
Posted : 14/08/10
ClareCameron 212 posts last on: 07/02/12 send private reply	Hi David My ha'pence worth. I agree with all that's said been said; montage (which I'm generally not a fan of) is just the right length. I think I agree with Lee's inital response which is have the Doctors stuff first; personally I would swap the Doctors and the Ante clips; that way, as suggested above you've got nice guy straight into bad guy. Plus, I think you should be showing off the fact that you've done braodcast stuff - which, I believe, is taken as a bit of a benchmark in the industry - though worth noting I don't have any myself so I may not be the best person to listen to on this! Great quality and good stuff to watch though. Hope it gets you places!

Reply #5

Posted : 14/08/10

ClareCameron
212 posts
last on: 07/02/12
send private reply

Hi David

My ha'pence worth. I agree with all that's said been said; montage (which I'm generally not a fan of) is just the right length. I think I agree with Lee's inital response which is have the Doctors stuff first; personally I would swap the Doctors and the Ante clips; that way, as suggested above you've got nice guy straight into bad guy. Plus, I think you should be showing off the fact that you've done braodcast stuff - which, I believe, is taken as a bit of a benchmark in the industry - though worth noting I don't have any myself so I may not be the best person to listen to on this!

Great quality and good stuff to watch though. Hope it gets you places!

	Reply #6
Posted : 17/08/10
DER 64 posts last on: 20/10/11 send private reply	Thanks Clare Will give this some thought. I might wait 'til I get more Ante footage.

[add comments | all topics]

Please note: Messages written in the forum do not represent the views of Casting Call Pro, nor have they been vetted by Casting Call Pro staff. If you read something which you believe to be offensive or defamatory, please contact us and we will take the appropriate action.