The presentation of your reel is one of the most important facets of entering the professional film community. When you present your work, you're selling yourself to creative professionals who are inundated with reels on a daily basis. There are some strategies to put to use and some things to avoid. Let's go through the do's and don'ts of constructing and presenting a successful reel.
1. Do make the best first impression with your reel, as you may not have a second chance. Regardless of whether you?re new or not, one or two good pieces of work is better than six average pieces on the reel. Most creative executives look for reasons not to hire you, not the other way around, so don't be afraid to dump work that does not exemplify your best. Ask for advice from instructors and others in the industry.
2. Do not, I repeat, do not open your reel with a montageor other silly clips. Showing you are creative is great, just don?t try too hard. We want to see the work in the context for which it was made. If you made a 30 second commercial, we want to see the whole thing, not 4 seconds of it. Also, try not to use major artist music under your work. It may work for movies, TV, and commercials, but not for your reel.
3. Doplace your work on DVD. It can play automatically, like a standard reel with a simple title (your name and occupation: editor, director etc.) or with an easy to use menu (e.g. name and title; work; contact info). An attractive, but modest, cover and a business card are all we need. The more attractive the packaging, the more likely we will look at it. Using VHS and other formats (betasp, 3/4) are abig no no. Using those formats makes you look out of touch with today's market.
4. Do try to place work on your reel from shortest to longest, with the following exceptions: A) If your longer work is your best, then place it first. B) Customize your reel: place the work most relevant to my upcoming project or core business at the beginning. Because there is a chance we may not get through the whole reel, make sure that we view your best and most relevant (to us) work first.
5. Do present your reel to as many people as possible, while also understanding that industry people are busy and may need time to view it. Being professional, polite, and likeable goes along way towards getting your work viewed, as it is an indicator of how you work on set. Alwaysfollow up to show that you are serious and not just fishing. Try for a one-on-one; at least get the reel to whoever is interested as quickly as possible.
Bottom line: The work is most important. You and your reel are a branded product. That product should always be under constant refinement and improvement.
Ted Lega is a commercial and music video director / producer, formerly with with Eightball Films in Chicago. He's also a frequent guest of the Portfolio Center.
