Summer 2011 Reel

[dansheppard 0]

Hey guys-

 

This is my first actual reel. Wanted some harsh critique on it. I'm a director, editor, motion designer. Mostly working in the ad business and mostly directing. I do motion as a side hobby and learned it to make my spots look more polished. Hit me with your thoughts!

 

Summer 2011 Reel

 

Cheers!

[Carey 0]

Looks nice. Editing is considered. That's a win!

I think you might benefit from clumping your projects into sections. Part of what you want to do in a reel is make it look like you've got a lot of work under your belt, but the first time I watched it, the reel felt like it capped at 5 projects and you were just repeating them. I realize now that there's a larger selection involved, but the first impression is the concern here. And I like beginning and ending on the guys rocketing through space, but cutting back and forth between the other projects does seem to cause me to focus on a few recognizeable projects that show up repeatedly, leaving me thinking that you only HAVE a few.

 

You could, in a perfect world, also be more playful with how the cuts interact. Like, in cutting from the guy holding the burning ball to the plus sign, you could shave the first few frames off of the plus sign and instead cut straight to the beginning of the explosion. Then you'd have a guy holding a burning ball, which seems to explode. You definitely have some nice moments, but I think if you're capable, and you are, you should push it a little farther.

 

And with regard to the intro, I don't know that the cubes do a whole lot for you. They're very generic, and while they look pretty, they're pretty in a really standard way and fail to tell us much of anything. This seems like an opportunity to create a mood, convey an idea, or just punch us in the face with something uniquely you. Give us something to be enamored with, curious about, intrigued by, etc. Something thoughtful, or sexy, or sweet, or funny, or dark, or puzzling, or disgusting, or touching. The point here is to have an impact somehow. That will make it, and you, memorable.

 

Even more subjectively: you might consider taking out the compositing demonstration in the soccer player piece. Even if that's part of the actual spot, it kind of works against you because in a reel it serves to say "look how hard I worked on this". The problem with that is in its subtle implication that the end result doesn't stand on its own. It's like "Hey look, I made this unremarkable sculpture. OH but I made it out of toothpicks and spit." It becomes less about the thing and more about your courageous labor as a craftsman or whatever. That totally works in fine art, but, as you know, what we do pretty much has to fend for itself out there in the wild. I'm not explaining this well, but I hope it makes sense.

[dansheppard 0]

Hell yea! Thanks for such a thought out critique. You rock and roll all at the same time. Comments are noted and I'm sure I'll be incorporating some of these philosophies into my next reel or a re-cut of my current reel. I've heard someone else mention the tip about the soccer player shot so you're not the only one. Thanks again for the tips, good sir.