Demo reel creation

Of course the basic idea of a demo reel is this: show off your cool work, land a cooler job.  I wish it were as simple as throwing your work into a movie file, typing your name in the lower right hand corner and pressing submit.  It's not.  Like anything else dealing with art, you have to be mindful of how a demo reel is constructed and how one element interacts with another.

I've had to learn this the hard way.

Even though many employers will admit they only pay attention to the first :45 seconds of the reel, and that they mute the sound when watching them, you still have to create a two minute reel.  It has to start AND end strong.  Music should be included, it shouldn't be obnoxious, and it should say something about you as an artist.  Are you fun, serious, abstract, contemporary.  How does the first clip you decided to show relate the the one that follows it?  How are your transitions?  Do you have any?  Should each major section be labeled (Effects shots, illustrations, fine arts), or should your work flow from one piece to another?

I've been putting together my reel and I've been faced with all of these questions and then some.

Whew!

~Melissa

Tangled - BAH HUMBUG

Yes this is my professional blog.  I REALIZE that potential employers could stumble across this blog by clicking the link on my site.  I KNOW that they could realize I'm insane and run far, far away.  I know this, and yet I am compelled to jump on the Don't-you-dare-rename-Rapunzel bandwagon.

Princess and the Frog generated a lot of buzz, but it didn't get a lot of males in the seats, unless the males were bringing their daughters to see the movie.  To avoid this problem with their upcoming feature, the powers that be at Disney have decided that Rapunzel should be renamed "Tangled".  With a name like Tangled, no man would dare miss it!  You know, until they saw a PREVIEW revealing the premise -- a princess with hair drama.

Beauty and the Beast did well.  The Little Mermaid did well.  Cinderella did well.  A title doesn't make the movie.  If it did, no one wouldn't have seen anything Pixar has done.

Up.  Really?  What kind of title is that?!!  It's two letters.  But the movie was inspirational to me as an animator, and women, children AND MEN loved it.

I can't think of a blessed soul who would shell out $10 to see a movie based solely on it's title, and I'm willing to bet you don't either.  Make a good movie and the people will come.  Gimics are the actions of desperate men.  Play it straight, Disney.

~Melissa