Catching Up

The title of this post seems familiar. I think someone I'm following may have had the same one. Anyway, I got a call from a certain company

*cough cough*

and was told I could possibly, maybe, perhaps work over there for a few months and see what happens after that. After I stopped dancing on the ceiling, I updated my demo reel and finished that nCloth tutorial I was talking about almost a year ago. I sent it in, and now we play the waiting game. I'll keep the 1 person reading this blog current with that situation.

So, that means I can finally post an updated version of my demo reel and that Intro to nCloth tutorial. I want to add just a few more images to it to help clarify some things, but expect to see that stuff from me in the upcoming days.

I guess I should share with y'all the Kung-Fu Panda 2 trailer. Somehow it seems appropriate, I wonder why... With the close exception of How to Train Your Dragon, Kung-Fu Panda is my favorite Dreamworks movie. It's soooo good, and I'm really excited for the sequel.

I hope you watch it full screen!



~Melissa

Demo reel on DVD - DON'T say no!

I have no idea how I ended up here this morning, but I ran across an interesting video on Vimeo entitled Say NO to DVD Demo Reels.

Say NO to DVD Demo Reels! from Nick Campbell on Vimeo.

Because I know 99% of you won't take the time to watch the 6:11 video, I'll paraphrase his argument. "Your DVD will end up in the trash because potential employers don't want to waste the time it takes to put your DVD in and watch it. Get a website, put it on your business card, and hand these out instead. Direct all of your traffic to your site."

While he makes two arguments that I agree with, I have to call foul on everything else.

1) I'll mirror my comment to his video here by saying I agree that you need a website, or at least a blog that showcases your thought processes, demo reel and other works. I'm sure a lot of larger studio's don't have the time to sit around and read someone's blog and their thoughts as to why they think Cubism is teh sexorz, but I think a lot of employers would like to get into the head of a potential hire.

2) I also agree that DVD's are a waste of money, time and resources. So is paper, but I don't see us getting rid of that any time soon.

When it boils down to it, the following is always true: Luck favors the prepared.

Case in point, I submitted soft copies of my demo reel, breakdowns, resume and cover letter to about a zillion studios. I found out later that one of those companies would also like a physical reel on DVD. Whoops. I didn't have one so I had to rush and make it (not that it takes that long, but still). There are a LOT of companies that still require a physical reel and just because there's a chance they'll throw it away without watching doesn't mean you shouldn't have one. Who cares what they do with it?! Your future is worth more than that $0.50 cent disc.

As a student, I think you should have an up-to-date reel online at all times. You should be working on something often enough so you're able to update and improve your reel once every three or four months. Put it on your blog, Vimeo, YouTube, pimp it out on CGTalk. It's all free and you open yourself up to great feedback. Don't be silly and make an obscene amount of DVD reels because whenever you update your reel, those remaining DVD's become useless. You should, however, have SOME copies of your reel on DVD (my modest range is 5-7) and hard copies of your resume, breakdowns, art work and what have you at the ready in case you are required to mail these things in, or you run into someone who wants them.

One thing I do promote having a good amount of are business cards, but be smart about it. Don't print off 10,000. Also, only put information on these cards that isn't likely to change in the near future.

Name
Specialty/Position
Website/Blog link
E-mail address (yourname@mail.com, nothing crazy like HotMama69SweetCheeks)
Telephone number

Make sure the back of the business card is of a light color and unmatted so the other person can jot down other information if they need/want to.

~Melissa

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