With Year 1 wrapping up, we need to put together a showreel showcasing our work from this year. It has to last between 75 and 90 seconds, and include some kind of soundtrack. We'll be using this project to learn more about the post-production stage of media production, e.g. editing. For this, we'll be using Adobe Premiere Pro.
During this session, we went over a few key areas to consider when making the showreel:
- SOUNDTRACK - Soundtrack should be suitable. The soundtrack should resemble your work and the style of work you do, and not be too distracting. If there are lyrics, which isn't advisory, make sure to double check them for anything that may be unsuitable for a professional showreel. Also consider copyright. You have to be able to legally use the music you put on your showreel; for example, royalty free music from websites like Bensound or Partners in Rhyme are fine, but a piece of the soundtrack to The Dark Knight Rises would not be.
- TITLE CARDS - Ideally, the showreel should have two title cards: one at the beginning to show that it's a showreel (for example, "Noah Carolan: Animation Showreel 2019"), and one at the end with your full necessary details. This includes your areas of work (animator, illustrator, etc.), contact details (email, branded social medias, etc.), and give any necessary credit. In relation to branding, you can also include a logo and a brand name. For example, my branding is "NoahIdeaFilms", so I'll most likely use that in my outro title, along with my real name.
- TITLES - These titles go along with the work you show off. They can be the project's title, the type of animation you were going for, your role in a particular scene, or a combination of them.
- CLIP CONSIDERATION - When putting clips into your showreel, it's always best to start with your strongest foot forward. Put your best work first, don't be afraid to show off a little. It's also important to end strong, so it doesn't feel like a downward slope the entire showreel. Most importantly, don't rely on one clip too much; only use a clip twice, if you absolutely have to.
- EDITING - The general rules for editing the showreel encompasses a few points already discussed. In regards to music, try and edit the clips to the beat, making for a more satisfying watch. If your clip relies on it's own audio, like in a lip-sync test, dip the music audio. Check aspect ratios of clips, and spelling & grammar of titles.
We then looked at a few showreels, some good and some bad.
GOOD SHOWREELS
(Esme Clark's 2017 NUA Showreel)
(Jez Pennington's 2016 NUA Showreel)
These are both examples of good showreels from NUA. They both have fitting, non-distracting music, the editing is tight and, in Pennington's case, matches up really well with the music. They include relevant titles at the beginning and the end, and do a good job of making the showreel entertaining.
We also looked at bad showreels. And by bad, I mean baaaaaaaaaad.
(Chian Che Chang's 2011 Showreel)
This one stuck out especially. Despite being made ironically (as evidenced by the description), it still shows off all the bad things a showreel can exhibit. The music is loud & overbearing, while also not fitting the style of work at all. The work being put on show is objectively very bad, and shouldn't even be on the table when considering clips for a showreel. The editing is choppy and awkward, with the last few seconds not even having any audio to it. While it was hilarious to watch as a group, nearly crying laughing, it's objectively not a good showreel.
After this session, I feel I've learnt a lot of valuable tips about showreel making than before. It's made me look back on my showreel I made for university interviews before knowing how to properly make one, and seeing how much room there was to improve. From here, my main course of action is getting my elements together. That includes music, clips, etc. We're going to be editing in Premiere Pro, which I'm already well versed in, so there won't be too big a learning curve.
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