Okay....
So I've been thinking a lot about the future lately, and how to secure a bright (or maybe slightly tarnished) one. Sure you can go to a great school and pay a god forsaken amount of money, but it seems that if you want to get hired, all you really need a good demo reel/portfolio. That's paramount compared to everything else.
When I look at advice for demo reel creation, they always say to put your best work first, keep it concise, show a variety of things that the position desires blah blah blah. But what about the whole creativity thing? If a demo reel's main purpose is to give an employer a great depiction of your work, shouldn't you view it as a film in and of itself. I've seen some sample demo reels out there that are just as boring as can be, cutting in and out of scenes of walk cycles or 3D rotations every five seconds or so. But from what I've read, that's what employers want. Is that true? If and when I create my demo reel, I'd want it to read not only as a depiction of what I can do, but also as an experience in itself. I don't want it to merely show information. I want to tell a story within my story, and still have it look like an independent artistic statement separate from the work contained. I want my demo reel to be as exciting or even moreso than some of my work contained. But to get that effect, the reel may not be as informative as it could be.
Is this a dangerous way to view your most important tool at being hired? Should one take the dangerous approach and not create a reel sheerly for information's sake? Is there a balance one can strike between creative construction and informative content?
I've just been thinking about that lately. Any ideas, examples, comments?
-moot
We get a lot of recruiters on campus this time of year and it's my experience that they have seen so many reels in their day that they really have seen it all. I don't think there is anything you can put on a reel that will make them stop and take notice other than good solid work. If you have a short that is solid from start to finish then put it on but if you don't only show the good stuff.
At the same time you want your work to represent who you are since it is your calling card but you don't want that to get in the way of the recruiter to watching the work. They have to go through a lot of reels and they will tell you they will pop a reel out really fast if showing them what they want to see right away. You only get one shot so you better get to the point really fast.
The real question is can you get the demo reel you will need with or without going to school?
ed
Department of Computer Animation
Ringling College of Art and Design
Sarasota Florida
this is one of the best examples of a demo reel:
Jason Osipa
Generally I hate hearing music in a reel. Most of the time I'll just mute it, in this case, Jason created a little avatar, or host for his reel, that helps explain the actual shot breakdown of the work he did on each of his samples. It's important if you've worked on collaborative projects, or projects for big companies that you explain what you actually did for each shot. In the case of a student reel, it's not as important, as it's assumed you did everything in it. I know his reel is for 3D, but if you follow this basic premise, then you will have a solid Reel that people will take notice of.
Keep it short. No longer than 4-5 minutes, include only your best work, and (this is really really important) show ONLY work you're willing to do. I've seen people who wanted to be good modelers or animators and they show, awesome modeling or rigging or clean-up and get pigeon-holed into a job they're not really happy with, and not a lot of chances to move out of it. Make it pretty clear what you're going after. It's okay to show that you can model, but I wouldn't highlight your modeling if you really want to animate. show animation! What I like about Jason's last little joke in his reel is that he says he knows how important it is to the perspective employer that he works fast. It's not a bad idea to show how long your work took you. Be honest about it. If you're a traditional animator and you say you can do 15 feet of animation a week, then you get on the job and you're barely pulling a foot a week, then you have not been fair to your employer and you will end up unemployed and with a bad reputation.
Ideally you want to find a job you enjoy doing, that you will be productive at. Show the stuff you like to do, show it well, and show how reliable you can be.
Best advice I can think of.
I'm a student, so bear that in mind when I say this, but perhaps some of the reels of cycles and rotations are for video game work. Then it would make sense for the model to jump around, or to show its construction. A great deal of the animation work done for games isn't what most people would call character animation, so much as it is capturing realistic movements for the characters.
You'll have walking in a feature film, too, but that's where I'm with you and would get curious. (Real) Walks are difficult and require tons of attention because they're as infused, if not moreso, with personality as anything else. But if there's also nothing else to showcase, say, how the character displays guilt or jealousy, or a good laugh, I might be a bit concerned.
You should deffinately put your best work on your reel, and the best of that at the start. But I hear what you are saying about boring demo reels. I favor having a more entertaining experience than just seeing shot after shot. Check out what I did on my demo reel at: http://www.animatedape.com/demo.html
*cough* shameless plug *cough* :p I really enjoy editing, and so I like to lead the viewers' eye from one scene to the next. Having nice little buttons and transitions back and forth, and for actions to hit on the beat. I'll actually edit my shots by cutting time so things will work just right. I think doing this show's alittle creativity, story telling and editing abilities which I believe are a big part in being an animator.
I really like Jason's demo. The funny thing is that I think his best character animation is his little avatar that he did over the weekend. I just think it's really funny and well done.
Aloha,
the Ape
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
well, different places usually require different showreels, unfortunately it isn't a same size fits all situation... So, you should really check their websites, look at their work and see if yours fits in... Nothing like getting that good old rejection letter saying "sorry, but you're just not want we're looking for due to a style difference" (thanks aardman!)
On the other hand, you can always be adventurous and hope that they'll recognised your talent.
About the decision of doing a course or not to ge that perfect showreel, all I need to say is... it depends! Let's look a two completely different examples. I've got a colleague here at work who hasn't studied animation at university, he is a self taught guy who decided that he liked animation about a year ago and started reading every single book and website that he could get his hands on... He is a (stupidely) talented guy, and he didn't need a university teacher to tell him that!
I, on the other hand, have always wanted to be an animator, had my first taster at 14, studied and now I have a BA and a post-grad diploma... I hope that I'm stupidely talented :o (sometimes I'm more certain than others), all I can say is that if the animation bug and soul isn't in you, it isn't a course that is going to make you a great animator.
"check it out, you know it makes sense!" http://miaumau.blogspot.com/
Short and sweet. You've got a minute at best to grab someones attention.
You can see our effort here http://sparkandzoom.com/animation/#
The Brothers McLeod
[SIZE=2]brothersmcleod.co.uk[/SIZE]
Great avatar grega!
hey ape, wow your showreel is great :eek: , didn't know you worked on fosters'. didn't recognise the clips though :confused: , are they future episodes? is it okay to show them on the net before they've aired? love the show, keep up the good work :)