today I cut together a new demo reel that includes footage from my last two projects. I am not entirely sure I love it... I may have liked the upbeat tone of the other one better... but alas... I like it in a different way than before. Criticism is always welcome.
I love the demo reel. It does, however, show that you tend to focus on some pretty dark subjects. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat reel!....So much cool stuff.
ReplyDeleteit would definately be nice to have somthing outside your preference to show range.
jriggity
Hi Vanessa,
ReplyDeleteI think thats very nice did you have the music in mind prior to cutting it ?
All I would say is that in the past I have tried to contain my showreels to 60 seconds, its hard but it focuses your mind on getting a punchy edit I suppose it depends on what audience it is aimed at. In my work I have been part of many graduate applications fpr post-production and camera positions and have been faced with 100's of show reels I have seen the selection panel stop showreels in the first 10 seconds.
In the past on my own stuff I have had several showreels designed for specific audiences. All that being said the showreel is fine and displays you talent and ideas and is great for a general audience. There is a synergy in the visuals and the soundtrack which is not apparent at the start, in fact it seems to be inappropriate music when you first hear it but of course it is quite appropriate and works a treat, Ohh the magic of the medium :) hope you don't mind all that waffle.
Graeme
Sorry just another thought, have you tried a vignette on the reel or in fact on any of your animation footage, I find it a nice effect to soften the edges of the frame messing with some faux depth of field is interesting as well (although you do have tons of DOF anyway). Just a thought it popped into my head :) got some samples on this blog not stopmo in this instance though.
ReplyDeletehttp://borderlineblog.typepad.com/exodus/
G
Very enjoyable and professional work. Distinctive too. I have written about your latest video in my animation blog.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much everyone for taking time to give me compliments and criticism- it means a lot to me that you take the time to do so!
ReplyDeletejriggity- I would love to know a little more specifically what you mean, do you mean stop motion vs live action? dark vs light styles and subjects? stop motion vs 2d? different kinds of movement? To specify, I should probly be a little clearer that I am not seeking to be an "animator" with my demo reel, my goal is to be a puppet and character designer/fabricator and eventually a director. I would love to hear more of your opinions on what would make it better for that kind of job :)
Graeme- I completely agree that it should be shorter. I am creating a shorter version right now for most purposes. I created a longer one first because a particular job I was applying for(talent development program at Disney) requested a rather long demo reel- and it was due this week. They recommended 3-5 minutes, so I was erring on the short side with 2.5. As far as the vignetting goes, I love the effect of a good vignette, and I do have a lot of vignetting in my animation. Since I do include a lot of vignetting to signify either the past, or a dream, or a look into another world- I want to refrain from vignetting the whole thing so that the vignette remains as a symbol of something. As always though, I really appreciate your comments and opinion because I highly respect you and your gorgeous work.
Ian, Thank you so much for featuring me on your blog!! How exciting to see! I will be following your blog from now on :)
Vanessa,
ReplyDeleteI thought it was Great!!! You have a great talent for this stuff. Keep it coming!!
Kascandra
I think that was a worth-watching demo reel! --The motion on your videos are amazingly smooth that is hard to believe is all stop motion process.
ReplyDelete