Showreel advice needed

Lou.m

Hi there

I was wondering if anyone could advise me. I am an actress and i have been doing the usual you know short films and theatre.

However despite the short films i have not found anything that would be suitable for a showreel. By this a mean nothing that shows me off ( i know a vain thing to say but that is what a showreel is supposed to do).

I was wondering is it advisable to do one yourself if i got a professional filmaker who had a high def camera who is a freind who could do me a favour. And i selected some varied pieces or even wrote a few myself (i am also a writer) i could make sure they showed a variety of emotions and characters.

What material do you think is best?

What do people think?

And what do people look for on showreels in your opinion?

I know whaqt is usual about five pieces usually a minute each that is what i have heard is usual.

Is there a service that caters for this i wonder?

I just thought i would ask advice if anyone has a breakdown of what they thing should be in it i would be interested.

Also what type of shots do you think should be used ? I was thinking a mixture of close ups and something that could show movement.


What do you feel agencies are looking for?
Thanks for any advice.

Hugh_C

Lou.m wrote:

I was wondering is it advisable to do one yourself if i got a professional filmaker who had a high def camera who is a freind who could do me a favour.

Why bother with high-def Lou? Standard def would be fine for showreels and also it means that you'll have access to more post-production (possibly for free) if you leave it at ordinary TV res (standard def). That is unless you want to bump it up to film.

What material do you think is best?

Variety. Whatever shows your depth as an actor. What other skills can you bring to the stage? Juggling? Monocycling? Dancing? It may seem glib but you just never know who might be looking for a red-headed juggling monocyclist who can recite Shakespeare backwards.

Also, keep it short because attention span isn't what it used to be, don't take yourself too seriously, burn a bunch of DVDs of the finished product and have it deliverable as an mpeg over the web and/or email. Make a nice cover for the DVD with your details / headshot visible. Set up a homepage and also put it up on YouTube, but remember that when you include your details on for the web version, make the text BIGGER because it's harder to read.

HC

Lou.m

Thanks