SHOWREELS, A WORD OF WARNING... I've seen a great many showreels - some are good but most are rather poor and don't serve the Actor well. This is not usually because the Actor in question does not have enough useable footage but usually because the Editor of the reel has either not a great deal of skill, talent or understanding about what makes a good Actor's showreel. To avoid this error, when you are briefing your Editor, make sure he or she understands that a good Actor's showreel doesn't have to obey the laws of narrative but instead must be thought of more as a commercial - narrative is of no consequence, performance is all!!! Wherever possible, select clips that show either a contrast in your acting style or a transition in a character arc. Remember, Editing is something that is an art as well as a science. It takes training to learn how to do it best... Don't be persuaded to part with your hard earned cash to watch someone just cut a selection of your various performances together in their entirety and call it a reel... If in doubt, drop me an email and I'll talk you through the process and how best to brief your Editor (if I'm not too busy...) Go to TOP DVDs vs. VHS As a Director, I've seen a great many showreels. Honestly, showreels should be short and snappy. I also VERY MUCH prefer a showreel being on DVD as opposed to VHS for two reasons: 1) DVD's are better quality
I can usually tell if someone has any talent as an Actor within the first 15 seconds of seeing them act - most trained eyes can do this. Keep your reel short, keep it as tight as possible and IF IN DOUBT ABOUT A CLIP, LEAVE IT OUT! Those that are putting showreels together, also think really carefully about making a DVD not a VHS of your reel. However, remember, not that many Casting Directors will be that clued up about DVD's. Where the showreel really comes into its own is when the Production Company (and hopefully the Director) get a chance to watch it. Also, if you don't have anything that you really consider broadcastable, think carefully about filming some monologues on Mini DV. These can be excellent devices if done right. Showreels are not as common as they should be, most people being unsure about putting a showreel together because of the perceived cost of making one or the lack of material for one. They don't have to cost much... Go to TOP
HOW DO I BUILD UP A LIBRARY OF FOOTAGE FOR MY SHOWREEL? Not having enough footage to make up a showreel is a real problem for so many actors starting out. However, this is not an unsolvable problem... There are a great many NO/LOW BUDGET and STUDENT PROJECTS out there - you can find them quite easily on bulletin boards like the CASTING BOARD on SHOOTING PEOPLE, (www.shootingpeople.org) as well as by talking to film schools in your area. When you take part in a NO/LOW BUDGET or STUDENT PROJECT, make a point of requesting that you get copies of all the scenes that you are in BEFORE they are edited. Be nice to the project but also be firm - say how you are more than willing to give 100%, do whatever is required of you and not bellyache about not being paid. However, the single reason you are doing this project is to build up a library of footage for your showreel and therefore, copies of all your rushes are INVALUABLE to you - worth a lot more than your traveling expenses being paid! Find out what format the project is being shot on - If it is video, then it will probably be either Mini DV, DV CAM or HD and if it is on film, then it will probably be Super 16mm film. Then, supply virgin tape stock to the production and offer to pay the dubbing costs so that you can walk away with copies of your rushes. You can get virgin stock from all sorts of reputable suppliers but I would suggest you go to STANLEY PRODUCTIONS in WARDOUR STREET, LONDON W1 if you are in London as they also will copy any tape to any format for a minimal charge if you also buy the stock from them - this may be useful to you as it may prove to be cheaper than paying an EDITING HOUSE or a POST PRODUCTION COMPANY to do the dubbing for you. Asking for copies of your rushes is an interesting test of the NO/LOW BUDGET or STUDENT PROJECT. If they know what they are doing and clearly understand the dynamic of them asking you to work for nothing on their baby, then they should say yes. However, if they bellyache about copyright or other such stuff and generally frown on supplying you with rushes, choosing instead to promise you a tape/DVD when it is all edited and finished, BE AWARE!!! There is NO LEGAL REASON why a NO/LOW/STUDENT project cannot supply you with rushes for your reel - NONE WHATSOEVER - so long as you make it extremely clear that you need these rushes for your showreel and that your reel will NEVER put in front of a paying audience or broadcast in any way. If they look like not being willing to do this, then ask yourself do you really want to be part of their project. So many NO/LOW/STUDENT projects never get completed and, even if they do, I've lost count of the number of actors I've met who were still waiting for a copy of the finished film that they may have shot over a year ago! (Incidentally, if the project is being shot on video, then the camera rushes can be dubbed in a process called CLONING but MAKE SURE YOU GET RUSHES WITH THE DIALOGUE YOU SPOKE RECORDED ON THEM TOO! Usually, the audio will be recorded on the same tape that is in the camera, even if there is a separate SOUND RECORDIST. Very rarely will the audio NOT be recorded on the video tape in the camera at the time of shooting. However, if the project is being shot on film, then THE FILM RUSHES WILL HAVE NO AUDIO ON THEM - film in the camera CANNOT RECORD AUDIO at the same time. Therefore, in a film project, you need a copy of the rushes once they have been transferred to video and synced to the sound track. - If none of this makes any sense to you, make friends with the CAMERAMAN during the shoot and tell him that you want your rushes with sound on them for your showreel - he or she will know the path of least resistance for you when it comes to getting copies made for you). Go to TOP
IS IT WORTH ME GETTING SCENES SHOT FROM SCRATCH JUST FOR MY REEL? A number of Production Companies offer services to Actors whereby you pay them a certain amount of money up front and they shoot you footage designed just for your reel. In principal, this is OK but in practice, I've found this to not perhaps be so wise. I've seen a great many reels and I can almost always spot any footage that wasn't taken from a project. Including footage in your reel that you've shot yourself is VERY dangerous... Any footage you include on your reel will tell the educated viewer perhaps more than you realise. By incuding your own self-generated stuff, you are saying "look, I know I haven't done much so have a look at me sitting in my living room talking to my mate's camcorder". This is NAFF!!! DON'T DO IT!!! Also, I've also seen many reels generated by out of work Production Companies... Regrettably, often the scripts they use are the same or very similar and the whole style of the clips they generate are usually pretty generic. In fact, I've seen the same script and the same way of shooting used on three different Actors reels. Again, it can look very amateur and a tad desperate. Honestly, I would recommend that you DON'T shoot stuff specifically for your own reel yourself unless you can guarantee damn good production values. If you can, then you are spending money and you might as well make your own short film (see the entire section on this site where I bang on about STARTING YOUR OWN PROJECTS) Go to TOP
N.B. Regrettably, No/Low Budget projects are notoriously poor when it comes to ensuring that they actually make good on their promise of actually ensuring that they do supply those who took part in their project with even a DVD of the final film, let alone giving Actors access to the rushes they were in. If you CLICK HERE, you will find a form from http://www.holdonlog.com that you may want to submit to any No/Low Budget projects you get involved in as an Actor Go to TOP PAID vs UNPAID WORK? Some Drama Schools actively discourage actors from including unpaid work on their showreel. This strikes me as madness... The single, most important criteria for inclusion of material on your reel should be the question "does this clip show my acting ability in the best light?". If you have ANY DOUBTS ABOUT THE CLIP, LEAVE IT OUT! Don't worry about whether the clip was paid for work or a freebee...it really doesn't matter!
WHAT DO I DO ABOUT RIGHTS CLEARANCES? When it comes to showreels, the Rights Clearances issue is a bit of a "grey" area...I've tried to get this issue addressed by talking to various Lawyers and bodies like PRS but the information I've received is often conflicting. So long as you DO NOT put your material before a paying audience and that you DO NOT ATTEMPT TO MAKE ANY MONEY OUT OF THE EXHIBITION OF A CLIP OWNED BY SOMEONE ELSE IN FRONT OF A PAYING AUDIENCE then you should be OK. However, COVER YOUR BACK and print on the showreel itself a phrase like: "This is a private recording made solely for the purpose of audition and demonstration. It may not be broadcast, sold, duplicated or put in front of a paying audience." I would ALWAYS recommend that you contact the production company (if they are still in business!) who were responsible for the generation of each clip and tell them that you plan to include however many seconds of your acting on your showreel. I ALSO STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT WHEN YOU ARE PART OF A PROJECT (REGARDLESS OF WHETHER IT IS PAID, LOW BUDGET OR NO BUDGET), THAT YOU GET PERMISSION, IN WRITING, FOR YOU TO USE A CLIP OF YOU ACTING IN YOUR SHOWREEL, STRESSING THAT THE REEL WILL BE FOR DEMONSTRATION PERPOSES ONLY AND WILL NOT BE SHOWN TO A PAYING AUDIENCE. DO THIS AT THE TIME YOU ARE IN COMMUNICATION WITH THE PEOPLE ORGANISING THE PROJECT! You are more likely to fall foul of copyright problems if you use a well known piece of music as a backing track. The Music Industry is very hot on issues of rights clearances and you would do well to avoid having the Editor cut your montage to a Madonna track!!! Go to TOP SO, WHERE CAN I SEE A GOOD SHOWREEL EXAMPLE?
REMEMBER...
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