This week I watched a lot of showreels, and looked at some portfolios, that other people had found in their searches. Many of these were about environments, which for the type of career I want to pursue aren’t that relevant to me. However, there were some useful tips I picked up from other people’s experiences looking for work, nonetheless.
One main thing that I learned was about timing in a showreel. It is easy to spend a lot of time showing off your best piece of work, and not as much on the others, but if you spend too long on one piece of work, the showreel ends up unbalanced. With enough of a disproportionate time spent showing one model, it seems to a viewer like you have nothing else of worth showing, or that you are skipping over other work in order to hide problems with it. It is much better to give each piece of work about the same amount of time for turntables and close ups, unless there is a good reason for showing off extra details or spending extra time showing it. this is only needed if there is something very important to make the viewer see, though.
Another thing I learned through the work other people showed is the importance of a good showreel soundtrack. The right music can make a showreel seem a lot better, especially if it fits thematically with the work you are displaying. However, a bad soundtrack can make a viewer instantly think less of the work, or even worse, stop watching completely.
With the things I have learned about creating showreels and portfolios, I believe that I should be capable of making my own show my work at its best, and help me pursue my career.
