Sean Wallitsch's comprehensive advice for artistic reels:
- 1:30-2:00s long
- Title card at the start of the reel and at the end (Start should be :10 seconds, end should not fade out- so your title card stays up)
- Title card needs your name, your (desired) role, and your email- both front and back.
- Your reel should be targeted to a limited number of roles- if your reel says Surfacer/Modeler/Lighter/Compositor I don't know what I'm looking for- did you do all the surfacing in this shot, all the modeling, all the lighting?
- A breakdown pdf should accompany your reel when you're a professional- lists the shot, what you did on it, what studio you were working for on it, etc.
- Make title cards look good, but please no super fancy animation, effects, etc. Think the original Marvel studios intro, and not the current one.
- Do not edit to the beat of the music. Let the shot play out naturally. Once a shot is "over" it's okay to cut on a beat- just don't let it dictate your pace or duration of shots.
- Pick non-offensive music. Ideally no lyrics, but if lyrics, simple. No metal, grunge, trance, house, techno.
- Do not use the movie/Project audio. It sounds cut off and gimmicky.
- It should have music though- no awkward silence.
- Do not show sequences, show your shots and your shots alone.
- If you did 6 shots on a movie and they're all of Will Ferrell and they all look pretty much the same- only show one.
- Do not show your entire student film as your reel.
- Reels should have your best work first, and your good work last. NO OTHER ORDERING CONSIDERATION.
- Do not put your most recent work first. If you structure your reel this way you'll be hosed if your most recent work is forced to be bad by schedule, vfx supervisor, etc. See above.
- Do not put movies/projects together on your reel unless they're the EXACT same quality. See above.
- If you ignore the above, and put a movie/project together on the same reel, do not put it in chronologically. See above.
- Do not put work I can easily identify as stolen from a company on a reel. (Example: Someone once sent me a reel comprised of Star Wars Episode 1 3d post stereo conversion stuff- while Lucasfilm was still denying the project existed)
- The proper order for a before/after in the reel is: After, Before, After. Always play the after again after showing a before.
- Not having before/afters in the reel is not a dealbreaker. Most studios with over 50 people have the policy of only allowing Final Work
- Check your reel for shots that might be offensive or NSFW.
When it comes to getting shots for your reel after you're working professionally:
- DON'T TAKE STUFF OFF THE NETWORK. Don't hook up your laptop, thumb drive etc and start grabbing frames. There's very little upside and a lot of downsides to this. You will be fired and essentially banned from working in the Industry.
- Aggressively watch for your shots in trailers, behind the scenes previews, etc. It is 100% legit to grab a before or breakdown of your shots from these sources.
- Learn how to rip Blu rays. At the very least, you need a high quality final image. This is how you get one without your studio putting a watermark on it. You do not owe your employer that watermark, so unless they give you the final images before the Blu ray release (or if they give you before/breakdowns) don't even bother asking them for anything.
- don't forget to rip behind the scenes shots from those Blu rays.
- write a breakdown sheet listing every shot on the reel and what YOU did. Share credit where credit is due. Employers notice when the same slot is on multiple reels and listing credit appropriately shows you are a team player. Not listing credits makes me doubt your entire reel. (Another compositor and I tag teamed on a shot and we both applied to ILM. ILM let us know they noticed and that the breakdown sheets saved us both)