New Reel

Michael Garcia · March 10, 2007

I know the resolution of the file isn't the best but please give me the good the bad and the ugly!

My Reel

Michael Garcia · March 11, 2007

I know the resolution of the file isn't the best but please give me the good the bad and the ugly!
My Reel

I created a higher quality location here please try this one, and again thanks for the feedback. My Reel

Boyd McCollum · March 16, 2007

I created a higher quality location here please try this one, and again thanks for the feedback. My Reel

Hi Michael,

the new reel wouldn't work for me - it told me I was missing some type of component for it - and I have QT7 Pro. I tried downloading it directly and it was only 49K.

I checked out the lower res version - I thought it looked great overall. Nice choice of music, textured while still uptempo. Transitions were pretty nice also. I thought your work was pretty solid. One shot I didn't like was the rack focus from the guy in the foreground to the woman then back again - it wasn't focused on her long enough, then comes back to the guy, but never refocuses on him. There's also a shot right after that with a guy in a hospital bed or something - looked a little washed out. I'd need to see a higher rez version to make any other comments.

A couple of comments on your site. I like the style of it. I like that you had one picture on your homepage, then a different picture on your other pages. I think it would be more effective if each page had a different picture of you.

For your resume, I'd clean that up a bit. I would lose the GPA stuff. Grades don't mean anything - it's all in your reel.

I'd also drop where you had previous course work. This should only be one or two lines -School, the degree you got (BA, BFA, etc) and the Program. Listing the degree implies you've graduated, so you don't need to mention that. I'd just leave the year and leave out the semester.

I'd move your Work experience to the top and clean it up a bit. You use all bold text for everything so titles formats and roles all blend together. You should create different sections for your work. Start with DP/Cinematography - then list underneath the productions, titles, etc. Plus list the director of the project as well. Don''t forget to put in the year that each was completed. Then you can list in another section your AC work. I normally list my stuff with the most recent/current work, then followed by older stuff.

If any of the projects you worked on have a website, or the director/producer has a website or an IMDB listing, I would make those hyperlinks and link to them. Mention any awards they have as well, or if they were accepted into any festivals - that speaks to the quality of the productions.

You can then have a section afterward for your College stuff, or it might be better to blend them all together. With the year listed (and knowing when/where you graduated from) along with the descriptions you provide, folks will know if it was in school or not. It really doesn't matter, because it's the quality of the work in your demo reel that sells you.

The one think I'd make clear on your resume and on your reel, is if you were also camera operator. You had some really nice camera work in there and you should highlight that.

The other thing I would drop out of there is your non film-related work. It's good to have a day job (or night job) but on a DP site, I wouldn't list that.

The last thing I would do, is either write a one or two paragraph bio and put that at the top of the page, or change the title from Biography & Resume to just Resume (since you don't actually have a bio there yet. :D

The nice thing about doing a bio, is that it's another opportunity sell yourself - to actually talk to the person who might want to hire you. You can discuss your passion and approach to your cinematography, highlight anything that was special or stood out from everything else. After 15 years, I still list one of my student films in my bio, because it rocked (not because I think so, but from what others, beyond my mom, have told me. :) )

Anyways, those are my $0.02 worth.

Regards,

Boyd McCollum

Director/Editor