Would you ever hire a DOP based on their showreel?

Tom Chabbat · December 20, 2013

From my experience, networking and reputation are not all.

I worked almost 10 years as a camera assistant working on various commercials and music video, hoping that I will rise naturally to the upper echelon (DoP, that's right) with a good reputation. But it never happened. One day, after a shoot, one director told me : "You're good, you actually seem to know more than the DoP. Why don't you become one ?" I stupidly answered : "Because no one asked me to." That's when I realized that my network only saw me as an assistant, and people only asked me to do this job. Because when you're an assistant, the people who call you are mostly DoPs, and they don't want you to make their jobs. If I wanted to be a DoP, I needed a whole different network. And the best way to build a network from scratch as a DoP, is to show people your work. So I worked first for free on some student shorts, then used the best footage for my demo, and that's how I found actual paid work as a DoP.

It's true that most of jobs are given based on what people say about you. But when people don't know you, you have to show them something. And there's always some young directors who don't happen to know a good cinematographer and who will look for some fresh and young people like themselves, and it's with these people you can build your network.

Maxim Ford · February 13, 2014

Interesting that DOPs don't know what knowledge is required to be a DOP.

All I am pointing out is that a showreel is a good way to hire the wrong DOP.

It would be good for the industry if it educated directors and producers about what the skills of a good DOP are so that they can at least have a clue.

The first step would be to ignore the flash and look for the skill. Watch whole films shot by a DOP , maybe even a low budget documentary or short drama rather than a showreel.

There were different systems of camera training from working your way up through the grades to full time education. Both have their strengths and weaknesses.

Michael LaVoie · February 14, 2014

I think the showreel is mostly a way to weed out DP's who's work is obviously bad or nowhere close to the project. Once you narrow it down, selection becomes a much more personal thing. Who can you see yourself working with for months straight 12 hours a day? That's a choice every director has to make and it's not easy.

To base it solely on work styles can however be shortsighted. Bill Pope shot Fur cause he got tired of shooting "Guys running around in tights". I have to give credit to Steven Shainburg the director, part for choosing him. He could have said, He's an action movie DP. No way. Fur looked beautiful too. Proving that a DP shouldn't be pigeonholed by their body of work.

What's funny is that Robert Downey Jr. right after Fur went the other direction and did Iron Man cause he "got tired of his movies only being seen by 5 people".

Edited February 14, 2014 by Michael LaVoie

Mark Kenfield · February 16, 2014

I think a showreel is a perfectly reasonable 'first point of contact' for people with a cinematographer's work. In just a couple of minutes it'll give you an idea of whether they light realistically or stylistically, whether they're a raw/handheld kinda guy or a locked-down dollies & cranes kinda guy. It's just a sampler. If people like what they see, you get to the interview stage and things naturally grow from there.

But a showreel is simply a simplified portfolio, and that's something most creatives would have to show at any job application.

I've certainly got quite a few jobs from people who didn't know me, and whom I wasn't recommended to - but who liked my showreel, and subsequently (after a meeting or phone call) liked me.

Freya Black · February 16, 2014

Well, yes, but then Star Wars is... well. It's frankly not even that good as a popcorn movie, to be honest. I never understood the mania for it. The visual effects are spectacular for their time but trivial today, the writing is deeply, deeply mediocre, and the performances are so-so at best. I don't really get Star Wars, and I speak as someone who often enjoys science fiction. I don't hate it, I just don't see any particular genius in it more than I see in something like the recent Resident Evil series.

Well the one thing I can say in the defence of Star Wars, is that it is very atmospheric! Especially the stuff shot in the desert, it just looks beatutiful. The score worked well and it was really well cast, and none of those are minor things. Obviously it was also groundbreaking at the time especially for a movie aimed at children. I think it's more of a fantasy film than a science fiction movie but what the hey! :)

I think the subsequent movies had less of the atmospheric thing going on but I guess there were bits of it and well, they were sequels.

It was a fun movie that didn't talk down to the kids, and so they really liked it is my guess.

Star Wars had the advantage over Resident Evil in the sense that it came out first.

Not a huge fan of Star Wars but it seems obvious to me why it would be exceptionally exciting and amazing for the children of the time.

Freya

John Holland · February 16, 2014

At the time i was 26 and got very excited by Star Wars.

Freya Black · February 16, 2014

I think a lot of people have misunderstood the idea behind a Show Reel. The idea isn't to be hired based on your reel, it's more of a first point of contact. The idea is something like that of the idea of an elevator speech. You only have a very short time to get across some basic ideas to someone in the elevator so you need a few short sentences to summarize that idea.

It's actually a bit like making a commercial.

I've come across people who approach it as if they are making a CV or invent all kinds of crazy rules for themselves. A couple of times I have come across people who thought they could only put the work they made that year in their reel because they have seen peoples reels with the year on them. The reason people put the year on them is to let people know that this is the latest reel. I even came across someone once who was putting things they didn't like on their reel because they thought they had to include every production they shot that year.

Nestle don't make an advert and say "we murdered thousands of children in Africa this year and we make great coffee". It's an advert and it can be whatever part of your work you wish to show to advertise what you are about.

Freya

Freya Black · February 16, 2014

At the time i was 26 and got very excited by Star Wars.

Oh God! I don't like the way this thread is going!

I was of course only 14 and it was the first time I had ever seen a real DVD! ;)

Freya

John Holland · February 16, 2014

Watching Star Wars on the opening night at The Dominion Tottenham Court Road in 70 mm was a very exciting experience , just like 2001 in Cinerama on opening night when i was about 16/17 .

Freya Black · February 16, 2014

Watching Star Wars on the opening night at The Dominion Tottenham Court Road in 70 mm was a very exciting experience , just like 2001 in Cinerama on opening night when i was about 16/17 .

I'm definitely too young to remember the moon landings, or non decimal currency. I want to be clear about that. ;)

Would have loved to have seen something in 70mm. No idea what that would be like.

Freya

Anthony Raffaele · November 6, 2014

This is one reason I'm deeply suspicious of rockstar colour grading people - honestly, you can justify more or less anything, and I fear that in terms of both DPs and colorists, actual ability takes a poor seventeenth place behind being ingratiating and wearing nice shoes.

You hit the nail on the head with this statement. Your talent level and skill and expertise has nothing to do with whether or not you are picked for a job. It's you credit list and your cool factor. Sad but true.

Anthony Raffaele · November 6, 2014

Quote from Phil Rhodes:

This is one reason I'm deeply suspicious of rockstar colour grading people - honestly, you can justify more or less anything, and I fear that in terms of both DPs and colorists, actual ability takes a poor seventeenth place behind being ingratiating and wearing nice shoes.

You hit the nail on the head with this statement. Your talent level and skill and expertise has nothing to do with whether or not you are picked for a job. It's you credit list and your cool factor. Sad but true.

Edited November 6, 2014 by Anthony Raffaele

Mark Kenfield · November 13, 2014

Well it's possible that I'm an exception to that particular rule, but it certainly hasn't been my experience. As a younger fella whose career in this silliest of businesses has finally been taking off in the past 12 months; my experience of the situation has been that the jobs I've landed have skewed entirely towards what I can achieve visually. And I can say that with some confidence as I doubt even my worst enemy would accuse me of sycophancy, and I'm constantly told how bad my taste in shoes is.

Certainly, word of mouth has also been good to me, and it's brought a lot of work in too. But cold calls, chance meetings and my showreel have been netting me the bulk of my work.

So I don't agree that being 'cool' or overly ingratiating are the answer. Personality is obviously a key factor too. But that's always the case for any and every industry ever.

Edited November 13, 2014 by Mark Kenfield