I am putting together a demo reel as a cinematographer and want to make it as fun, simple and uncluttered as I can for the prospective employer.
I have the following footage:
Lots of dailies from a tv show that I did 2nd unit on recently
A few complete scenes from movies I have worked on as an operator, but shot a day here and there on second unit.
My old reel which is pretty dated.
I am working with an editor and he is putting together an overall montage of footage, basically just making the best 5 minutes he can.
I also think there should be one or two scenes that are complete, showing coverage and my ability to design a scene properly.
What else? One idea is whether to make a second, shorter montage of just the most recent TV show I did the 2nd unit work on, it is by far the slickest of the material, is it excessive to have two montages?
My experience in reels is that folks don't look at much, they watch the montage and that is it (if you are lucky) I think often they watch the first two minutes of the montage and then move on. So, is the rest really worth spending much time on? I don't know.
People put stills on, but I think that seems useless, they are not hiring me to shoot stills, but moving pictures.
I shot some demo spec spots, but they are really dated and I think they do not stand alone very well.
All input appreciated.
Henry
