Showreel

Showreel research

How to make a showreel:

https://youtu.be/lGRDJn4IyhQ

- Use your best clips

- Show variety

- Should be like a montage of your best clips

- Try make it tell a story

- Choose music carefully

- Look for rhythm in your cuts

- Use sound from clips

- Keep it short

- Keep it interesting

Existing Product 1:

https://youtu.be/fObJIv67xzI

This showreel doesn't have any sort of title screen, it just goes straight into the clips and put some texts on screen for a few seconds to introduce the showreel. I think this is effective because no time is wasted getting into the actual showreel. The showreel didn't have any sort of order with its shots it was just a compilation of dramatic shots which I think all worked well together and kept a similar atmosphere. It also includes some dramatic music which match the shots perfectly and as the music calms down so do the clips for example when the music becomes less dramatic some scenic clips are shown and when the music climaxes again there are more extreme/dramatic clips showing things such as parkour and skiing. I think this is a very effective and creative thing to do as it means the atmosphere of the music always matches the atmosphere of the clips and it keeps the viewer engaged. The final thing I noticed was that on a lot of the clips there was no sound other than the music but on a select few there was sound which I feel really emphasises them clips. Overall, I think this is a very impressive showreel and there is a lot I can take from it to apply to my own.

Existing Product 2:

https://youtu.be/ugQuUigKSwg

This showreel starts of with a kind of title screen but rather than showing a title it shows their business logo, I think this is a unique idea and one I might be able to incorporate into my own work. The title screen is shown with the audio from a video clip already playing which it then cuts to which I shout was an effective transition into the first clip of the showreel, the music then slowly fades into the clip. this clip is only shown for a short period of time before a very impressive cut (which I personally wasn't expecting) was done, it zoomed into the eye of the girl in the clip and once fully zoomed it cut into the rest of the video clips. These clips were very in time with the music and flowed flawlessly which is effective and important to keep a showreel engaging. It had very high energy music which was matched well with the videoclips shown. There was only sound on certain videoclips to add well-placed emphasis on them (for example the revving of a motorbike). In a section of the showreel it goes into some underwater photography and as this happens the music becomes muffled to add to that underwater feeling which was another impressive and unexpected addition to the showreel. Around two thirds of the way through the showreel the music gets significantly slower and quieter, rather than showing a different type of clip to match (like the previous showreel I have looked at) it lowed down clips from the same video shoot as previous ones in the showreel and made the cuts much longer in order to fit with the slowed down feel of the music. I think this was just as effective, if not more effective than how it was done in the previous showreel I looked at. Finally, another thing I wasn't expecting, the final cut away from the final clip was a zoom out of the eye back into the first clip shown in the showreel which was a very effective and creative way to end the showreel. Overall, I think this was an extremely effective and creative showreel and there is a lot I can take from it and apply to my own work.

My Showreel Plan
I will open my showreel with a title page reading ‘Media Showreel by Lucas Rutherford’. This will be followed by an introduction screen for my barbering project, which will then fade into a clip from my barbering video to start of the showreel strong as I feel it is one of my best videos. Next, it will switch from my barbering project to my western project to show a different recording and editing style and it will highlight the contrast between the two projects. I will then cut to my climate change awareness project to show yet another editing style. For my final clip I will show my culture in the digital age project, this will show my ability to conduct interviews along with my ability to finish a project despite lack of equipment and covid restrictions. Finally, I will end my showreel with an outro screen which will thank the viewer for watching and show YouTube links to the complete projects. There will be an introduction screen for each project reading the title of the project being shown. I will only show short clips to keep the complete showreel under 2 minutes, so the viewer doesn’t lose interest. I've decided to use this format for my showreel as I do not currently have much to show so this will show the few clips and projects I have in order to see the different projects I have done and show contrast between them.

My Showreel

https://youtu.be/DzBIIJ4Y88A

My showreel accurately followed my initial plan with only a few drawbacks due to time constraints. I used all the clips I intended on using and used them all in an order that showed the contrast between the different projects.

Technical skill: I edited my showreel in PremierPro, First of all I got all of the clips that I wanted to put into the showreel into the '' box where I then transferred individual videos and images into the timeline as I was editing, also removing any audio from the videos. I faced a problem in the insertion of my videos and had to find my original clips in order to fix it and improve the video quality. I edited them together simply by placing them in the correct order and then using the razor tool to cut them down to what I wanted them to be, I used the music I had found to dictate the flow and the cuts of each section of the showreel. I found 4 different royalty free songs that I could use in my showreel, using a different one for each project. I played around with them a bit to see which audio fitted with each project. I edited them into the showreel the same way I added the video, using the razor tool. I also had some difficulty exporting the video but got assistance from one of my classmates who were more familiar with PremierPro than I am (Leon Hutchinson) and we quickly fixed the problem and exported it successfully.