Showreel Design

 A showreel is a short video showcasing a person's previous work and experience. When creating a showreel, you should remember to - 

• Keep it short - in this case less is more, include your best work to present yourself in the highest standard
• Think about the audience - Consider will the content appeal to those who will be viewing it
• Ask for feedback - feedback is always a helpful way of finding out what people like about your work, as well as the parts you could improve on, this way you can improve or make changes before sending it to perhaps an employer

Analysing existing showreel's 

I believe this is a great example of a student's showreel, for many different reasons. Firstly, the video begins showing the name of the production team, instantly telling the audience who they are, soon followed by the instrumental music playing in the background. Sound is an important aspect in a showreel since I believe it sets the tone of the video, and tells us something about the producer. The video goes on to show a variety of different clips, showcasing how many different projects the student has worked on and produced, this showing their experience in things like editing and using different camera angles. Overall I think this is a good example of a student showreel, it shows us who they are and what they are capable of creating. On the other hand, I think it would've been nice to perhaps see a logo ( if they have one ) so we could perhaps learn more about them. 

A shot I like in particular is the ending scene, showing the car driving off with the screen closing in, referencing the ending scene to Looney Tunes, which I thought was a nice touch to end it on a positive note. Again this example shows a large variation of different work the student has completed. Something I would improve is that they chose not to use music in the background, but an audio track of different sounds, where I believe music could've worked nicely with some of the clips used.

My showreel - first draft

 

Upon creating this first draft, I wanted to see which direction I could take with the footage I had and which order to put it in. After creating the video, I knew instantly which parts I wanted to change and which parts I wanted to keep, such as including more footage I recently remembered I had from my first year of college doing Level 2 Media, meaning that I didn't receive feedback, I just got straight into correcting what I didn't particularly like about the video - this leading to my second draft. 

Creating the second draft of my showreel, I instantly liked it more than the first, as I included a variation of more footage from different projects, including my short film from Level 2 Media based around the city of Liverpool, as well as clips from a small project we did entering Level 3 Year 1 on the paranormal in Sunderland. 

Feedback on my showreel -

The feedback I have received has helped me in that I know what to keep / change - starting with the ending of my showreel. In the new showreel, you will see that the end clip is now faded out as well as the music, which I believe works well since the clip shows Blossoms frontman Tom Ogden existing the stage, so I believe it fits nicely. Furthermore, receiving feedback about including transitions - I did initially include transitions between clips but it wasn't something I wanted to include in the end product. As well as this, when looking into existing showreels, a large number didn't include transitions between clips as it just cut straight into the next clip, and this was something I liked, and wanted to include in my own end product.

I have since created two new showreels - one including text to pair with each clip, and one without - this way I could see both outcomes and decide which I prefer / is more effective. 

My showreel with text

Seeing the completed showreel with text to pair with each clip, I have found that I think it works best without text, as I believe that most of the clips do not need much context - As well as this, if audiences were to want more information on specific parts, all of my work is up on my website alongside the showreel so it is accessible to anyone who wants it. 

My completed showreel

Overall I am happy with the outcome of my showreel and I think it represents me and who I am in a positive way to employers. It includes footage from projects such as our sound editing unit, in which we had to choose a clip and recreate each sound included, using things like Foley and the BBC sound archive online. Something in particular I like is that I was able to include things that also show my main passions and interests, including the ending scene which shows footage from gigs I have attended, as well as close up shots of my records (included in a short film from Level 2 Media).