Hope everyone had a lovely New Years! I am feeling quite hopeful and more positive about this year vs. 2010. In order to get the ball rolling, I’ve been doing several things to make myself more confident, happy, and healthy. This is not any part of any New Year resolution mind you – I started these things in December and back in October in fact.
There’s always a project looming in the distance. Perhaps you’ve wanted to do a tutorial or re-cut your reel, try something new, or enter a film festival or contest. It’s something you’ve said time and time “I want to do…*insert*” BUT something comes up, you can’t find the motivation, you lose your way…it happens!
Editing a new reel has been the 500 pound elephant sitting on my shoulder for quite some time now. There is always an intensity that can be overwhelming when I think about re-cutting my reel. Trying to transfer the ideas I have, sorting through the footage I’ve taken over time can be daunting. Some of my goals for this new reel has included:
- Motion Graphics
- Story-telling pieces (such as Sons of Amber or Cooper O’Brien)
- Solid cuts
- Demonstrate the passion + love + skills
See, when I see this list written out, I know it’s nothing I am not capable of performing. Today I am going to start taking out pieces I don’t need/like, thinking about the best ways I can incorporate some motion graphics, and using After Effects to include these pieces. It may take the next day, or the next week to really see this through.
Reels are one of those things that can always change. I sort of like the play-dough feeling about how easily you can take away or add back into a video reel. Often times, I find I need to really watch my length or you start pulling out footage you swore you would never feel ‘married’ to and insist inside your mind that it MUST be in there.
Here is my very first reel I believe in 2009-ish time period:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC8mX05AQtc]
Isn’t it cute? I really didn’t exactly KNOW what I was going for – other than to tell a good story AND include every single piece I’d ever done and feel proud of them. Heh. What I can say is that I tried my hardest but it obviously wasn’t the best. Everyone has to start somewhere right? I can see a lot of the errors I made while cutting this reel. I wanted epic music, but it didn’t necessarily suit everyone that saw it. Considering it was my first reel and cut based on only the small amount of knowledge I had during that time, it’s really not too bad. It was full of optimism and that’s not a bad thing.
Here is my most recent reel from 2010 which is also on my website, however I cannot link the video through this. Please visit it here.
I was proud of this reel. I really took the time to think about the clips I included – but it was lacking in several things. Where’s the motion graphics? Is this what held me back? I really don’t know for sure. I still felt like I needed more interesting and varied footage to really flesh out this reel. I did do several projects and side weddings and such that I kept wanting to add to this reel. What I found when opening this reel to possibly edit my 2011 reel, was that I almost wanted to start over new. Look at every video piece as either rubbish or find the few gems hidden within and only use those that help not hinder! Find a creative way to tie them all together to incorporate the motion graphics. This is where I’ve felt stuck for some time. I had a few ideas, but nothing terribly great. If I figure out the theme I’ve been stuck on, it may take a week or two to hunt down and test out these ideas. I’m okay with that. I want quality work if I am to include special effects or motion.
It’s hard when you’re trying to multi-market yourself and your skills. If you perform any searches, you know there’s different types of reels for different positions. When you are straight up an editor, you want more of a story-telling piece to show off your skills. However, if you are in production, you want to highlight your videographer skills and can highlight many many pieces. I have always been a bit down the middle of the road, in hopes that somehow this will help me in my job search. This far, it hasn’t been terrible but it hasn’t been what I wanted it to be!!
Thus, I will be doing as much research into the best editor reel I can produce that will target the right companies and leave a bit of curiosity or interest in order to get the kind of job I’d eventually like to have. I am not afraid to try new things or put myself out there for the bigger picture. (Need I even say I would like to work on bigger film projects? However, in order to get there, is a very very VERY long road ahead, and I will try my best to cut the best reel for my needs at any given time)
Wish me luck!
PS: A bit of inspiration hit me – I won’t elude all of it just now, until I have time to shape it, but I may be incorporating the following to make quite an interesting, gritty, fun, strange type of reel that just might be what I’ve been looking for! I’ll be on the hunt for gritty, dark, strange, and interesting tutorials. I have my theme. Dust, dirt, grit, and post-apocalyptic will all tie in my clips. It’s amazing how fast inspiration comes when one isn’t looking for it.
I will be doing my own effects similar to this – http://videohive.net/item/1080-hd-film-damage-14-pack/86329
Perhaps tinkering around with the following for various areas of the reel as well –
http://library.creativecow.net/articles/mize_rob/Laser-Writer/video-tutorial
http://library.creativecow.net/articles/park_michael/Bessie_Potter/video-tutorial
http://library.creativecow.net/articles/stern_eran/Paint_Strokes_Morph.php