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Friday 5th March 2010 4:39pm
London
156 posts
Quote: James Cotter @ March 5 2010, 4:16 PM GMT
How are people who are on drama and media courses supposed to get a professional showreel with out one showing of the work they done on those courses.
Why do they need one? A showreel is a retrospective of professional work. I'm really surprised none of your tutors have any experience of this. I genuinely feel sorry for you that you have no one to turn to on your course.
1. Your work is not professional, nor of professional quality. Regardless of your performance, which is a matter of taste, you are seeking to pit it against showreels of thousands upon thousands of other professional actors whose showreels are professionally produced and feature clips from professional productions.
2. Showreels should be no longer than 2.30 mins; should not chop about productions but feature a clip from one then move onto the next; should display details of what the production is, who directed it, etc; should not have background music which distracts from the scene; should highlight you - professional editors who edit showreels for a living/sideline will always re-edit material to make the actor seem prominent - yours deosn't even start with you! You are the focus of this thing, highlighting other actors is a waste of time and energy. You wouldn't go to an audition with a friend and say "he's just going to read a few lines to lead into my speech". Professional editors (and I've seen them do this) can lift sound tracks, cut other actors and make a scene from The Bill between two people look like there's only one actor dominating. That's their skill, and that's what you're up against; the showreel should not show you differently to what you are offering now - there are scenes with you where you look about 12 and are clearly lighter in weight than you are now. It's no good offering directors and CDs that because you aren't that person anymore (besides which, you're hardly in those scenes anyway so it's more like a showreel for everyone else!). Additionally, the edit has no contact details - maybe this is just the version we've seen, but that is rather important.
3. What I think you're really saying is, "how do I get professional work?". As I and others have tried to impress upon you, it won't be this way. You will ruin your chances this way. You will make yourself look amateurish, the very opposite of what they are looking for, and the opposite of what you want. You seem to want quick fixes. You're a young man in a hurry, I get that. But if you're serious about your ambitions, then take your ambition seriously. It's a career, not a game. Audition for stuff, get an agent, get professional work, get enough material to produce a viable showreel to help backup your professional status. You are not currently professional. Not everyone needs to train to perform but IMHO, you do. Don't be arrogant, look at who you're up against. Yes, what I'm saying will take time and effort and focus. There is a quicker way, and that's to do what you're doing. I have told you that IMO, that's the quickest route only to failure.
4. Even if you were the best thing since sliced bread, you may not make it. You could be rubbish and make it. You could be perfectly good and realise at 30 you're broke, have no career to speak of, and it just hasn't worked out for you, like it won't for the 95% of the thousands of others who started out at the same time as you - because it's an odds game, not necessarily one of talent. If you have the dedication to ignore the odds and go for it anyway, then HAVE the dedication and do it right.
5. If you work professionally, you WILL be directed - that means listening to someone other than that voice you hear in your own head all the time. It means listening to ideas and experiences, taking them on board, and adapting, and growing as a result. If you're ever going to work as a professional actor, you MUST work with and accept the ideas and skills of others. I think you know what I'm saying.
6. As I said before: Your life, your choice. Good luck.
