new DoP reel - first in three years

[Michael Morlan]

Hello all,

I finally managed to get my reel cut and published. I would sure appreciate any and all crits.

Demo Reel

I tried something new this time - titles at bottom noting my contribution for each scene. Let me know if those are useful. Let me know if they are distracting or not.

Best,

Michael Morlan

[Stefan Scherperel]

Michael, you have alot of very good looking work, and alot of good variety in your work which says alot. The only thing I would say is to cut down the length of your reel and tighten it up. I'm not 100% sure how long your reel was becasue there was no timecode listed in the quicktime player, but I really didn't feel I saw your great work until about 30-45 seconds in. The first couple seconds just didn't wow me. The order that your work should appear is:
Beginning: Great work, something that wow's
Middle: Almost great work, no fluff, but things that can really show your talent but don't really have that wow factor.
End: This is where you should really leave em hanging, your absolute best work should go here, which I allready feel you have done.
In the end I could see your demo reel sitting very well at 1/2 to 3/4 the length it is now. Even 3/4 may still be a bit too long.

[Jason Ing]

My 2 cents. I agree with Stefan about the length. However, I think you should have your absolute best stuff up front. After watching the #nth demo reel, it's better to grab the viewer in the beginning. Too many negative reactions can happen in the beginning... boredom, distraction, disinterest, unimpressed, etc.

And I agree with your instinct that the titles are distracting and not useful. If this is a DOP reel, I don't care if you operated the camera or not. I'm going to assume the most DP's worth their salt can operate a camera. Also, I'll figure that you probably know a thing or two about grading since, as a DP, you're responsible for the image. Okay, maybe you can run it yourself so that might save money, or whatever, but save that for the interview. And putting the title DP, is redundant. If there's something that you didn't D.P., it shouldn't be in this demo. If you're looking for work as Camera Op or Colorist, have separate demos. Drop the titles, I think. Let your images speak for themselves.

And just a thought... what's up with the still frames? Made me wonder if this was a draft demo and those were placeholders or you lost the footage and only had stills to play with. If you have the motion equivalents, use them. Or was that part of the movie itself?

Hope this helps! :)

[Florian Stadler]

Michael,

The contributions part is weird to me. If you want coloring work, cut a colorist reel. If you want operating work, cut an operators reel. If you want DP work, cut a DP reel. It seems unfocused. You are wearing too many hats by mixing it all up.

Your reel is too long. You must only show your very very best work. Kill those babies. 60-90 seconds max for a montage. If you want to show more depth to your work, pick 1 or 2 complete scenes and let them play out seperately. That way you can show that you can cover a scene and bring a look and mood to the project that fits the context. Everybody can create a pretty picture but not everybody can create the right picture for the story.

Good Luck!

[Michael Morlan]

Some excellent feedback. Many thanks for taking the time to view my reel and be so verbose in your comments.

Back to the cutting table,Hi Ho Hi Ho...

Best,

Michael