After 8 months of acting in student films in Boston, I've decided that putting together footage of me in these projects simply will not suffice as a means for creating a reel. I have been disappointed with the final product on almost every instance, and this has nothing to do with my acting, but rather the editing and quality of the final film.
Having said that, I've decided to go ahead and hire someone to help me shoot scenes to put together for my reel. I'm a very good writer, and I'm confident I can string together a range of characters for me to portray (using craigslist, nefilm.org, and this site, to seek other actors to act with me). The objective is that the scenes will not look like my creation but rather taken from various student films.
My questions as I jump into this are.......
I posted once before about how long the reel should be. I'm thinking 4 - 5 minutes total, at most. A casting director friend told me that I should include the full reel (mix of comedy, drama), along with 2 options for "comedic" and "dramatic" reel at the main menu screen. Thoughts regarding time and options at main menu screen?
Any other advice regarding my future reel would be great.
Posts: 10 | Location: New York City | Registered: November 11, 2007
Mine is 5 minutes, I also have a 1 minute. The one minute my manager is using for internet submition. I love the 1 minute. I have the 1 minute on my phone as well. You never know when your next opportunity will come.)
Posts: 12 | Location: LA | Registered: February 29, 2008
Kudos to you! I just shot two shorts for my reel. It was such an empowering experience, and I have such profound respect for each person's job as I had to learn so much and wear so many hats. I definitely feel like much more than an actor now. And hopefully, I'll finally have that great footage for my reel that I've been wanting for so long!
Posts: 29 | Location: Los Angeles, CA | Registered: January 24, 2008
