Documentary film showreel feedback

Hey all, I was wondering if anyone could provide some feedback on my documentary film showreel? I decided to make it a collection of excerpts, rather than the typical ‘mashup’ that I usually see. I feel excerpts give a better indication of my actual filmmaking work.

Feel free to share it if you think anyone might be interested.

https://vimeo.com/863328333

Thanks!

Steffan

Replies4

  • @Lee Holmes Thanks a lot for your feedback Lee!
    Glad to hear that you like my work.

    I completely see what you're saying regarding making it shorter. I've played around with it since you saw it, and have made a version that is as short as I can get it whilst still retaining what I like in the quality and flow.

    It could still make sense to make a separate super short teaser version, but I'll see how I get on for now.

    Again, great to hear that you enjoyed the work - it's gratifying to hear after working on these projects for so long.

    Let me know if you'd like to meet for a coffee / beer to chat videography and filmmaking.
  • @Steffan Roe Griffiths completely agree on your general showreel opinions! You can make terrible projects look good if you edit them well to a good track and equally great projects can look average.

    I think your work is brilliant and your style of filmmaking is clear within the first 10 seconds, so for me I think you could do a much shorter version without nessecarily sacrificing too much. For instance on the first project you could keep the same pace of shots but have a lot fewer and just have the interview audio about Citi bank hiring and the rigged game - it's intriguing enough on it's own and you don't really need to know he did well at school or that he went to a good uni.

    If you keep the edit you have but then also have short version you can pick and choose which version you send to who. i.e if you're contacting a commissioner who's likely to have zero attention span then send them the shorter version, but if it's someone you've met in person who knows your style of work then maybe the longer one.

    Overall I'm just here to compliment you on your work basically! But if you do have the energy to create a separate shorter version I think it could be worth it.
  • @Bayo Brahms Thanks mate! Glad to hear there are others who share my views on mash-ups.

    I feel you regarding keeping it under 2 minutes. My thinking is that these excerpts have to be a minute or so each in order to give the viewer a proper indication of the flow of the original film. And hopefully the first minute or two of the showreel will give the viewer what they need if they don't feel like watching the full four.

    Cool to hear that you enjoyed the compositon and pacing - thanks for the feedback!
  • This looks good bro. I'm not a fan of a mashed-up showreel either, especially for a documentary filmmaker.

    Though there's no definitive duration for a showreel, I personally think it's best to keep it under 2 minutes.

    Regardless, I love the composition and pacing of the edit. Great work!

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