So, here’s my 2 cents on demo reels.

There’s a style and art unto itself when it comes to putting together a demo reel.

What song do I want to use? It must be entertaining and fun to listen to, have an attitude and edit points, support the visuals both instrumentally and rhythmically, and accelerate the demo’s story to the point where we want to see more.

What do I want to show you, for how long, and when? Choosing which shots or edited clips to share, plus when to use them with the song – it’s fun.  Plus, how much of it do I let you see?  Even if a shot or edited clip is a favorite of mine, I may end up axing it in the end if it doesn’t lend itself to the sum of the rest of the reel.  Sometimes losing that one shot makes all the difference.  Then again, sometimes bringing it back and placing it somewhere entirely differently makes all the difference, too.

How long do I want to entertain you with my demo? Just long enough for you to feel something – just short enough for you to want to feel more.

Now, here’s the my demo reel story.

I’ve been working on my demo reel for a few years now.  Truth is, I had gotten hung up on my questions and thought about it too much.  Plus, I’d find a song that I really liked but it wouldn’t work out in the edit after I’d cut it up and down to the length I wanted.  A couple weeks back I heard a fantastic song during a :30 teaser for the next season of House.  The song was Grounds for Divorce by Elbow.  The song felt great to me for my motion design reel – it has attitude, great rhythm and pace, and is damn fun to listen to.  Plus, I knew I could distill the song down to a :60 edit, keeping in mind that I didn’t want to go over a minute with my motion design work; I simply haven’t done enough motion design work to cover more time than that.  And, remember, I want to leave you wanting more.

Surprisingly enough my motion design reel is the first one out the gate.  No worries about having to wait much longer for my cinematography and editing demo reels…they’ll come soon enough.

Enjoy!

-Zach

Trouble reading or clicking? Please visit the blog post on our website here: Motion Design Reel – first demo reel out the gate

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGmVQjdMSR4

Just wanted to share some inspiring motion design that I came across recently. It’s a magnificent music video of Moby’s for his song “Slipping Away.”

The video was created by Moustache, a Paris-based design house. I hadn’t seen the video prior to watching it on Moustache’s website. The standard quality doesn’t do it justice, so make sure to choose “HQ” after you hit play to stream the high-quality version.

Check out Moustache’s website for more of their work.

Trouble reading or clicking? Please visit the blog post on our website here: Moby’s "Slipping Away" Music Video