Tip to Save You Money!
When preparing your demo reel it is best to develop a plan of action for cutting your reel. This will serve to save you money (please read Demo Reel 101: The Basics for helpful tips into knowing what you want from a demo reel). There are many ways to put the footage you have of yourself together. As discussed in Demo Reel 101: The Basics, even the most beautiful images you have of yourself may not serve to promote you. Finding your best footage is key.
Prepping Your Demo Reel Edit:
Go through your video files, streaming episode, Blu-rays/DVD and tapes, write down the time-code displayed on the DVD player and video file that you wish to use from each piece. For tapes it is best to have them queued up and ready to go. Another helpful trick for all source media is to write down the line and/or action you wish to start and end on. By self editing you will cut your costs significantly. If a client brings us 30 minutes of footage, our editor will watch those 30 minutes closely. Our editor could potentially watch the footage twice, meaning you have spent an hour of our time for us to simply watch your footage. It is good to cut out as much as possible on your own. Most people present us with about 7 to 15 minutes of footage to go through, which saves you time and money.
Cutting The Reel:
There are three ways to cut a reel.
1. You give us the footage and we do the first cut on our own.
2. You give us the footage and you tell us how to cut the reel.
3. We build the reel together.
We are fans of all three methods, and truly enjoy editing. We love working with clients and welcome their input, and we are never afraid to give ours. We do this because we want the best for your reel and your career. Early collaboration in the project can often lead to a lengthier process, but not necessarily be any more productive. We are happy to do it any way you prefer.
The time and care needed to cut a scene varies from one scene to another. Some will be quick and some may need significant re-editing to make the scene about your character. Most scenes are not that difficult to shift the attention to your character when needed. We thrive on our client's excitement when we alter a scene's focus from another character to our client's.