How to Prioritise Material
It’s crucial you start with a strong piece of acting.
Note, I didn’t say to use that scene where you said two lines to Hugh Grant in a movie. It’s cool that you did that, but it’s probably not the scene you need to start your reel with.
Ideally, you have a scene that captures a character somewhat close in essence to the real you.
Even more ideal if the scene has an element of conflict.
Some of the best reels I’ve seen have started with a relatable character in a conflict. So, for example, a scene where you, looking like you, say:
- “I think we need to go to the police.”
- “I’m going to confront Dad.”
- “I don’t think I can be around you anymore.”
These are strong ways to start.
Why do I say a character looking like you? Because if you’re dressed as a vampire or a Nazi soldier, then you’re directing the viewer to cast you in a very, very specific way.
Okay, maybe the Nazi soldier would work if your selling point is playing evil bad guys. But most of the time, a moment of you in a weird costume or in a horror film isn’t going to be the best way to kick off your reel. It immediately limits how you’ll be perceived.
Begin with a strong piece, with a naturalistic style. It gives the casting director a sense of who you are and starts firing up their imagination. It will give them ideas of how they can use you.
Then, in following scenes, you can delve into your casting types more—maybe you’re good as a therapist, a teacher, a drug dealer. Whatever it is, you want to show those sides too.
The BIGGEST mistake I see on showreels is that they start strong and end weak.
With a showreel, you need to be confident in your good work, and you need to be confident that it is enough.
If you have two strong scenes, have a reel with two strong scenes.
If you have two strong scenes, one bad scene, and one kinda okay but weird scene—ditch the bad scene, ditch the kinda okay but weird scene.
Go with your strongest material.
The bad stuff at the end of the reel will be disappointing to the viewer. It’s much better to leave them wanting more.
How to Not Use Film/TV Material
Actors spend years, even decades, working towards that first TV credit. They are rightly excited and proud when it finally happens.
Understandably, they rush to put it at the very beginning of their showreels.
Unfortunately, this rarely has the desired effect and often leads to fewer casting opportunities.
I’ve had many showreel-from-scratch clients who got a bunch of TV work in the months proceeding our work together. They rushed to replace the from-scratch material with TV work, and then they stopped getting cast.
I’m not saying the material I created was ‘better’ than their TV work, but the for-reel material told a different story to the TV footage.
In the scenes I created, the actors played characters who had important decisions to make; they carried the stories.
But their first TV credits were often less interesting, character-wise. When they filled their reels with TV material, it didn’t tell the story of the actor quite so well. If you replace a strong character scene where you’re confronting your partner for being an alcoholic, with a scene with you as a nurse saying one line on TV, you may be doing yourself a disservice.
OF COURSE you need to use your TV material on your reel—it’s a great achievement. But don’t think you have to rely on it. It’s very likely that a showreel scene or short film scene can open your reel in a much better way, and then you can dive into the TV material later on.
Another mistake actors make is trying to make their TV work look more important than it was.
Say you had two lines in Chernobyl, that’s great!
But often, actors or their reel editors will add in a big establishing shot from the show, followed by the dialogue, followed by an explosion, followed by a famous actor saying a few lines.
This doesn’t help you. Casting directors are not foolish. They don’t need you to pretend you were a lead in a show when you only had a tiny part. They will find an honest actor a lot more useful.
Casting directors instinctively know where you are in your career, and they know what your next steps are. If you try to impress them with any kind of falseness, you’ll be found out—it won’t look good.
I say this as someone who used to bend over backwards to make ‘TV’ clips look far bigger and more impressive than they really were. It’s dishonest, and to an experienced viewer, it looks stupid.
Be confident in where you’re at and what you’ve achieved. If you had one line in a show, you had one line. Maybe you need it on your reel, but just as likely, maybe you don’t.
Telling the Story of You
Your reel needs to tell the story of you. It needs to give us a sense of who you are.
That might feel counterintuitive at first, especially if your clips are made up of you playing a murderer, an alcoholic, and a surfing instructor.
But somehow, you need to give a sense of you.
This isn’t easy, but it’s crucial.
Whether it’s the font that has your name at the beginning of the reel, or the pacing and style of the reel, or the type of scenes you leave out—your reel will always be communicating something about you.
It’s hard for me to explain this point in detail, because it’s esoteric and requires a nuance that can’t be put easily into words.
Your reel is you. It’s your branding. It’s a visual tool that represents you in your career.
We need to feel you in the material we see.
I nearly deleted the last few paragraphs because it sounds too wishy-washy. I can imagine some of you thinking, “Okay, but what is your actionable advice here?”
Honestly, I don’t know. I just know that when we experience your reel, we experience you.
It needs to feel like a piece of you.
Start Late, Leave Early
If you have a scene where your character is asking another character out on a date, start at the moment where you’re asking them out on the date.
If there’s twenty seconds before that moment when you’re walking into the room, sitting next to your love interest, looking at the surroundings—CUT THAT.
Get to the meat.
If there are fifty-eight seconds before the other character says yes (or no) to the date, there’s probably some nonsense you can cut out.
Sure, it was important to the film you were in, or the showreel scene you shot—but now, in the edit, you need to find ways to chop it down to the essential.
A showreel scene needs to:
- Set up a scenario.
- Show a conflict (usually).
- Show us how to cast you.
Once those things are achieved, time is being wasted.
Get out of that scene and onto the next one as early as you can.
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