Showreels

"Creating Your Showreel"

The issue of show reels is a vexed question for actors who are starting their career. When actors approach an agent to see if they might represent them one of the first questions some agents ask is “Do you have a show reel?” If you are starting out how can you possibly have a show reel? Surely a show reel should provide samples of your professional experience!!

Why do agents ask for this?

Perhaps some are asking because they want to scare the actor off. It’s a test. They don’t want to spend time on the phone talking to another person with a half-baked enquiry. The serious actor just has to accept that those circumstances exist.

Other agents appear to be asking because they want to be able to spruke your skills to Casting Directors (if they hire you). Being able to show a reel of what you can do could be a useful tool. For the serious actor this is probably the scariest scenario. How do you get material if you don’t have a body of professional work? If you have done a number of short independent films then should you put that material on your show reel? That’s assuming you have any of it. Although you have always been promised a DVD of your short film once it is complete, it is often hard to make sure you get your copy. On the other hand with an independent short film it is frequently the case that the project is never actually completed. Those are the risks with short films. And of course, quite a number of the ones that are completed are not very well made. Do you want to show that material to a casting director?

What to do?

If you decide to get something shot specifically for the purpose, be careful. Who do you get to act in it with you? Who do you get to shoot it? How good does the equipment need to be? Will a home video camera do? Who will edit it? For many these are difficult questions to answer.

There are many risks when working with the inexperienced –

a) The actor who plays opposite you is terrible, so no one will notice your work as they are too busy laughing at the other actor
b) It is so badly shot that your best takes are out of focus, shaky or the camera pans off you
c) The edit, perhaps because of the availability of shots or continuity issues, doesn’t show your best work
d) Frequently the picture quality and production values are so poor that they don’t present your acting efforts in a flattering way.

All these risks frequently mean that the actor ends up without having something that will be suitable to show a casting director.

What’s Its Use-by-date
There is one other issue. While actors are still working at developing fundamental skills a simple improvement in understanding of the performance process can produce a HUGE leap forward in capability. Suddenly, that show reel you put so much effort into no longer represents your current skill level. In a fortnight or couple of months it might feel terribly out of date. So, be careful how much you spend if you are creating something new. It could be out of date very quickly because you are suddenly so much better.

WHAT SHOULD YOU BE AIMING AT
It is highly unlikely that anything you shoot to create your reel will look like a professionally shot scene. Any professional viewer will instantly know whether your shoot is a professional production or not. So, don’t try to achieve that goal.

Make sure –

a) that your scene displays your acting capability in a clear and simple way
b) that you can be clearly seen – don’t cover your face too much or hide yourself in moody, shadowy lighting
c) that the camera is still, simply framed and doesn’t distract from what you are doing
d) that you can be clearly heard
e) that the actor with whom you share the scene is capable and doesn’t distract from or eclipse your performance

Don’t pick scenes that are –

a) too long
b) too dramatic
c) outside a sensible range of possibilities for which you would be cast
d) instantly recognisable from a TV show or film we all know
e) or are from your favourite film.

Keep it simple, functional and cheap.

Remember that within two months, if you have a good teacher, you mightn’t want to show it to anyone because you are now much better than you were then.

ANOTHER ALTERNATIVE
It is however possible that the agent is asking if you have a show reel not because they want to show it to the world BUT because THEY want to see IF YOU CAN ACT. If this is the case then you might be able to put something together from material that has been shot in a class. A couple of scenes will probably do the trick.

Make sure that they are –

1) not too long (not more than two minutes is probably best)
2) not obviously edited (as it will look like you are hiding something)
3) observing the other suggestions above.

Displaying Your Brilliance
Show the scenes you have picked to someone else to check that the acting is satisfactory. A scene that you are excited about because you achieved a particularly high emotional state might have some very erratic listening in it. It is much better to show that you can be consistently believable than erratically brilliant.

If you have a couple of scenes that show you can deliver the story and be consistently believable, that should be good enough to get you an agent. Get them edited together with a simple caption at the beginning with your name and basic contact details and you are ready to go.

Wait and See
If the agent you show your scenes to believes you can act then they might be interested in signing you depending on the other business issues they have to consider. Sometimes this might be - how many actors they already have on their books that are similar to you. Agents have a number of business parameters that will influence their choices. It is not just about your capabilities.

The Easy Way
If however you have a few scenes from professional gigs you have had (whether series or a serial or even a commercial) then your task is a lot easier. It is still a good idea to do a rough edit and show it to some one to see that -

• you have the selections in the best order
• that you have picked the best bits
• and that it isn’t too long and/or repetitive
  (The Rehearsal Room does provide that professional service).

Once you have done that you can sign off on the edit and get your DVD copies made.

(The Rehearsal Room is testing out an approach to editing actor’s showreels - if you're interested get in touch.)

December 2007

OTHER READING - "Careers, Agents & Show Reels" - a discussion about the tenacity required to build a career.

Copyright © The Rehearsal Room 2007. All rights Reserved.

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