#Got my first Demo Reel!

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

twin urchin
indigo wharf
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I'm a little too busy at the moment to sit down and give exact feedback, but just by the timing of the demo reel alone this should be split into two ... demo reels are typically 60 seconds long. Did someone make this for you or is it a DIY?

bright dirge
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Doin' b-day stuff. But for when I do get around to it, what are your goals for this? What are you looking to book/showcase? Is there something you're particularly concerned about getting feedback on? Who/where are you looking to send this to? What's your performance background?

twin urchin
twin urchin
bright dirge
bright dirge
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1/2 To start, I agree, the length is beyond what most casting personnel are willing to sit through, ideally 60 seconds (though some will take a chance on ones that veer closer to 80/90). What makes this tougher is that every segment lingers longer than it earns. Something that happens a lot, especially with first demos, is that people create them assuming, either consciously or subconsciously, that their listeners, because they're 'strangers', need everything spelled out in writing and exaggerated in performance to make sure they get it. However, if you're planning on sending this to agents, rosters, casting personnel, that means that your audience is experienced, and doesn't need their hand held. There's power in nuance, there's power in subtlety. You aren't pitching yourself to people who need convincing. You are demonstrating your ability to contribute efficiently to an already-running machine. Any segment that has to explicitly describe the context to the listener, or play up the performance for it to come through clearly, is failing, and doesn’t need to be there. Unless it serves a specific purpose within the scene, (e.g. a character of higher status/proximity naturally would have more information to share, and sharing/not sharing could benefit/jeopardize their own goals) I'd avoid unnecessary exposition.

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2/2 Tying in to that, each of these has a clear 'beginning, middle, end' structure, even the ones meant to be in the middle of a situation, and it disengages a listener. Not that that can't be done, but it's unnecessary. Even something as simple as: "No- No! Hannah, stay awake, please, just look at me..." Makes it immediately clear what the stakes, urgency, and relationship are, and how they feel about the situation. A good way to think about it is; a solid demo feels like your handshake, where this feels almost like an audition, closer to a business card.

A business card is something you give to say: “Don’t forget me. Please reach out.”

A handshake doesn’t ask for anything. It says: “We may not have met yet, but I'm where you need me to be. We’re already in the same space.”

On paper, both give impressions of 'you', but in practice, each gives a separate impression of two very different 'you's. The real one, the person, who exists alongside others and the one you put on in industry circles to seem capable.

Basically, demos demonstrate fluency, not prove competence. Its true that a demo shows you at your 'best', but that comes with common misconception of its own. A great demo doesn’t look to convince the listener that you can act—it assumes that and instead shows how effortlessly you can drop into a scene and support a story already in motion.