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Mattafact

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Any producer that ask you for a 'reel', this is how you reply..

"Sound Guys (or Girls) don't have demo reels, we are NOT performers, we are engineers and problem solvers on your set."

Just for kicks one day.. I was thinking of making a demo reel.. I was going to put on it a video showing me hold the boom pole.. "This is me holding the boom pole.. Up.. Now this is me in the rest position... Oh.. look, this is me looking down turning the pot up on the mixer.." Then give it to a producer, while trying to keep a total straight face, and NOT bust up laughing..

-Richard

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"Sound Guys (or Girls) don't have demo reels, we are NOT performers, we are engineers and problem solvers on your set."

Thanks Richard! I've been looking for a response to that question. I've been advised by many not to bother with a reel, since a reel doesn't show how much ADR went into those shots, or how I spotted that air conditioner that nobody else could hear.

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Spend your energy on networking, education, and living life well. IMO that will serve you better in the long run than any "sound reel" will. On the other hand, if you can package your work in a compelling manner, do so, but if you can do that, shoot higher, become a filmmaker not a sound man. Good luck.

CrewC

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As I mentioned in a parallel thread: the stuff people post are not raw production tracks, which we hand off to the production. If we used their production sound tracks (a work for hire that we did) we would be violating "their" copyright, unless we got permission. More importantly, our raw production sound tracks are probably neither compelling nor representative of our contribution to the final mix, just as raw dailies may not represent the project properly.

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  • 1 year later...

I've got two showreels on my website (www.soundrelated.com/showreel). One for narrative based projects (short films,etc.) and one for corporates (TVS, online content, etc.). I do location and post production so the showreels show projects where I've worked in either or both fields.

Although I completely agree with the feelings of most location guys...

"Sound Guys (or Girls) don't have demo reels, we are NOT performers, we are engineers and problem solvers on your set."

...I've also landed a lot of gigs because of my showreels. If people can see what you've worked on they will feel a lot more confident hiring you. Most of the things I've worked on people wont have heard of, so a CV isn't going to mean a whole lot other than "Oh, you seem to have worked on quite a few things".

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"Sound Guys (or Girls) don't have demo reels, we are NOT performers, we are engineers and problem solvers on your set."

...I've also landed a lot of gigs because of my showreels. If people can see what you've worked on they will feel a lot more confident hiring you. Most of the things I've worked on people wont have heard of, so a CV isn't going to mean a whole lot other than "Oh, you seem to have worked on quite a few things".

Joseph,

What microphones did you use to record those lazer blast on your Narrative Showreel?

Do you see the point? While the showreel shows your post-production skills.. it can't show your work as a craft on set.

That being said, I do have a few collections of takes here and there.. But it is really difficult to have the edit house stop what they are doing, to give you a clip here and there..

-Richard

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Wow, that's a new one. Sounds like a gig to turn down...

--S

OK, I got a wierd request yesterday. It wasn't for a demo reel.. It was for a head shot.. FOR MY GEAR! The client wanted extensive photos of my gear.. and the client says, "I don't know anything about sound gear, but I was an actor once, and I know what good gear looks like" Oh boy..

-Richard

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