Our new demo reel (draft)

[Tasty Fish Lips]

I couldn't take anything seriously.

The music is over the top. The intensity of the music (which is the only thing that seems even remotely professional) does not match the low quality of the visual action.

The production value of everything is very low. The acting is not convicning or truthful. It does look like effort and time was put into everything, but the end reult is nothing impressive.

I couldnt tell if I was supposed to take everything seriously or not. The cgi effects were obvious and cheap. The dialogue audio was poor as well. The cinematography was barely competent.

Im sorry I have nothing positive to say, except that it moved along briskly.

As a demo, it doesnt DEMOnstrate any proficiency in your production team's professional ability. It doesn't stand out or separate itslef from the hundreds of other "production companies" that are floating around in cyberspace.

What do you think makes you stand out from everyone else? Who are the potential clients you plan to DEMOnstrate this to? What demographic?

[sn-films]

I recently started trying to put together a demo reel for our production company, and I'm seeking suggestions and feedback. To make life easy for everyone, I have the draft of the reel in both Windows Media and Quicktime format.

</font><ul type="square">[*]<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Demo Reel (Windows Media format ~ 5.6MB)</font>[*]<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Demo Reel (Quicktime format ~ 7.2MB)</font>[/list]<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Thanks in advance for your time.

[somedeadguy]

I was impressed. As Tasty Fish Lips said, it's no Steven Spielberg reel, but I could tell that you did the best with what you have. The effects look great considering you probably made them in premiere or something. I think that for the budget you had, which was probably ten bucks, it's fine.

Don't take fish lips seriously, he always seems to forget that this is a guerilla film maker forum. I'm pleased to see that there are other people out there that aren't afraid to make something that doesn't look like a cinematic release. Thank God.

[miker]

I liked it:

OTT music: check

Muzzle flash: check

Light sabres: check

Violence: check

Blood: check

Lightning: check

Big Red Eyed Monster: check

Dude in a gas mask: check

C'mon, where was the T&A ?!

Visually some of it does look washed out - I would enhance the contrast and saturation and overall colour balance of some of the earlier stuff.

Seemed a tad too long for me. I think you should perhaps have 5 seconds of "here's all our cool stuff" followed by bits of completed scenes (or completed scenes themselves if they are short enough). This does not demonstrate any storytelling technique to me.

[sn-films]

Originally posted by Tasty Fish Lips:
I couldnt tell if I was supposed to take everything seriously or not.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Hmmm... interesting point I hadn't considered. That itself is huge error on my part. Of the clips in the reel, some are from comedies, some are from deliberately camp action stories, and some are meant to be "taken seriously". I guess because of the clips I selected, the pace, and the music, it is difficult to distinguish which is which without knowing the context of the clips. I tried to cut a fun, high-energy reel, but I guess in pursuit of that I created something thats more than a little confusing where clips from comedies feel like they're meant to be taken seriously.

For example, in 'Slaughter Beach' our main character is a David-Hasselhoff-esque lifeguard who has to use the Book of Mormon to trap an evil spirit that is running amok in the quiet beach-front town. With the over-the-top music, I guess it does feel like the silly character is meant to be taken seriously. I'll have to rethink the soundtrack and the way some of the shots are cut togeteher. Thanks for pointing that out.

The cgi effects were obvious and cheap.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">No surprises there. If the f/x were subtle and expensive, I'd hardly hang out in a guerilla film-maker's forum. [img]wink.gif[/img]

The cinematography was barely competent.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Ouch. I thought some of the shots in the old barn were interesting. I guess not.

Who are the potential clients you plan to DEMOnstrate this to? What demographic?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Right now, we're not really actively marketing ourselves as a shop for hire, but its something we've been discussing. In the meantime, we wanted to have a demo reel (would "highlight reel" be a better term?) available for anyone that hits our site so we could show visitors who we are and what we do. Essentially, we like working on fun and entertaining stories that are targeted for the same audience that actively seeks out low-budget horror, as well as those who attend horror and sci-fi conventions. We definitely don't see ourselves as having any kind of appeal whatsoever to the art-house crowd. Down the road, the only services we've considered marketing are script writing/editing, DV and HD editing, and soundtrack authoring, but again that's something we've discussed but we're not aggressively marketing any services yet.

Thanks for your time and comments.

[sn-films]

Originally posted by Sean Moss
I'm pleased to see that there are other people out there that aren't afraid to make something that doesn't look like a cinematic release.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Maybe I should add a tagline at the end - "S&N Films... Making everyone else look good since 2006!" [img]wink.gif[/img]

Originally posted by miker:
C'mon, where was the T&A ?!

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Ooops... another huge miss on my part. Here's something to tide you over until I have the T&A issue addressed.

Originally posted by miker:
I would enhance the contrast and saturation and overall colour balance of some of the earlier stuff.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I'll try mucking around with the codecs and bitrates to see if I can preserve more of the original contrast and saturation while still maintaining a relatively small download.

Originally posted by miker:
I think you should perhaps have 5 seconds of "here's all our cool stuff" followed by bits of completed scenes (or completed scenes themselves if they are short enough).

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I like your suggestion of using bits of completed scenes. That would certainly help put everything into context. I did took a look at some other companies' demo reels ( http://www.demoreelnetwork.com/ ) over the weekend so I think I have a better feel for what you're talking about. Thanks for the feedback.