Demo Reels for Film?
Do you really need one? If you have a large amount of professional footage, how do you edit that together? What if you don’t have a lot of professional footage to feature? What does casting want? Break it all down with us in today’s blog!
*For today’s purposes, we’ll just talk about reels for film/TV actors. Keep an eye out for a future blog on how Voiceover demo reels should work (and whether you can create one yourself).
What is a Demo Reel for film actors?
Let’s start out with the basics! A demo reel is a video compilation of your work as an actor to give casting, producers, and directors a quick look at your talents and abilities. It should be an accurate portrayal of who you are as an actor—your talent, professionalism, and experience. Think of it like a trailer for a movie you want to draw people in to watch, except this time the movie is you and your acting!
What should your demo reel include?
Your reel should not be super long, no more than two to three minutes. Just 20-30 seconds from each project or scene you’d like to include is enough. Truthfully, casting may not even watch more than a minute of it. With that in mind, put your best foot forward and showcase the performances you find most exceptional or enticing first. If you’ve done bigger projects with well-known actors, that needs to be the first thing casting sees. Make sure to add a small line of text at the bottom with the project's name so your work is easily identifiable. And don’t forget to keep your acting reel up-to-date! It’s totally okay to swap out scenes as you get better and work on bigger and better sets.
It’s important to showcase a variety of roles and scenes across genres to show your range. Some actors even split up their demo reels, with one main reel highlighting of all their work, then making additional reels for comedy, drama, etc. if they’ve got enough footage. It can definitely help when you’re submitting for specific projects! Check that your name, headshot, website if you have it, and contact info (or your representation’s contact info) is included in the reel!
Make sure that your reel is also edited together well! If you aren’t very familiar with editing, it can be a good investment to hire an editor to help you piece it all together, making it super polished and engaging!
What to do when you don’t have enough footage from projects…
If you don’t have enough professional footage, don’t worry! Everyone has to start somewhere. There are a few different options you can pursue.
Use a professional reel service.
If you have the resources, a professionally done demo reel can’t hurt, especially with a reputable company. They can write scripts just for you that fit the roles you want to do, to showcase your acting. You don’t have to wait months for the footage to come back (just to find out you don’t like it) as you might on indie or student film sets. However, they can be very expensive, so it’s only worth it if you have the money to invest and you’re happy with the content you’re filming.
Get involved in student films.
Working on student films is a great way to get on set and gain more footage. They’re often on casting websites, or even have open casting calls on Facebook groups for the school. Since they have access to high-quality equipment, the footage you’re getting will have a more professional look! However, student films are just that—made by students. Occasionally the writing or the way the project is filmed will evidently be at a lower level, so you might not be happy with the footage you receive. It can also take a while to get the footage back if they take a long time to edit or simply decide not to complete the assignment.
Make your own scenes or use self-tapes.
There is nothing wrong with using a self-tape or a good scene at home, as long as the lighting & quality aren’t distracting from your work. Casting knows that everyone has to start somewhere. Even more experienced, working actors use self-tapes at times, just because it’s such an unfiltered view of your abilities. A really well-done self-tape can work just as well as a full demo reel if it shows off acting that feels grounded, spontaneous, and captivating.
The Bottom Line: A Demo Reel is very important… when you’re ready.
It’s not worth creating a full demo reel of your acting or paying for a full professional demo reel service if have just started your acting journey and you aren’t settled in your skills yet. Your reel needs to showcase your best work, so that casting wants to call you in and work with you. You grow so fast in your first few months of training, which is super exciting! But you don’t want to invest a lot of time or money into a demo reel that you’ll completely outgrow in 6 months. For now, a good self-tape or two is enough to work with until you’ve got a strong acting foundation and you find yourself more frequently auditioning. Then you can start looking into whether you’d like to invest in professionally produced footage.
At the end of the day, what matters most is the casting can clearly see your talents and acting capabilities, whether that’s demonstrated in a full professional reel OR a few nice self tapes.