Bricks in Motion
We are a friendly filmmaking community devoted to the art of stop-motion animation using LEGO® and similar construction toys. Here, you can share your work, join our community of other brickfilmers, and participate in periodic animation contests!
A place to discuss, share, and create stop motion films.
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A demo reel is a great summary of your work, so we don't we share ours here?
I'll start with mine, filled with everything I did in 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBou7jc37LA
Interesting stuff you got there. There's nothing for me to show yet, though I do like this idea because demo reels are fun to watch and nothing is better than binge watching on reels.
A demo reel is a great summary of your work
However, do disagree with your definition of demo reels.
A demo reel (AKA demo tape, demo disc, show reel, etc) is a video or audio presentation designed to showcase your talents to a potential employer. The idea is that the employer can see what you are capable of based on the examples you have supplied.
So say, if I made a 2012 reel, but everything I made until July were not as good as the August and beyond content, I wouldn't show any pre-July stuff in my reel. I would also try and avoid making demo reels based on yearly content but rather update my reel by removing the worst bits and adding new (if good) bits.
This is my reel I updated in January, one thing that is nice to try to do is cut the reel together in a way that shows you are also capable of editing, and if you can turn unrelated clips into a coheasive reel that helps make things look better.
I agree with what KD and Sloth have said. I attempted to use shots that actually go back-to-back in films in order to show how the shots fit in context instead of being cool in a random order (even though it kinda is random). Making a reel is a learning experience for sure.
My reel: https://vimeo.com/104562343 (password is: motion)
Wow. Awesome reels everyone. So I just had a few questions if that is alright to post them here (they are related to demo reels of course). First off, would you guys recommend putting in test footage that you feel came out really good, or should I just stick to putting footage from completed films in the reel? Also, what type of music do you feel is the best to put in a demo reel? I mean obviously I won't just grab the song that is at the top of the charts right now, as it will be irrelevant in a couple weeks. But is a song with prominent vocals alright for a reel? Or does it distract too much from your work? Lastly, how long should the reel be? I mean obviously five minutes is too long, but where is the true point of ending it? Thanks for taking the time to read my extremely long-winded post. But I feel like these questions are important for all brickfilmers to consider (or just animators and filmmakers in general) when it comes to showcasing their work.
If the test footage is really good, you can include it. However, (and I'm stealing this advice from Smeagol here) if on a scale of 1 - 10, the footage is a 5, but you know you have more footage that's a 6, leave out the 5 and include ONLY the best. No need to clutter up the reel with mediocre work if it's not really really good (now, some tests are super good, some even better than features, and I included a test in my reel because I felt it belonged. It depends on how it looks and if it's quality work. You made it, so feel free to add it.)
As for music, just pick something upbeat that you like. I'm unsure about vocals, I think they probably take away from the work.
As for length of a reel, it should be about 2 minutes, max. Always put your best work first, because most people won't stay for the ending (which is why you keep it short and sweet).
Thanks for the advice rioforce. 
Also, what type of music do you feel is the best to put in a demo reel? I mean obviously I won't just grab the song that is at the top of the charts right now, as it will be irrelevant in a couple weeks. But is a song with prominent vocals alright for a reel? Or does it distract too much from your work?
I'm just gonna go ahead and quote Andrew Price from blenderguru.com.
Music Doesn’t Matter – I didn’t believe it when I first heard it, but it’s true. 9 times out of 10 your employer will mute your reel. Include music if you want, but don’t waste time trying to find the “perfect” track.
Taken from this article about making a successful demoreel.
Thanks again for more advice bataton.
Here is my Demo reel:https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2r4RD … sp=sharing
Andrew Price wrote:Music Doesn’t Matter – I didn’t believe it when I first heard it, but it’s true. 9 times out of 10 your employer will mute your reel. Include music if you want, but don’t waste time trying to find the “perfect” track.
Not to clog up the topic with this discussion, but while that statement is true for employers, for casual watching on YouTube or something, it's best to have music to make it interesting and worthwhile to watch. Having good music helps you to line up some of the clips on a beat. It keeps the pace of your reel relatively consistent.
That's fantastic. I noticed that I hadn't subscribed to you. I just fixed that 
Here's my reel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYY4FFqaIjw
Here's mine !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q8HQBQboDI
Well, that's my stopmotion demoreel, there aren't only brickfilms... but you'll find a lot of LEGO there !
Last edited by iguana (March 21, 2016 (12:50am))
BUMP: I've been working on my demo reel recently and was wondering if anyone had feedback for what I've made so far. Thanks in advance!
By the way, your demo reel is awesome, iguana, and I definitely looked at it for inspiration while I was working on mine.
I love the match cuts there twickabrick. The whole thing is pretty good, though I feel like it ends somewhat abruptly.
Twickabrick, I think it's pretty good overall as well. Like Cloniac, I think that it ends a bit too abruptly. I think perhaps some of the live action shots would do a bit better if replaced with animation, because the animation is so strong. Obviously it's really subjective, and if you see mine...well...who am I to talk, but I felt as if that may have helped make the reel as a whole just a little bit stronger. I liked the pacing with the music a lot, and I think that worked really well.
I had to put together a demo reel to submit with college applications earlier this year, and it just seemed good to have one for general purposes. It's definitely got some flaws, but I think it shows a pretty good variety of different things I've done.
Thanks for the feedback! I didn't really notice the abrupt ending, but I'll try to fix that. The main reason I tried to put live action stuff in there was because all my stop motion stuff so far is so low-res. I think I might just need to make the thing shorter, though, because that way I can just use the very best of the live action and stop motion.
Nice job on your reel, JohnDthunDer!
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