cinematography My new visual reel, please take a look and tell me what you think :)
- Thread starter trijodthyronin
- Start date
a DP, which can illustrate a story by right visuals, even better. If one shoots a romantic movie, and if DP can back up the theme by great romantic visuals, that's very important. What's use of DP, who have great diversity of visual styles, but can't choose a right one for right shot? So, definitely there are "gritty", "romantic", "dreamy" visuals, and I would recommend to make stylized thematic reels to advance that "style" with an appropriate story and music. Producer, who wants to hire DP, will be even more impressed.
Suppose, I want to hire someone to shoot a mystery. Yes, I may see the simple compilation above, which shows different styles in a non-systematic way, so what? I will have to see what shots suit me most and search for them among many many shots. Instead, if OP already has "mystery" reel, i just watch it, it already has all the mystery shots, some kind of tension, I don't know, but all the right shots and styles already grouped and it will immediately allow me to think how this DP can shoot my movie.
The key, imho, is that plain diversity is not itself an big advantage. Many people can shoot in various styles. The most important is artistic application of a particular visual style to a particular shot/theme, imho.
Of course, a compilation of shots is also OK, which we already discussed.
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In my opinion, good DP shouldn’t have specific style, because DP has to be able to adapt to any story and see whats best for each story. Sometimes it is pure realism, sometimes it is hyper stylization.
When I look at a DPs reel I am looking at the visuals. ONLY. I am hiring them as DP. The music makes it easy to watch and there certainly does not need to be any storytelling through the visuals. That might even take away from the visuals. Now, they are part of a story so you are concentrating on that... no.
Perhaps I phrased myself wrong. I am not saying that DP should shoot a whole movie to showcase his abilities, I am just saying a visual reel based on one theme/story is a better illustration. It is a portfolio presentation, so there could be many ways. For example, "mystery" reel - a man is walking in an empty dark house. There is a sequence of shots showing him opening doors, checking rooms, finally finding a map etc. This showcases how DP can select angles, lenses and camera techniques to strengthen the impression (in various shots). And yes, thats' a simple story.
Romantic "reel". A couple walking on a street, smiling, holding hands, finally kissing. 20 second. A brief story allows for various romantic or dreamy shots. Again, a more applied type of reel. That's just my opinion, so of course, OP can do as she prefers, no problems.
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Stonejack is the outlier here, dont get caught up in internet arguments.
No one thinks a DP is gonna show up and take it upon themselves to turn your romantic comedy into a sin city aesthetic
Not unless they only work in that style.
We are far apart on this. Neither of us is wrong.
A DP reel that is based on one theme/story isn't what I look for as a director.
That's writing and editing.
Since what YOU look for is a theme/story in a reel I understand your suggestions
in this thread. In my experience most directors are looking for visual style and
diversity when looking at a DP's reel. I know I am.
But of course, each DP naturally cling to some style.
I think that we are talking about different things here.
You say that you would select a DP based on his reels and shots, not story behind it. And I fully agree with that - what I am saying, that a thematic reel would present those shots better. Of course, we are not looking for a story or editing, I am talking about possibility of grouping the similar themed shots in one reel. I see nothing wrong with the grouping of similar them in one reel, and making different styled another reel, etc, all with different styles. It is a just a matter of presentation. If you mix and cut them all together, which is simple and fine, you get the original compilation. If you group them by themes, you get 6 different reels (OP said she selected from 6 movies). At the end, all are same shots.
You say that you would select a DP based on his reels and shots, not story behind it. And I fully agree with that - what I am saying, that a thematic reel would present those shots better. Of course, we are not looking for a story or editing, I am talking about possibility of grouping the similar themed shots in one reel. I see nothing wrong with the grouping of similar them in one reel, and making different styled another reel, etc, all with different styles. It is a just a matter of presentation. If you mix and cut them all together, which is simple and fine, you get the original compilation. If you group them by themes, you get 6 different reels (OP said she selected from 6 movies). At the end, all are same shots.
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I have 20 DPs that are up for consideration... i will watch ONE REEL each, thats it.
No way I am gonna watch more than one reel from the same DP
As far as I understand, the original compilation is actually made of shots of created movies. And they all had varying styles, probably (one had family shots, another had a group of young people exploring something in darkness, etc). She could just make compilation of shots from each movie in one group, that in my opinion, would better showcase her abilities for a particular genre. But, yes, mixing them all together works too. Simpler too, I guess and takes less space on Youtube
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Actually, all those 6 reels could be compiled together into a one reel, just like the original one. Only placement of shots will be different
anyway, OP wanted an opinion on her reel, I shared mine, hopefully didn't result in something wrong.
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"Hey I love your reel. The noir stuff you did is exactly what I am looking for. Can you tell me all the films you did in noir so I can watch them?" Done.
EVEN IF it's a noir-only reel, you still want to see more sometimes. Genre or thematic reels is asking A LOT... work, cost, and you are limiting your audience. Plus you don't get to show them how (potentially) amazing you are with all styles. You could wow them in a totally different style.
EVEN IF it's a noir-only reel, you still want to see more sometimes. Genre or thematic reels is asking A LOT... work, cost, and you are limiting your audience. Plus you don't get to show them how (potentially) amazing you are with all styles. You could wow them in a totally different style.