Showreel Research

Showreel research

A showreel is a product showcasing the work of someone in their chosen profession for example cinematographer would show all the films shots they have worked on.

This showreel shows us all of Will Sutton’s work in film-making, including videos of photoshoots and parkour videos. The reason I chose to talk about this reel is that it’s the style of shots and the ordering of shots he uses that I find interesting.

In it he uses interesting shots and camera angles, for example, there is a section where a man is doing some parkour and the camera goes around him, I thought that shot was interesting because it made the video more three-dimensional. He also used a selection of colors and shades for example he went from using bright and formal colors to using quite dark and dramatic, then went to black-and-white. The shots also didn’t have many transitions (fades/wipes), they were normally back-to-back shots. There was one sequence however where there were multiple shots that went in the order of fast-slow-fast which is an interesting technique as it lets the viewer take what’s happening on screen in.

The music he used in the reel went from quite simple then built up then built up even more than faded as it reached its conclusion. It didn’t have any lyrics included except for the choir in the background. This seems to be a common factor in other reels which seems the obvious choice as to what my music should be like in my showreel. It was also quite percussive and had a high tempo right from the beginning, which I think is interesting because it gets the viewer hyped for what they’re about to see. 

Compared to the other reels this one stands out more as its all the artist own work and not some programme used like in the others. He planned and got those shots himself which shows his integrity and his love of his expertise, which is important as shots where he wasn’t actually that bothered about probably wouldn’t look good.

I will use the music and shots as inspiration for my showreel as they are what struck me most about the video. Also, the content of the shots was also a main factor in me liking the video, the shot I paused on in the the image above, for example, is dramatic and makes me want to know what he’s doing and why, which I think is an important task for a filmmaker.

In the reel he also made the most seemingly dull or everyday things seem different which is interesting as it's fascinating to see everything to come together in this fantastical way. For example, there was a shot where a man backflipped over a fence and started golfing with his friends, this was unusual and surreal it shows that this person can make the almost most lackluster aspect of life and make it intriguing and eye-catching. There was also a shot of a hoverboard and the way he brought it into shot was with a glitch-like effect and then panned around it, which I think is attractive because it excites you for what you’re about to see.

In this reel it shows viewers the Graphic capabilities of Houdini Studio, which has been used in films such as toy story 4, Venom and Shazam. As you can see by the image above it is extremely realistic and (after seeing the video) a highly complex process in making.

The shots used are dramatic and very intense, for example there is one shot which I remember most where a character is going under a tentacle. The reason I remember it the most is because of the surrealism and because of how real it looked. It also detailed how they actually went about editing this which is cool as you can see how shots looked before and after editing and the improvement of the shot. It also goes from Indie films it’s been used on to the higher budget films.

The color scheme was quite unbalanced in the video, as in there was no set pattern as to a color scheme which was interesting as I think the music would have worked well with a darker tone to begin with then a color then back to a darker.

The music in this was more dramatic than Sutton’s. The music also is in time with the clips which are an interesting technique which I will take inspiration from as I think it could work with the chosen clips from projects I have done.

The shots they used to showcase their work was very defined, as they were imaginative and worked well out of context as well as in. They were also very unique as they used colors to their advantage for example in the tentacle shot the tentacle would have been purple but because of the darkness in the room it was very obscurely shaded and only the light of the window could tell you it was purple.

This reel made me have true respect for VFX artists and that’s an important effect to have on people as that will earn you credit from other people and possibly from future filmmakers who will see this work and go “they know what they’re doing, they could benefit me and I could also benefit them with more experience and something else to put on their showreel if the end product is good enough.”

This show-reel appealed to me straight away just because of the films they have used: Shazam, Lion King and detective Pikachu to name a few. And the shots used are very powerful and very realistic and what they’ve done is very interesting because they’ve shown films that everyone knows and has probably gone to see so in using them they’ve shown that they’ve worked on that and companies will see this and go “oh they worked on this, they must be good.” Which will be both better for them and for the company.

The music used was again very dramatic and intense and the shots they’ve selected are quite action-packed so it works really well with that, which I will take inspiration from as I like that technique and the effect it created.

The shots it used also helped sell the company as it seemed realistic but also staying to that fantastical element the film will have wanted.

The reel didn’t really use a color scheme as such, it just flowed from one film to the next. There were no filters or special transitions which also seems to be a common component of a showreel.  From this fact and as the previous reel didn’t use a scheme I can tell that color schemes aren’t that important in showreels however they are important in the context of the films. There is also no talking in any of the reels, except for Sutton’s reel but only to introduce the reel.