Jumping into the freelance world? +demo reel critique

M

Merrill

Member
Hey guys, i have been doing video stuff for a couple of years now and I am hoping to start finding some paying gigs. I am wondering how you guys got your start in the paid video world? I also just finished up my 1st draft of my demo reel. I would love to hear what you guys think!

2013 Demo Reel from Matthew Merrill on Vimeo.

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Password: 2013 demo reel
 
I'm not sure how to find gigs but I did really enjoy this edit. The quality was great. what camera did you use? Lens? Editing software? The affects were great, I liked the very first shot. The smoke affect made the video look real professional.
 
Hey man, I think your reel looks pretty dec, but as someone who's been freelancing for years, I think that you should also have content that shows your storytelling abilities. A huge amount of what I do is take semi- boring footage and turn it into an exciting story through editing. Being able to operate a camera and get good shots is obviously a big part of it, but the creative storytelling side is what's really valuable and marketable. My 2cents.
 
I do mostly freelance web design, so I can't help too much with the particular video stuff. But, the best way to get freelance work is by networking and having a strong portfolio of "client work" to back you. To start, you should see if you have friends or family that are in need of video and offer to do it for a really fair rate, basically just to cover your expenses. If you're charging close to what someone with 4 years of professional experience and a solid portfolio of client work has, you'll have a hard time getting a project. Even 2-3 projects will help you out a lot. Then when you're out talking to people, bring business cards along, so if someone mentions needing a video for their startup or whatever, you're ready to go, they look at your work, and they're like lets work out a deal and boom.
 
I really liked it! Good footage, especially with the limited lens setup you have. One thing that stood out to me was the shot at :23 of the kid driving, it didnt seem to fit. Personally, I would just cut that out. Also the music ends abruptly, then starts again, not a big problem but it stood out to me. Just my opinion though, do what you think is best. Also, I reccomend making business cards with your website (or vimeo) and contact info, and always keep some on you, or at least in your camera bag. You never know when it will come up in conversation. Its hard for someone to remember a website name or your email, plus having a card makes you look more professional. Good luck man!
 
word of mouth... do the best work possible with your first gig and word will go out and your now making money.
 
Awesome reel awesome vibe. the boxing shot looks like its played back at more than 24fps? fix that maybe.
 
I mean it was an edit of normal shots any joe schmo could do? You need to separate yourself somehow.
 
Thanks for the opinion. Do you mean i need to develop more of a personal style? I am also wondering if I should try to spice up the editing a bit rather than just having mostly raw shot after raw shot?
 
Excuse my drunk post

Personal flare is key though. Show them extraordinary things. Having a variety of shots is good and that will possibly land you some gigs too but some clients will say "why should I hire you when I could do that myself" kinda bullshit so you gotta show them your worth, get what I'm saying?
 
Shot of the kid in the car, then the shot of the kid smoking were both too long IMO. Especially the smoking one.

Shot at 1:00 is cool. Ending is a bit weird where the music cuts and then comes back but it's cheesy at that point.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys. I reuploaded my second draft on the same link. I swapped out a few shots and readjusted some of the timing. I'm not sure if I want to leave the shot of the goop crawling off the plate because I messed up on the effect a little bit, what do you guys think of it? I put it in to give the reel more variety. I also accidentally messed up the colors on the moto whip shot so I will fix that.
 
Im not sure if it was an accident but you have some of your shots cropped and then some aren't.

If it was on purpose I'd probably change it, it sort of drew my attention from the shots.

Other than that the shots you had seemed fine and the video kept my attention throughout.
 
Having only watched it once through on my phone my biggest complaint would be the shot with the stuff moving off the plate. I thought it looked really tacky and I would just cut it out personally.
 
Some of the shots were designed to be used with crops and others were designed to be shown 16:9 so I just decided to use each one how it was originally intended.
 
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