My 2011-2012 "Showreel"

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family_vacation

Active member
Hey guys, I just finished up my reel from the last season. It's not a showreel in the traditional sense, it's mostly something I made for myself to look back at the season. I know its longer than anything "potential employers" want to look at and a couple shots could be considered redundant. As a new resident of the Maine woods (aka the middle of nowhere), I'm not worried about that right now.

Anyways, I was hoping that you guys would like to give me some critiques and comments. What works, what doesn't? Is there an area I should work on in the upcoming season?

(And because I liked the way Evan put his old one up for comparison)

2010-2011:

2011-2012:

Thanks a ton guys!
 
i really liked your new one. like you said, kinda more like a season edit of the highlights type video but i enjoyed it. the colors were on point and the framing was much better i thought than your reel from last year. id say for this year maybe work on some more tripod type stuff and keep trying new glidecam styles and techniques
 
I liked your new one a lot better, but at some points it seemed like just another edit, not necessarily a film reel. There were some banger tricks and some beautiful shots in there but it didn't scream "film reel" to me. Over all I loved it though! Keep it up!
 
that was sweet Abe! The colors were on point, they looked perfect. I also really like the different angles you used, a lot of different style shots, different styles of framing. And you said that you aren't too worried about it being used for companies so i think it was really well done.

Stoked to have you filming at Sunday River this year man, should be sick.
 
Big improvement on last years(not that last years wasn't good). Most noticeable thing was how vibrant the blues were(was this intentional?). Looked cool but started to get distracting, mainly cause I was looking out for it. Great shots of shay.
 
Really sick edit Abe, good work. Really liked the colors.

However, it kind of completely lacked a showreel feel imo. First off, the song didn't grab me. It was good, but good in a ski edit kind of way, not for a showreel. Second, you structured the video very similarly to a regular ski edit. Filler/lifestyle shots, then action. You don't need to do this in a showreel. If the action shots are better, show those. If the filler shots are better, show those. But don't feel like you need to set up action shots. Also, the shots around :20 (the cliff shots) are very similar. You should pick your favorite and only show that one.

It was a little awkward how there was sound on some of the shots but not others. I think consistency with sound is very important. Also, it felt like you didn't shoot with the 2.35:1 crop in mind. I think you would have needed wider shots to make it work better. For instance, I really wasn't feeling how there wasn't much context in the shot at :29. More image vertically would have been nice. A lot of the rail shots felt this way too.

Going back to the consistency thing, it felt strange how some shots included landings, and others didn't. It left me feeling like I didn't know if I was supposed to be focusing on the tricks (like you would in an edit), or the shots (like in a showreel). This is especially true on a shot like the one at :53. What is special about that shot? Technically it's not a difficult shot and is far from one of your best, so there is no reason to include it in a showreel. Same with the shot at :59. I feel like you got a little caught up focusing on which shots have the best tricks, and not which shots are the best technically/artistically. At 1:05 you had the same thing going on. By the time he is coming around to 7 from 5, we get the idea of the shot; there is no need to show the entire rest of the trick. Move on.

I could point out these similar themes throughout the rest of the edit, but I won't. I know that it's a lot of criticism, but I didn't see many other people criticizing it and felt some things should be pointed out. I really did enjoy the edit, and hopefully that critique will help you out with future showreels.

 
Define woods, I'm in maine, I can literally see a billion trees when I look out the window, and I don't consider myself to live in the woods.
 
Exactly the sort of post I was hoping for. Thanks!

I guess they hybrid edit/showreel setup feel didn't work for you. I figured that not worrying about keeping it concise and ideal for job hunting would allow me to include all my friends. I was almost aiming put together a fun video of the whole crew's season. I probably should have picked a more concrete goal for the video. If I did not include "showreel" in the title, would that have made it a new ball game for you?
 
Yeah definitely. I know you acknowledged that in the title, but it still felt a little misleading. Something along the lines of "season highlights" would be more accurate, although that specific title makes it sound like you are the skier.
 
Once again Abe, I am mindblown.

You have talent with a camera that will last you a lifetime. It's great to see this, and how you've progressed over the year.
 
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