Is Your Demo Reel Helping or Hurting You?

Every actor I know is constantly talking about the need to get tape on themselves, so they can put together a demo reel.  They say things like: "Hey, lets go shoot that scene from that super famous play we did in class that everyone said was really good" or "Tape me doing this monologue in front of my curtains."  Okay, so maybe they don't actually say those things, but if you look at their demo reels you'd think that they had said that at one point.

Yes, it can be very helpful to have a demo reel.  It can help you get an agent and it does put you to the top of the list for submissions on the Breakdowns.  But, having a bad demo reel is much worse than not having one at all.  In my agency and at casting offices, I've seen actors not get a meeting because of a bad demo reel.  The following tips are things I have heard directly from casting directors and agents.

First of all, just because you have tape of yourself acting doesn't mean you need to put it on your reel.  Let's be honest lots of those student films and webisodes you did, don't always look great.  Even if your acting is stellar, poor production value will distract anyone watching it and reflect poorly on you.

When choosing footage for your reel here are a few hints that will make you look good:

1. Do you have professional footage from a professional set?  One thing casting is looking for in your reel is: can you act effectively in all the craziness that is a professional set.  In their mind this will help to ensure that you will not make them look bad if you get the part, that you know how to handle yourself professionally.  In Hollywood, most people don't want to be the person that takes a chance on a newbie and gets burned by it, so that's why they want evidence of your credits.
2. Is there someone famous in your scene?  It seems very silly, but if you have a scene with someone recognizable, even if you just have one or two lines, make this scene one of the first ones on your reel.  It shows that you can hold your own with someone considered very good, it shows that someone trusted you to have this scene with  this person, and if the viewer likes this famous actor then some of that may rub off on how they think about you.
3. Do you have very, very, very good looking non-professional footage?  Of course, there are some short films that you've done that look really nice.  The lighting is nice, the shots are professional, and there is even a score.  All of that will help sell you.

Now that you've chosen your footage; here are some other basic rules about demo reels.

1. The length of your demo should be between 2 and 3 minutes.  A good length is about 2 minutes and 15 seconds.  The truth is that most people won't watch the whole thing, if you're lucky they'll get all the way through the first minute.
2. Since most people only watch the first minute, make sure your best stuff is at the beginning.  I recommend starting with any scene with a famous actor, then professional stuff, and ending with the amateur work.
3. Start with you.  Even if the other actor is famous or if they have the first line in the scene, always start with the camera angle that is on you.  This way they know who they are supposed to be looking at and you are highlighted.
4. The scenes in your demo reel don't have to make sense.  No one is watching for context, they are watching to see your acting ability.  So, cut as much of the scene that the camera is not on you as possible.  Don't cut the other people out completely, just make sure you are the focus. 
5. Don't waste time with pictures of you.  It's an annoying trend I've noticed where people feel the need to spend the first 20 seconds of their reel as a montage of pictures of themselves set to music.  It is just wasting the viewer's time and now they are probably going to spend less time watching your actual footage.  If they wanted to see a picture of you they would look at your headshot.
6. It is appropriate to have your headshot at the beginning with your name and contact info that you display for 3 seconds.  It's not too long, but it's long enough for them to read.
7. Montages in general have no place in your demo reel.  We don't need to see you playing basketball or knitting or running.  Any of that sort of thing is what your "Special Skills" section of your resume is for.  If you do have an extreme special skill like Parkour or Belly Dancing, then I recommend having a separate tape of just that.
8. Post your reel on Vimeo or YouTube so they don't have to download it.  That way they can just watch it streaming.
9. If you are posting your demo on Actor's Access or the Breakdowns, I recommend breaking it up into individual scenes.  That way when submitting to casting you can be specific in what video would be right.  Plus, it costs the same, the charge is only for the amount of time not the number of clips.
10. In general avoid anything that seems fancy or artsy.  Casting just wants to see you and if you can act, not how skillful your editor is.

Editing your own demo reel is not that difficult.  If you have Final Cut or even just iMovie, you can put it together easily.  I just fiddled around with the software til I figured it out.

Wanna check out my demo reel?  Check it out here:  Michelle's Demo Reel