What Makes a Good Portfolio/Showreel?
Although having a showreel or a portfolio is not always necessary when applying for a job, it is always better to have one no matter the circumstances. Basically, it comes down to the well known saying: “Actions speak louder than words” which we will loosely translate to showing is better than saying. When applying for a job you will tell the company or person you want to hire you all of your skills to make sure they know you will fit the position so instead of just saying why not show them too. By submitting a showreel/portfolio along with those words.
Main Aspects
Open strong:
It is best to have your best pieces of work at the start as you want to catch the viewers eye in the first few seconds. Although you want to have the showreel/portfolio packed with only good pieces of work, it is vital that you have the most of your eye-catching pieces at the start. It could also depend on the job your going for, having your work that most relates to the position you are applying for at the front. Also having your best work at the start could positively influence the viewer on later pieces that are possibly not up to the same standard.
Exit Stronger:
As I stated earlier you want to have most of your impressive and eye-catching pieces of work at the start, you want to have your best 1 or 2 pieces at the end as that’s what the viewer is most likely to remember as it will be what leaves the last impression on them.
Quality over quantity:
A good showreel/portfolio is extremely dependant on the content and your area of expertise in the creative industries, but the main aspect is “quality over quantity”. You want to have your better finished pieces of work and try to stay away from prototypes and development pieces. Viewers would rather experience the best of the best.
Standing Out:
Making your showreel/portfolio stand out to the viewer is more likely to make them remember yours specifically. Contradictory to what you will be thinking video editing skills are not completely necessary for a showreel/portfolio to stand out. More things that will help you are:
Try not to specialise completely:
Always remember that employers would rather hire someone with multiple skills, rather than someone that specialises in one area, although you are will most likely be applying for a specific job with one specialised area its always better to show that you can do more than just what you are applying for.
Simplistic editing:
You do not have to be amazing at video editing to make your showreel stand out, you just need to know enough to make it flow well and look professional. The last thing you want to do when editing your showreel is throw in a bunch of tacky looking transitions that will completely put the viewer off no matter how good your work is.
Engaging duration:
The perfect duration for your showreel is 30 seconds to 1 minute but you want to stay as close as you can to a minute as to make sure the viewer doesn’t lose interest and you can still get your best pieces of work in.
Laughs and Smiles:
Lastly making the viewer laugh or even smile will leave a lasting impression on them, which to go along with a good showreel means they will be more likely to remember yours, ultimately giving you a better chance.
An example of my own showreel can be found below
To conclude this section, showreels require thought and the previous spoke about topics above in order to be successful, that is not to say these are the only aspects that will help you create a good showreel, however, they are the main ones that you should follow every time you create one. Follow these topics and you will have an effective showreel that will be sure to catch the viewers eye and hopefully gain you the job/position you are applying for.
Some tips for creating a showreel are given in this video
Some tips for creating a portfolio are given in this video
