Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
One-way trip to the land of no return
Unfortunately, many people who want to spend their life creating new worlds never even
get an interview. Most likely, that's because there is something about their demo reel that
bars the way. What says that a reel has gone down the wrong path?
It's my world and welcome to it. Everyone has private fantasies, whether it be
winning the Indy 500, meeting Prince Charming, or feeling The Force. And it's
OK to express those in your reel now and then. But there is a difference between a
mild interest and an obsession. When everything in a reel centers on one era, one
object category—like unicorns, busty maidens, or weapons—or one fantasy world,
that reel is history. And that is true even when the work is technically impressive.
Mono-topic reels imply unsophisticated, uncreative thinking.
It's like World of Warcraft, only better. Well, probably not. Some aspiring game- or
movie-makers interpret the idea of customizing their reel for a potential employer to
mean that they should slavishly copy a company's style and story. That company
probably has plenty of people with years of experience who have that style nailed.
They are looking for something that they have not seen done before, to help them
develop the next great thing .
Draw? Someone else will do that! Many aspiring game designers assume that a
game company will only look at their game mechanics, so they use stock art and
videos to illustrate their work. If aspiring gamers were in short supply, that
assumption might be true. But in the real competitive world, few people looking
at a game reel will sit through bad graphics to figure out whether or not the devel-
oper understands gameplay. If the idea is good enough to put on a professional
reel, it is good enough to find an illustrator or animator to partner with first .
I want to make you think. Film and video reels, particularly those from fairly young
practitioners, can be filled with artistic slow moments with ambiguous cinematogra-
phy. In the kind of environment in which most reels are reviewed, abstractions are
wasted. Each short clip in a film reel should communicate its purpose clearly, with
good storytelling and sharp editing.
Canned? Sweet! Showing a cool effect can be nice, but only if you created it from
scratch. If it's a canned effect that merely shows that you know how to use an appli-
cation, don't highlight it. No one wants to watch a software demo on a portfolio
reel. Accomplished professionals are very aware of the plug-ins for major software
packages, from Adobe Photoshop to Autodesk 3ds Max. Drawing attention to a pre-
made filter or effect may devalue your reel.
Search WWH ::




Custom Search