Desperately Needing Critique of Reel!

Hello!

I'm a young editor, just starting out, and I want to focus on documentary editing. I would be sooo appreciative if you would be so kind to give me some suggestions and/or advice on my reel. They didn't teach us how to make a good reel in film school. Please see the link below.

http://vimeo.com/5063462

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Thank you so much for your feedback! I'm definitely going to take your advice and shorten it up a bit. I really appreciate you taking the time to watch it!

Now it's time to start looking for work.

-Jen

I agree, the open is way to long. I worked for a company that got a stack of over 50 reels for one position. The company I currently work for gets a reel once a month if not more. Bottom line, if each reel was 2 minutes long it would take me a long time to watch each. If it doesn't look promising in the first 20 to 30 seconds I would think that your toast in a lot of cases. Remember, I can always ask for more. Best of luck.




Stephen Smith
Lone Peak Productions

Check out the TV Show Open I did.


Check out my DVD Money Making Graphics & Effects for Final Cut Studio 2

Jen: I'm an old guy (63) who started out cutting film on a Movieola, then moved to linear editing on tape so my 'mentors' were people like Hitchcock. So when you say a "suspenseful encounter with a sluggish bridge and swiftly moving tug boat" I never guessed that was what you were suggesting. As Hitchcock said suspense is showing the 'bomb' under the table about to go off and then the person not knowing what the audience knows about the bomb. So the tug swishing across frame without any reference to it's position with the bridge does not create suspense. With a camera angle that shows the tug approaching and we see in the same frame the bridge not rising, now we have suspense. Will it come up in time? Once we see that establishing shot with the two in the same frame, now the audience understands what the danger is. And once you have this shot the rest can be closer shots of each by themselves. As the two move toward sure disaster the shots are tighter and tighter until the moment is resolved. What I am suggesting is not easy when you do not have access to P.O.V. shots from the tug or one with the bridge in the foreground and the tug approaching. So some ingenuity on your part is required, but then that's what filmmaking is all about and why we find it so rewarding and most of all- FUN! You've done a great job so you should be very pleased with your work so far.
Best of luck to you and watch the films of the forties and fifties-they can teach you a lot about the structure of telling your story.

Mims