American Cinematographer - December 2000 - 96

The Reel Deal
cameramen is not necessarily excit¬
ing to the people hiring us."
Schneider concurs, noting,
"You hear stories about the opening

of someone's reel, and it's

a

shot of a

girl getting on a bus and the doors
closing. Your reaction is, 'What was
that about?' They then tell you, 'It
was
daytime shot that we did at
night! Didn't it look like daytime?' A
reel is as much about developing an
ability to see yourself - to see your
own work from a critical point of
view
as it is a representation of
your work. People talk about being
your own worst critic, and that's
what you have to become. But that
only develops over time, as you
progress as a cinematographer. You
can't give someone an aesthetic -
it's common sense, and you can't
teach that to someone who's just
starting out. He has to learn it for
-

himself.
"One

interesting thing that
happen to me," he continues,
"was that I would put a reel together
and take it to an interview. Invariably,
there would always be one spot or a
little piece that would start to make
me cringe. As soon as you show your
work to somebody in a important or
meaningful scenario, you suddenly
have a totally different view of your
reel. [I recommend that you] put
together an offline, sit down with
used

to

friends and

test

the reel."

Dallesandro says what gets
him interested in a reel is the work
itself.

"Ultimately, what I want to see
is the best work, and that's it. Don't
something on just to put it on,
saying, 'I don't have any great night¬
time exteriors, so I put this on.' If
your nighttime exterior work is
absolutely amazing and as good as
everything else on your reel, put it
on. Diversity is great if everything is
put

slammin'."
What to include?

94 December 2000

individual is

Just
different,

so

However,

by knowing the market¬

as

every

is every demo reel.

independent features or documen¬
you can apply some general

have five videos you're proud of
reel. At
your present stage, the work may not
have a lot of production design, and

rules of thumb.

no one

place you're targeting

-

be it the

commercial/music-video

arena,

taries

-

The

question of whether to
use a
montage of images on a reel
garnered the most polarized
responses. Love them or hate them,
montages are often the only resort
for beginning cinematographers
with varied material
typically,
low-budget films and videos, student
projects and spec work. "When I first
started out, [my reel] had a lot of
-

become."
Schneider, ASC

of

have

long-form
montages and trailers for feature
Often,

however,

a

just starting out has a mix of
everything. It's also about prestige.
Sometimes early on, if you're doing
low-budget work, it's best to mix that
work into a montage to conceal the
low-budget nature of the project."
Mann expands, "The real trick
to creating a good reel is maximizing
the impact of your work. Let's say
person

that, when combined with this

imagery, creates something different
and has

a

of the unknown.

sense

to

work. And it needs

can't be shown

student-film footage and little side
projects," recalls Schneider. "Most
professional demo reels by commer¬
cial and video cinematographers
have excerpts of music videos and

cameramen.

-

to

be

whether it's a
slow-motion
images of a girl running through the
fields, or the sound of dripping water
as
you fade up on a night exterior
and you [can't really see] who's lurk¬
ing in the shadows. Because agents
specialize in looking at a lot of reels,
we are constantly
looking for some¬
thing that will separate a particular
director of photography from the
pack."
On the flip side, many in the
industry dislike the use of montages
and feel they are too often used to
hide the fact that complete work

critic, and that's
what you have to

cameramen

forget about the audio that originally
accompanied them. I'd search for
audio
something that's kind of
mysterious, like William Burroughs's
spoken-word [performances] -

your own fingerprint,
clock ticking and

your own worst

feature

are

-

ability to see
yourself as it is a
representation of
your work. People
talk about being

whole commercials, while those

will know who the artists

anyway, so I suggest that you focus
on the imagery of those pieces and

needs

an

Aaron

that you want to put on your

Frankly, it doesn't really matter what
the imagery is, and it doesn't really
matter what the audio is
it just

"A reel is as much
about developing

-

you

on

its

own.

"I loathe

montages," proclaims Cheriff.
"People want to see spots in their
entirety [because] it's a rhythm
they're familiar with. A montage just
makes you say, 'Well, that's a pretty
image,' but it's almost like stills. It's
not

motion; it's not a coherent, cohe¬

sive

piece.
"If you

really have to do a
montage," she offers, "I suggest you
put it at the end of the reel or, if it has
a particular theme, in the middle of
the reel. [One of my clients] had a
beauty montage [within his reel],
and it worked because it

was

beauti¬

fully edited and
serve as

was not trying to
his entire reel. Also, if some¬

one wants to

do

a

30-second power
American Cinematographer - December 2000

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - December 2000
