This article has 10 really good and helpful tips for creating a showreel. Many of them might seem obvious, but in the end all these are important.
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1: Choose your music wisely. Your choice of music should reflect your style of animation.
2: Include some lip-synching, and ensure that the entire face is alive while the character is speaking
3: Try to avoid typical characters such as hard core super heroes and robots. Create a new, unique personality with each character.
4: Keep it short. Anything from 50 seconds, too one minute 30 seconds. Humans get bored and distracted easily.
5: Create an interesting introduction and title sequence. Try to keep these similar in style, to “bookend” your showreel.
6: Include your contact details in your showreel. Name, location, phone number, website and email address is usually more than enough.
7: In your credits, give the names of the programs you utilized to create the showreel.
8: If you’d like to show off your skills in areas other than animation, find ways to creatively display your models, textures, armatures and rendering techniques
9: Your showreel is the first thing about you that a prospective employer will see. Pretend that you are introducing yourself to the employer through your showreel, and try add some of your own personality to it.
10: Give your prospective employer easy access to your reel. Phone ahead and ask how they’d prefer to view it. A small version sent as an attachment with an email? A video embedded on your site?"
Source: http://quazen.com/arts/animation/10-tips-for-creating-a-successful-animation-showreel/
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1: Choose your music wisely. Your choice of music should reflect your style of animation.
2: Include some lip-synching, and ensure that the entire face is alive while the character is speaking
3: Try to avoid typical characters such as hard core super heroes and robots. Create a new, unique personality with each character.
4: Keep it short. Anything from 50 seconds, too one minute 30 seconds. Humans get bored and distracted easily.
5: Create an interesting introduction and title sequence. Try to keep these similar in style, to “bookend” your showreel.
6: Include your contact details in your showreel. Name, location, phone number, website and email address is usually more than enough.
7: In your credits, give the names of the programs you utilized to create the showreel.
8: If you’d like to show off your skills in areas other than animation, find ways to creatively display your models, textures, armatures and rendering techniques
9: Your showreel is the first thing about you that a prospective employer will see. Pretend that you are introducing yourself to the employer through your showreel, and try add some of your own personality to it.
10: Give your prospective employer easy access to your reel. Phone ahead and ask how they’d prefer to view it. A small version sent as an attachment with an email? A video embedded on your site?"
Source: http://quazen.com/arts/animation/10-tips-for-creating-a-successful-animation-showreel/