Creating a Good Commercial Reel
To get ahead and get jobs in the film or television industry, it is necessary to have experience and credits under your belt. How can you do this without having a job in the industry? You can't. You have to work and pay your dues before you start getting anything out of it. Working as a PA, going to school for a while or doing any kind of video work on your own is your best bet. And once you've done some work, it will be time to make a reel for yourself to showcase your talents. How do you do all this? Getting clips for your reel will take work, time and patience. Making a commercial reel is a good way to go because commercials are always needed and wanted no matter what. The first thing to do is to decide what products to use in your commercials.
First, you should make a commercial for a product that already exists. These are called spec commercials. They are kind of like making a pilot TV show. Your commercial might never get seen or bought but if the company likes you, they might want to try you out. There are upteen amounts of commercial contests on the web. That I probably the best way to get yourself noticed and to create a good commercial reel at the same time. Recently, the internet commercial contests have sprouted up all over the place. Doritos commercials, Dove commercials, they're everywhere. Do a search on the net for commercial contests and you'll get a lot of hits. Secondly you must decide what kind of commercial you are going to do. The first type would be the comedic commercial. If you are good at comedy, this is the route to go. Funny commercials always get people's attention. People want to see them over and over again. But only do these if you are really good at comedy or have a great idea. The next kind is the sensual type of commercial. Think Covergirl or Victoria's Secret. Or even Hanes. These commercials use the human body like a canvas. They talk to the audience through the spokesperson who is beautiful, sexy and happy. Another type is the action commercial. These are usually car commercials, computer ads. They explain the physicality of the product and how it works specifically. There is also the commercials where you see someone using the product as in a dish detergent or toilet bowl commercial. A voiceover will explain the action in these types of commercials. The last type of commercial is informational. It explains in the most basic terms what the product is and why it is better than other products. Whether it is a lawyer commercial or a car dealership commercial, the information is relayed again through spokesperson and the quality of the product remains to be seen until used. Finally you must get out there and shot you're your commercial in one of the ways above. You have to write a script for your commercial, get actors, get a camera and crew if you need it. When writing your commercial keep in mind that you are doing something that should be between 15 and 30 seconds. Think about each shot and draw up storyboards after your script is written. Storyboards are the visuals for the film. They are like comic strips that show you what shots you will have and how they will be edited. They are essential to making commercials especially because they are so short. It will give you an idea of how to shoot your commercial properly for time and will also reveal what kinds of visuals you need. Commercials are dependant on the visuals because of time. Don't skimp on the video work. Your composition and directing will get you noticed. Your actors' timing is essential. Each second of your commercial you have to impress someone. 30 seconds of a film can be forgotten but 30 seconds of a commercial all you have. If you have the software to do special effects or graphics, use it. It will impress the companies more if you do something like that. Try not to do something so typical that the people judging you will throw it in the pile with the rest of them. Your commercials have to stand out. But also, don't do something so radical that no one understands it. If it can't be put on television and doesn't appeal to an audience, the buyers will not buy it.
You must have an editing system to edit your commercial of course. Make sure that it fits the time restraints of the contest even if you have more footage. Keep doing more contests until you have at least 3 commercials under your belt. 5 commercials for one reel is the best number. All you need to do is to transfer your commercials onto a tape or DVD. Once you have a god 3-5 commercials, you need to put them on your DVD about 10 seconds apart. Always make a title card for your commercials telling the kind of commercial it is, when you shot it and what for. And example would be. Dove Spec -
January 2007 -
Dove is What I Want Then let the commercial play. So get your experience first by doing some contests and getting out there making some commercials on your own. Even if they aren't the greatest commercials, whoever you send them to will be impressed that you made so many and want to keep making them. Links:
www.Doritos.com
www.dove.com
www.covergilr.com
www.google.com
www.nowcasting.com
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