Reel Success: Creating Demo Reels and Animation Portfolios Author: Cheryl Cabrera | Language: English | ISBN:
0240821025 | Format: EPUB
Reel Success: Creating Demo Reels and Animation Portfolios Description
Are you an animator looking to get your foot in the door of the top studios? Break it down with Reel Success.
It's tough to get a job in the animation industry if you don't have a demo reel and portfolio that reflects your unique style and incredible talents. The reception of that reel will make or break you; so it's no wonder that creating a demo reel can be such a daunting task. Reel Success by Cheryl Cabrera can help. This book guides you through putting the right content into your portfolio, how to cater to the right audience, and how to harness the power of social media and network effectively. Accompanied by case studies of actual students' demo reels, this book teaches how to develop a critical eye toward effective and ineffective demo reels.
Reel Success offers you real successful:
- Best practices for animators looking to get their foot in the door or remain active in a competitive market.
- Examples of demo reels, featuring techniques beyond just animation for Concept, Story, Layout, Modeling, and Effects Lighting
- Actual student experiences, professional animator’s techniques, and recruiter insights to help you get the inside track in the animation industry.
- Paperback: 224 pages
- Publisher: Focal Press; 1 edition (June 19, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0240821025
- ISBN-13: 978-0240821023
- Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.5 x 0.5 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Full disclosure: I'm a decently established freelancer. I do it full-time and support my family. I also run an Adobe group that meets monthly with people at every spectrum of the industry and thought this would be a good book to review for them. Also, as a freelancer you are pretty much 'applying' for 'jobs' all the time! I.e. bidding on gigs ; )
Right off the back, I enjoy how Cheryl Cabrera writes. The introduction is an honest read that creates a "feeling" that I am listening to a mentor. Talking about the current state of the industry had me craving more conversation on this topic!
Then the first half of the book is filled with rather basic and common sense stuff. It focuses on aspects that should already be in the wheelhouse of those graduating/putting together a demo reel. However: If it seems like common sense to me but is a tip to you... it's an EXTREMLY IMPORTANT TIP.
There are some real gems in this book. The idea of writing down a list of adjectives which describe you is smart, there is a two page list in the book to help get started. About half way through the book Cheryl mentions sending out survey's to real-deal studios (I'd like to work for a GREAT deal of them), and the findings of that survey could be the entire book! This handful of pages is worth the entire book.
One star is stripped from the ratting for the disappointing layout and presentation of the book. The book is black/white with a few blue headers. In a book that discusses resumes, demo reels, and the importance of appearance I think this book should have followed the information it contains and took the extra step to print images in color that pop.
Overall, this book has some true gems and a lot of filler.
By Codi
Reel Success: Creating Demo Reels and Animation Portfolios Preview
Link
Please Wait...