Working on new reel. Need some feedback, thanks!

Some really strong work in there. You have a good sense of framing and there are some great unorthodox compositions in there. And there's several shots in which you use light kinetically, which is sorely lacking in most reels. Here's a few things that could be improved if you want to hear it:

  1. Cut out the mediocre stuff, which is about 15-20% of the reel's runtime. I don't mean that 20% of the shots should be cut (a few should), but some have too much head or tail that don't make you look particularly good. For the kind of work you're doing, every second of your reel should be 100% home runs. Remove all flaws. When people watch a huge list of reels, they end up remembering your flaws and your overall "batting average". Make your batting average 1.000. Then put per-project montages or a string of narrative scenes on your site where people can dig in and really feel the mood/tone of your work on that particular project (which I feel like you're trying to convey in this reel).

  2. Your work seems to either be a lot of available light stuff and/or you like to light for an available light look. This is going to work against you because only a small percentage of the kind of projects you seem to be chasing are shot like that. Use the power of first impressions to counter that by starting off the reel with 40-50% "lit" looking shots — take any shots you have that look lit and stack them near the beginning. It'll serve you better that way even if the last 80% of the reel is all very available light-looking. Or better yet spend a day shooting a few beautiful long lens "very lit" looking MCU and CU shots of a few actors just for your reel (these type shots are generally 80% of a DP's work, so show you can do it well instead of letting a producer/director wonder if you can).

  3. Start off stronger... with a shot that's more innovative, better crafted, overtly emotional, or more of a wake-up shot (remember you may be reel #18 of 45). Like maybe the shot: falling with the flashlight, the dancer with the flare, somersault in front of the sunset, or the roll car interior.

  4. Your weakest point is the grades. Not to be harsh, but they mostly feel like free LUTs that like to tout their film-ness (almost none of such LUTs look like film for any of us who did shoot film — but not saying that was your aim). Some grades work for the particular shot, but much of your work would look better and make you look like a DP of higher strata if they were graded in a more neutral color quality with legit black tones. But if it's comforting at all, this is a very common issue with reels, particularly with young DPs — it's almost a criteria for identifying the age and experience of a DP, ha.

All this was sincerely meant to help and I hope it didn't come across as harsh. Very strong work, especially for your age, and I'm sure your work will be improving exponentially the next few years.

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