Thousands of you entered our #showreelshareday competition this October, for the chance to win one of\u00a0nine showreel reviews by\u00a0Kahleen Crawford<\/a>,\u00a0Rich Mento<\/a> and Spotlight’s Emma Dyson. Watch the showreels, read the reviews and check out some top showreel tips for everyone below.<\/p>\n Rory Wilton<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Doc Martin and Poldark are good TV credits. I\u2019d consider pulling Poldark up to second on the reel so that you would draw us in with that really welcoming Doc Martin scene, then really hold onto our interest with such a contrasting character in Poldark. Is it a possibility to mine those shows for some additional clips to show off more of those roles?<\/p>\n I know you\u2019ve recently re-edited your reel and it\u2019s much shorter than the one on Spotlight, but I think that either replacing or paring back one or two further clips would be worth considering. Some of the scenes weren\u2019t all that useful to me from a casting point of view. Some are self-contained and well shot e.g. Work Life, whereas with others such as Run, I\u2019m just not seeing you well enough on camera, and I was pulled out of that one by not being able to understand what was happening in the scene. If you feel strongly that you don\u2019t want to lose a character from your reel, have you definitely selected the right scene?<\/p>\n Also, perhaps an editor\/someone with a flair for editing could help find a good way of incorporating shorter moments in a different way? For example with Serpentine – I think it is helpful to me visually, and for that key moment of emotion, but it struck me as awkward and too short to be presented as a stand-alone scene within a reel.<\/p>\n You have a lovely quality on screen and much luck!<\/p>\n Haruka Abe<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Off to a strong and intriguing start with your opening shot, Haruka! Great to follow up straight away with the lighter, natural performance style of Cucumber. I wanted to see more here, so I wonder about bringing the later Cucumber scenes up next to this one? That way, I can also see a sense of your character’s journey in the show. It also immediately conveys that you had a number of episodes or were a guest role with an arc, and that\u2019s good for a casting director\/director\/producer to know. (Likewise, maybe you could try that with the second Kiss Me First scene? Although as it\u2019s animation, I don\u2019t think separating it out is a problem if it works better for the construction of the reel).<\/p>\n This is a technical note really, but I wasn\u2019t 100% sure about the edit on Cyberbully, and it felt a little jumpy\/jarring for the purposes of the reel. Is there a way to recut it to keep my attention on your story, maybe even just by losing one shot of your co-star, to smooth it all out a bit? (Especially the ending to your character\u2019s video with the cards).<\/p>\n Casualty is a scene you play well, but I didn’t feel I needed it on your reel, and I felt it stuck out a bit amongst the other material. If I can see from their reel that someone is a good actor, then I trust they can go to those sorts of places (i.e. tears\/despair), plus Cyberbully has shown me you have vulnerability in your range.\u00a0Your reel is tipping into a bit long anyway, so perhaps losing 20 odd seconds of that may actually make it whip along better?<\/p>\n I also had a question mark over Late Shift – I feel like I can see you have strength and grit elsewhere e.g. Cucumber and Kiss Me First\u2026 If you don\u2019t want to lose the project, is there something else from it that would show off a side of your range we haven\u2019t seen yet?<\/p>\n One thing it would be great to see down the line with your reel would be a strongly contrasting accent to what’s on here, but I understand you may just not have that committed to screen yet.<\/p>\n All in all, I am getting a good sense of you from the reel, and it just needs some polishing and trimming, I think!<\/p>\n Tomi May<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Tomi, I think your reel gives me a clear sense of your casting. You have a strong presence, look physically capable, you\u2019re using your castability due to your second language and your range of accents tapping into that, and also showing me your own Birmingham and a nice London in there too. All great things.<\/p>\n I feel I\u2019m seeing certain notes repeated, and I wondered if there might be a way around that? I sometimes say to actors to keep commercials separate, but when it shows us something, I feel it can be worth it, and this does show us another energy from you. I guess my question is – do we need Toast of London on there when we have The Job Lot? The higher energy and strength is seen in both and it could mean people might put you in a particular box. That might be ok for you! And I realise both are nice credits, so I can imagine why you\u2019d want them in there. But\u00a0I had a question about the range and keeping that balanced so CDs, directors and producers think about your openly, so I\u2019m just raising it.<\/p>\n I have mentioned this to two of the other actors today – sorry for being a stuck record! I wonder if another eye on the editing could make it really slick? In particular, I didn\u2019t love the way the opening was cut, it confused me not to hear the dialogue – is there a better way to put the Tim Roth scene together? I know being opposite him is a good thing to show so I\u2019m sure you\u2019ll want to include. It\u2019s just not quite working for me at the moment.<\/p>\n All in all a good amount of material, I think some tweaks could make it really whip along, and be a spot on tool for you!<\/p>\n Kosha Engler<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Good. Solid. Not sure the 1st scene is best, in that order, as it\u2019s almost entirely in profile. Maybe change up the order?<\/p>\n My opinion. Otherwise pacing is good. And the reel did its job; I\u2019d want to see more.<\/p>\n Ebony Thomas<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Good. 1st scene is mainly profile; not sure that is the best choice. My opinion. Otherwise good progression of scenes.<\/p>\n Like the choice for the final clip. Is the off-camera talking at the very end on purpose? Wasn\u2019t sure if it\u2019s the \u201cmark\u201d of the company that made the demo or what\u2026..<\/p>\n Rosie Holden<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Solid. Personally, I would start with the Father Brown clips. They\u2019re the most grounded and solid acting pieces. Good choices for other scenes. \u00a0The demo moves along at a good pace. Kept my attention throughout. And did its job; I\u2019d want to see more\/explore further.<\/p>\n Harry Wyatt<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n A lovely showreel, Harry! I would be inclined to use the very beginning of the Paul McCartney video (currently not on your upload) and cut after a minute or so, so we see the dialogue with you and the girl at the very beginning, leading into the track. Moving into your next scene; I think it\u2019s a really strong piece, but very quiet? Is there any way of pushing the sound quality up? Your third and final scene shows lovely interaction with you and the other actor and coming in at 2 mins 45 it\u2019s a good length.<\/p>\n Yuri Buzzi<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Scene one is a good, comic scene to start with. I really like scene 2 and seeing you in your native language, but wondered whether it could be edited a bit? Scene 3 is fun, but again, might it be shortened? The rest is strong, but your reel is coming in at 4 mins 20 and I think it could benefit from a slight trim? Might you be able to knock a minute off? On balance \u2013 a good showreel with some nice work.<\/p>\n Katie Redford<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Katie, I really enjoyed your showreel. You obviously have a strong flair for comedy and this is clearly demonstrated. I think it\u2019s a perfect length and there\u2019s little I would change about it. Lovely stuff.<\/p>\n As a special thank you to\u00a0Kate Davies-Speak<\/a>\u00a0for setting up the #showreelshare day we asked each of our professionals to give feedback on her very own showreel:<\/p>\n Emma Dyson<\/strong><\/p>\n Good length and variety, although I might be inclined to start your reel with scene 3, as I think this scene is stronger? (Although I thought the sound quite low compared to the rest of your footage, though?) Overall, a good showreel with some nice material throughout.<\/p>\n Rich Mento<\/strong><\/p>\n Personally, I\u2019d start with the 2nd to last clip – the focus and attention is on you. Keep the 2nd scene, then follow with the rifle one.<\/p>\n The final scene, for me, is unnecessary. It feels a bit B-movie, and with almost no dialogue on your part, coupled with the dark lighting, it doesn\u2019t feel Kahleen Crawford<\/strong><\/p>\n Firstly, congrats on this brilliant initiative, Kate! Really fantastic.<\/p>\n I can be pretty short and to the point about your reel! My main note is I\u2019d like to know which productions the clips are from.<\/p>\n Otherwise, it\u2019s very simple in its approach, and I\u2019m sure that\u2019s not effortless, so it means it\u2019s cleanly put together. Good overall length, and good scene lengths to help us settle into watching a character.<\/p>\n Down the line, maybe it would be an idea to aim to include more variation on character (rather than just genre\/scenario) and maybe accent, if possible? But as it stands, I think your reel gives me a nice introduction to you and would help me choose what I\u2019d want you to tape\/meet for. You\u2019ve nailed a straightforward and useful tool in it!<\/p>\n Thank you to everyone who put their name forward as part of #showreelshareday! Watch for more great advice on how to make your own showreel, coming soon. Read more about\u00a0showreels<\/a>\u00a0on Spotlight or to find showreel services take a look on\u00a0Contacts<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Casting directors Kahleen Crawford and Rich Mento and Spotlight’s Emma Dyson review your showreels. Thousands of you entered our #showreelshareday competition this October, for the chance to win one of\u00a0nine showreel reviews by\u00a0Kahleen Crawford,\u00a0Rich Mento and Spotlight’s Emma Dyson. Watch the showreels, read the reviews and check out some top showreel tips for everyone below. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[72,64,74],"class_list":["post-2569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-getting-work","tag-auditions","tag-casting-directors","tag-showreels"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTop Showreel Tips<\/h3>\n
From casting director Rich Mento:<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n
From casting director Kahleen Crawford:<\/strong>
\n<\/em><\/h4>\n\n
Kahleen’s reviews<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Rich’s Reviews<\/h3>\n
Emma’s Reviews<\/h3>\n
Thank you to Kate Davies-Speak<\/h4>\n
\nnecessary or informative.<\/p>\n