To ably
analyse what makes a good Portfolio or Showreel especially in the Creative
Industry, we need to first of all understand what a portfolio or showreel is
and what it is used or needed for.
A Showreel
or a Portfolio is a short piece of video (in the case of a Showreel) or a
collection of images (Portfolio) showcasing the individual’s previous work. And,
the purpose of the Showreel or Portfolio is to promote the individual’s skill,
talent and experience to the potential client; it’s your CV. So, the target is
to secure a job or contract and it is not like a collection of family
photographs (although very precious) shown to people for entertainment purpose.
As with any
industry which works on people’s emotion (so to say) and visual perception, the
golden rule ‘’first impression lasts longer’’ can never be truer. So, a
Showreel or Portfolio should be organised in a way to achieve that purpose even
if the ‘’client’’ only watches few seconds of the Showreel or flips few pages
of the Portfolio.
Therefore, a
good Showreel or Portfolio should meet these non-exhaustive requirements,
1. The best.
A good Showreel/Portfolio should show the best of the creator’s skills and
abilities from the first page/scene to the last bearing in mind that the
purpose is to impress the potential employer or client.
2. Be
specific. A good Showreel/Portfolio should be relevant to the sector of the
Creative industry the creator hopes to work in and should not be about every
single piece of work the creator has done. Daniel Johnson of Daniel Johnson
Films warned against this at paragraph 3 of his piece ‘’…..But I’d caution against that. What you really want to do is show one
part of you, one skill, and be an expert at it.’’ (https://www.danieljohnsonfilms.co.uk/what-makes-a-good-showreel-scene/)
3. Simple,
short and clean. A good Showreel/Portfolio should not be too long otherwise it
becomes boring. Professionals in the industry recommend between 1:30 minutes to
2 minutes for a good Showreel/Portfolio.
4. Flaunt to
sell. Be creative As noted in paragraph 3 above, the Creative industry works on
people’s emotions through visual perception, so, a good Showreel/Portfolio
should show creativity with the transition from one shot to the other and
arranged in a way to build suspense as suggested by Pralay Bhowmick, Art
Director (Motion Design) at InMobi (2017-present) https://www.quora.com/What-makes-a-good-2D-animation-showreel-What-are-the-dos-and-donts
Samuel Oludare Yerokun
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