This is an example of a showreel featuring a young British actress, there are a few reasons as to why i don't think this is a good example. Firstly it is very short, at just under 3 minutes and 40 seconds i don't think this is long enough to show somebody's full potential to a casting director or agent, in addition to this i don't think she has given enough attention to detail, especially in terms of characterisation. For example i don't think the first clip is relevant enough to include in this because it didn't really show off any of her skill. I felt as though it was put in place just to lengthen the clip, as well as this there was no background information to who the characters were or timing of when it was, expanding on this there isn't any contact information that people may want to be able to enquire about employment. I think she should have considered lighting and video quality more so that it looked more professional, this looks like it has been poorly edited by someone who has very little experience, naturally i think casting people are going to be more drawn to the clips that look the most put together complete with production values, and if there is a performer that s using this as a means of getting casted, this is something that should be considered. On the other hand she has chosen two different characters, this shows casting directors that she is a versitiale performer who can take on different types of roles and show contrast between them, this is something that i think is very good to highlight as it is something that people will definately be looking for.
I think this is a better example than the first, firstly it is slightly longer which gives more a chance to show off more footage, however although she has included a variety of songs from different shows. I also thought that she has a good mix of what look like rehearsal videos or stages clips where you assume that they have only been shot for the purpose of this showreel and examples of her actually performing in a production. She used two slightly contrasting clips from the same show, this was good as casting directors could be looking at how a performer can interpret characters in different ways, in addition to this she is in full costume which shows how she can look physically different for roles which is something that casting people also look out for. It looks very professional as there have been different camera angles used and the use of a good and appropriate head shots and contact details at the beginning and end, i also thought it was a positive that she has chosen this as the thumbnail for the video, if i was a casting director or agent this would make my search easier as i could see if her physical appearance would fit the role they are looking to fill. However i think this could have been improved if she had some background information such as names of songs and what show they were from, the clips of songs could have been slightly shorter, i felt as tough some of them dragged on slightly more than i would have expected, this is because in a show reel you want to show someone as many different things you can do in a short amount of time. As well as this, this is a musical theatre show reel therefore she should have more footage from other disaplines such as acting and dance, shoe maybe could have introduced her songs herself by saying a few lines before to set the scene more and help show more characterisation, she only had one photo that was dance related, she could have had more pictures and even videos from shows or rehearsals.
This was one of the best showreels i found, because i felt although it was quite short it contained so much relevant footage that casting directors and agents would be looking for, like the second one i found there was a mixture of rehearsal and performance videos. I think this shows that this performer is a committed hard worker, it gives the impression that she gives full effort and characterisation in every rehearsal, what is a great attribute in this industry. She has a range of songs that she performs with the names and shows displayed on screen as well as the date performed, showing that she is a versitiale singer, she has also picked songs that show off the best qualities of her voice, for example when she sings "something sweet" she chose this because she can hit the higher notes at the end of the song well. This tells audiences what kind of singer she is and the types of roles she would be bets suited to, she has also included clips of her dancing showing that she can be a musical theatre performer as she can do a range of different things to a high standard. I also think that each song has an appropriate amount of time that it is played for, not too short that not enough is shown but not too long that you get bored and want to stop watching. She also has chosen a good thumbnail, for the video as it has a very simple picture of her, that meets a lot of the criteria for a good headshot and her name and a clear title of what the video is, this means that her "look" is shown at a first glance before she has even shown what she can do. I do think that she could have shoed more of her acting skills, perhaps a short monologue or an introduction or a few lines before some of the songs she chose to perform, but overall i thought it was a good show reel.
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