Demo Reels Research and Outside Critique

Outside critique:

I spoke to Richard Coleman for the technical side, and his general comments were that the piece was entirely doable. When I spoke to him about reducing the overall workload from an entire animation down to an intricate model and setting in which to put the animation in to at a later date, he stated that it would indeed give me more time to really flesh out the models and textures of the scene.

For the review of my story, I went to my current literature teacher, Soyoung Park. She seemed to have enjoyed the story, but did have a couple recommendations to make, such as the figure chasing him through the train turns out to be himself. She also wished that the opening scene was a bit less about love and more about missed opportunity, which is something I believe we went over in class as well.


Short guide to forming a demo reel, written by Mark Mahler, of Rainbow Studios ---- Link

In this short guide, Mark gives an overview of the basics of creating a 3d focused demo reel, stating how to choose what to put in based on what type of job you are aiming for. He also goes through some of the more basic, but still key, ideas of studying film (lighting, shots, etc) and states how long shots and reels typically are.

What a company like Pixar looks for in demo reels ---- Link

Michael Shaw actually showed me this link, and it has a lot of valuable information that I believe applies to any of the major companies who go through a large number of demo reel submissions. In it, the author, or Pixar itself perhaps, outlines what it looks for in a reel. It breaks down the application process involved with the demo reel, and goes through the elements of a good demo reel as well. Things as basic as "put your best foot forward" to things like "we hate your music" (they didn't say that..but got close to it).


Various Job Links:

Internship at Arena.Net: Link

Environment Artist for Blizzard.net: Link

Pixar Internships: Camera/Staging Crowds Render B*

Betheseda Gameworks Animation: Link


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Demo Reel Research:




This is a more straight forward demo reel, containing none of the fast cuts or flashy effects so common in the demo reels I viewed. That's the reason I like this one, as it focuses on what is important in the reel. Character Animation.




I chose this demo reel because it showed off the author's skill set and ability to create more commercialized 3-d elements in an effectively interesting manner. It wasn't the most interesting demo I watched, but it was effective.



This demo reel is another character animation demo, but this time it also goes into an in depth display of the rigging of the character. Rather than having a lot of elements in the video, the creator has instead decided to quickly show his ability to animate, but then to focus the majority of the demo on his ability to rig and to manipulate said rig.
This method is also popular with character modelers. They will show the model in every way shape and form that they can, and maybe have a bit of animation or setting to go with it. They also usually focus on a limited number of models.



This one has a wider ranger of materials, and shows more of a general skill set. Admittedly the reason I put it in is because of the steam engine at the end.