COMMENTARY: If You Want A Good Showreel, Make A Really Short Film1 min read
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Commercials are typically thirty seconds in length, at best. So why, when people shoot short films more or less specifically to promote themselves, do they typically aim for five, ten, or even fifteen-minute productions?
Let’s deal with the most obvious answers to that question first. People make ten-minute shorts because of a desire to tell a story. It’s far easier to establish a character and then give that character something of an arc in ten minutes than half a minute. Yes, it’s possible to write thirty-second shorts which show characters growing and changing, but it takes a lot of skill from writers, directors, actors and editors. Longer form is frankly easier, and for anyone with any desire to promote themselves as an actor or director it’s completely reasonable to yearn for three or four scenes in which to demonstrate ability.
The thing is, from a camera perspective, or even the perspective of anyone who’s aware of Instagram and the mayfly attention span of the modern audience, this may not make much commercial sense.
Image credit: GuruXOX
