As a Professional Editor, one of my favorite styles, is the Showreel. Just like the showreel’s I put together to gain my first job in the industry, Film & Television production houses need showreels to advertise their products and services. And this one was a ton of fun. I love working on films! Working in and around the industry is shear joy, and when the opportunity to work on a reel Advertising that industry presented itself , I leaped at the chance.
I started by creating and gathering all the elements I was going to need. I was given a rough brief of what the client wanted, and from then on I had free license to do what I chose. YEAY!

I had a lot of information to cram into this reel, including Gold Coast stock footage, Hi Res images, text, quotes and logos. A lot of the logos were already designed and used in the accomponing Print material for the Film GC Packs, so I thought it wise to use them throughout to reinforce the overall design.

These came in handy for some off beat transitions between the split ken burns effected images and footage. Also Most of the images were such beautiful hi res panoramic views, that if I did a standard zoom in ken burns effect, it would leave either large black areas top bottom, left and right, or miss out on most of the image all together. So opting for the split screen images helped present as much information in a short time without crowding the screen or missing out on such stunning elements.
For this project I used Final Cut Pro on a MAC G5 w/ blackmagic card and my trusty FCP Logic Keyboard.
I’m able to work with Premiere Pro and AVID Media Composer on a PC workstation as well as FCP on MAC however I prefer FCP for small projects like showreels as it allows for fast trial and error edits for quickly piecing elements together to see which ones work and which don’t. I use both MAC and PC, so please don’t start a MAC vs PC argument with me!! Its just a matter of personal preference. The right tool for the right job, what ever that may be. cheers!
One of the key factors to a successful showreel, is the playback time. Generally I would NEVER go over 2 minutes unless specifically ordered to. The Idea is to capture the audiences attention and hold it, and considering most people have a very short attention span, keeping it short is a preference. Another key factor is to grab the attention of the audience instantly. If you cant get their attention within the first few seconds, they will switch off, walk away, or worse. Not only should the showreel present the company’s services, skills and reputation, but yours as well.
Really, every showreel you edit, is a showreel for your editing skills.

Film Gold Coast: Website
Audio used by license: Audio Shaman

My Name is Monkwhy, and I make Movies. Thats the tag line, all be it a tad on the tacky side. It’s an attempt at making a series promo along the lines of the epic TV series ads that you see on national TV. But you get the Idea. Basicaly, Monkwhy Makes Movies, is a Film Industry Vlog series. I work at a Visual Effects house located on the Lot of Warner Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast, Australia, so Im able to bring you information from right inside the heart of the Australian Film industry. Now, Im under NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement), as is everyone in this industry, so the information I present in this series will be 100% authorised or already publicly available. However I’ll be able to bring you the exclusive story you wont get anywhere else. So stay Tuned to Monkwhy.com and subscribe to the Monkwhy Makes Movies RSS FEED.

Here she be, Predecessor to the XL H1, XL2 & XL1s, The Canon XL1 is my new baby. Aging slightly these days, the XL1 is a beautiful camera for online internet and DVD video production. Complete with interchangable lenses, lovely depth of field (DOF, My favorite) progressive scan, and a look that makes the local old codger tremble in his hi8 handycam boots, its an all round prosumer joy to use. Although slightly on the weighty side, the size of the XL1 makes it shoulder mountable (I find it more comfortable without the shoulder pad), and the lack of an LCD flip out screen forces the user to revert to oldschool film techniques (not a bad thing). However Ill be mounting my 7″ LCD screen to the hotshoe this week.
Used for such films as ‘28 days later’ and Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Full Frontal‘ The XL1 is an oldschool master piece of engineering, and for a mere AU$1500 (US$1200) the Canon XL1 is a steal.

(original retail price AU$15,000 in 1998)

The New Sony HVR-Z7E has captured my attention, big time. True 1080p HD (1920 x 1080 Progressive), Interchangeable Lens system with Carl Zeiss 32mm - 384mm as standard, Iris ring on the lens, High speed capture mode, all for under AU$10,000. Im impressed!! Seriously want to get my hands on this one!

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