The Art and Anxiety of Filmmaking

     Film4(whom I don't know enough about to go into an overview about) gathered up many amazing directors, such as Quentin Tarantino, David Cronenberg, Christopher Nolan, David Fincher, James Cameron, Peter Jackson, Ben Wheatley, Steve McQueen, Joe Carnahan and Lone Scherfig to talk about their starts, the art of film-making and their fears.
     Some of the things they touch on are the importance of opening-up to change when directing, how action and acting can blend to allow for a humanized element, and how important responsibility is. Some of them also talked about basic fears like making a movie adaptation of preexisting material , in which you're always thinking that you don't want to "mess it up" for those who love the book or whatever other media the source material comes from. Or how (and this is a commonly shared one) you never know if what you're making is going to work, you could produce it without a hitch, exactly the way you see it in your head, no compromise, but it can still crash-and-burn in the market if the audience doesn't like it. But even knowing that people still go on and create movies because they want to. Some see it as art, and some use movie-making to explore what it means to be human. For some of them, their passion and eventual career started with things as simple as drawing comic strips or playing with a parents' camera All-in-all, with all the fears these people have, it really is wonderful they still decide to do this for a living, because we wouldn't have good or bad movies if there weren't anyone making them at all.

Do's and Don'ts for Demos

     The first step to getting into an actual career in animation getting your abilities and work out there. What better way to do that than by putting together a demo reel. Since this is such a pivotal step in t hiring process, everyone's going to be putting one together, and someone's going to have to sit through and review all of them. Knowing this, senior animation mentor Don Kim put together a little list of ways to make your reel more professional and make more of an impression in the form of some do's and don'ts.
     What you should do includes:
           -Only include your best work in the reel
           -Start and end the reel with the most amazing shots you have available
           -Be mindful of the shots you string together, try to have some form of semblance and rhythm                to your cuts
           -Include a portfolio with your other various, non-animation work

     And, what you shouldn't do:
          -Don't have a 5-10 min reel, the people reviewing the demo reels have a lot more than just                    yours to review.
          -Don't include over the top titles, transitions, and underscore. The point of your reel is to show              off your animation, so don't wash over that fact with unnecessary edits.
   
    So, with all this information in hand, use it to make the best possible demo reel you can. Hopefully it'll outshine most of the others being reviewed.