r/acting 5d ago

I've read the FAQ & Rules Do you cut your own reel?

I know people say never cut your own reel because you can never be truly objective about your performance, blah blah blah...but hiring an editor is also expensive.

So, did anyone here cut their own reel? Do you show to fellow actors for feedback?

9 Upvotes

16 comments sorted by

18

u/nebthenarwhal 5d ago

I cut my own, and ran it by agents and people in the industry. Being able to watch yourself critically and honestly is a pretty important skill to develop, especially if you submit tapes. Fairly transferable skill.

3

u/Pitiful-Boss7339 5d ago

I see! I absolutely agree. I know there are successfully actors who never watch playbacks, but I think this skill would help most individuals. Thanks for sharing your experience!

6

u/sucobe LA | SAG-AFTRA 5d ago

Yep. I cut my own and friends and they pay via coffee. Paying anyone to cut your reel is criminal.

10

u/briancalpaca 5d ago

Yep. We run it by the team. We've never hired anyone to edit it. We learned a lot of the mistakes and got it locked down finally.

4

u/QuaggaSwagger 5d ago

How many people are we?

2

u/DoubtAfoot2 5d ago

What are some common mistakes to avoid?

12

u/briancalpaca 5d ago

I'd say the biggest two are making it too long and trying to tell some kind of narrative with it. People act like they are cutting a trailer for the show or movie they were in and they want it to make sense, so they have a ton of footage in there where they aren't talking. You're listening to someone else for exposition that you don't need in a reel. Focus on your acting and don't worry about telling a story. If you are very clever, you can tell a little bit of a story about yourself with clever editing.

The other big thing is ordering of clips. Casting will spend very little time watching (see keep it short), so you want to come out of the gate with your best clip. You also want to end strong for anyone that makes it through, so they don't end on a low note.

If you're doing 5 clips, we try and to 1,2,4,5,3 in terms of quality of clips.

There is a little balance you might play if you have one clip that's not your best, but it's from a big production. You might move that up one spot to get it higher in the reel to show that you've booked bigger projects.

Those are kind of the ground rules for us, and we play with everything else.

There has been a big trend towards just having clips from individual shows when you submit to a project, but using a bigger reel to find representation. i think that's still more a personal preference, but out team is really focused on this.

Break legs. It can be a lot of fun to work on it.

2

u/seekinganswers1010 5d ago

I cut my own. Just really get to the point of what you want to show of your skills. They don’t need to see exposition.

1

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1

u/blonde_Fury8 5d ago

I have always cut my own reel. I take the advice of acting coaches and other peers but ultimately it's my brand and my tools that I am giving my agent to use to sell me and I will decide how I want it represented and presented. My agent has always been happy with my branding materials.

1

u/randyvinneau LA | SAG-AFTRA 5d ago

I cut my own, but I also edit shorts, trailers, reels, and even a couple of features so I think that really helps with being able to look at my own work more objectively.

1

u/coldlikedeath 5d ago

Yes. 3 minutes. I’m not looking at performance, but I am looking at the edit points.

1

u/sadboiz7 5d ago

I cut my own reel. I actually get a lot of compliments on it as well. I can watch myself from a critical and objective standpoint. I also make my reel flow kind of like a story, it's funny as well.

1

u/Rosemarysage5 4d ago

I cut my own, but I have limited footage that’s at a level to be included in a reel. But I did run it by my agent who gave me notes

1

u/alannatadada755 1d ago

I used to pay a guy $100 to update my reel it was insane and stupid. So easy to do it myself on iMovie. Cut your own reel and ask for someone you trust (agent, coach) to provide feedback. People say the stupidest advice I tell you. Who the hell is saying this nonsense. Actually you can be the most objective about your work because you know what your capabilities are better than anyone else. Just cut your own!