This article is an excerpt from the upcoming Quit Aspiring, Vol. 2 – join the waiting list for upcoming pre-order access.

When it comes to reels, it’s pretty easy to think that all you have to do is put in some good design work, keep it under a minute and a half, slap it up somewhere it can be viewed online, and you’re done!

But, just because everyone else does it like that, doesn’t mean you should – as former adult actress Asia Carrera can demonstrate for us through her driver’s license.

It may sound surprising, but no one in the state of Utah is allowed to wear a hat in their driver’s license photo – unless you’re Asia Carrera (née Jessica Steinhauser).  As you can see, via religious exemption, Ms. Carrera argued she should be able to wear a colander on her head in the photo.

With such a simple change, her driver’s license stands out as immediately identifiable – and you need to ensure that your reel is just as easily identifiable too!

Let’s look at 3 very simple ways to make this happen:

1. Including your name and contact info, with sound!
2. Clarifying your work with a lower 3^rd
3. Putting your best work first

You’ve gotta make sure people know who you are

When you turn on your Xbox or Playstation, the first thing you’ll see is the startup logo.  The first thing you’ll hear is the startup sound.  These usually look and sound as cool as possible to give you the feeling you’ve made the best possible purchase in the world and that your life is about to change.

I’d implore you to copy this general idea for your reel.  There’s no need for a fancy 3D animation – literally any readable text and stock animation from a video editor will do – but add your name and email and cover the animation with sound.  While you can get easily lost in the idea of visual and sonic “branding” here, I’d encourage you not to waste your time slaving away to make it perfect.  The point is that in the first 3 seconds of your reel, any hiring manager looking at the video can confirm that they’ve clicked on the right person’s video, and think to themselves “oh that was a neat little whoosh and name animation!”

Though it’s very simple and not at all intended to “wow”, this simple touch is an easy way add ease and confirmation to anyone reviewing your material.  This simple style of clarification is also important for your next step as well!

It’s not always clear what sounds you’ve made in your reel

You don’t want to leave anyone assuming what’s your work and what isn’t in your reel.  Too often I’ve seen folks add placeholder music or even include game jam content that wasn’t 100% all of their own work.

Fixing this and priming the viewer is actually really simple to do by placing text in the lower third of the video indicating exactly what you worked on.  This can actually double as an indicator of what you want the listener to focus on as well!

If you don’t know what a lower third is, it’s simply text that appears in the bottom of the screen temporarily to indicate some information to the viewer.  TV news channels often utilize this by displaying a person’s name when a new person comes on the screen.  Sports games use a permanent lower third to indicate the score of the game.

All you want to do is put something like “Recorded & Designed All SFX” or “Music Composition” or “SFX Design & Implementation”.  If you want people to focus on certain elements it’s as easy as writing “Designed All SFX including unique Sword Foley”.  See how you easily you can direct someone’s attention?!

This will give the viewer/hiring manager a clear indication as to what work you’ve done as well as exactly what you want them focusing on.  And speaking of focus, that’s important for the last point…

Hiring managers don’t always watch to the end

Though I’d hope this wouldn’t be surprising to you – lots of times hiring managers either never get to, or don’t watch your whole reel.  If you save your best content for last hoping to “build up to your best stuff” then you’re making a huge mistake.

If a hiring manager reviews your reel and the first thing they hear is content you consider “just ok”, they’re likely to feel similar.  If you have something great that grabs the listener’s ear right at the beginning, they’re more likely to feel positive about how they’re spending their time and be open to hearing more from you.

Remember, it’s all about how you connect with the person reviewing your work.  If you don’t immediately leave a great impression, then there’s no reason to stick around and they could get bored and cut off your reel before the good stuff you’ve left in the last :30 seconds!

“But Adam I don’t get it.  What about more ‘technical’ reels?  How do I show off audio implemention or cool audio system design??”

In fairness, one of the best reels I’ve ever seen was a 12 minute implementation demo using Unity’s stock “roll-a-ball” game.  So you’re not absolutely insane if you want to do something off-the-wall.  But…. I’ve also only ever seen that work successfully one time.  Personally, I’d say that going outside the box doesn’t have a massive probability in your favor.

If you’ve got implementation skills that you want to show off, I’d suggest you split your work into two different videos: a short sound-design specific reel, and a longer ‘implementation demo’ where you walk a listener through the weird/neat/interesting thing you’ve hooked up.  With the second video BE CAREFUL – when you’re explaining what you’ve done you run the risk of over-explaining, talking a lot, and generally being boring.  A good rule of thumb is try and show over telling.  State the basics of what you’ve done and demonstrate it within the game.  When you make dynamic sounds using data and RTPCs – folks want to hear the end result, not necessarily you verbalizing all the intricate details.  Remember, hiring managers are usually audio designers and not engineers.

Sweet, you made it through another chapter!  But wait… what did we cover again?

1. Be sure to include your name and contact info at the top of your reel, with some sound design
2. Be sure to include context in lower thirds describing what work you’ve done
3. Be sure to put your best work right up front to earn the trust and interest of the listener

So, I get it, none of these things is exactly wearing a colander on your head

But you’d be incredibly surprised at how many people don’t do this kind of simple stuff.  Uniqueness and standing out is often found in the little details, not just the “big flashy showy” things.  I’ve personally made a whole career about trying to think about and land as many small details that my client is going to care about as I possibly can.  Though they might not register a “wow!” or seem real quirky – they’ll hook the folks you want the attention of and keep them for longer than you expect.

Before you move onto the next chapter…Consider what we covered here and make yourself a small list of what you need to cover, if anything, to update your demo reel!