10 Must-know animation showreel tips to win employment

So, you now have an animation showreel and itching to get it to studios for freelance animation work.

This article will cover must-know animation showreel tips to ensure your demo reel isn’t ignored and wins you that paying job!

Also, check out “How to win your first freelance animator job” for a guide on getting that first freelance animator job.

You may be thinking of adding an intro to your showreel. To be blunt, DON’T DO IT!  You have 3 seconds to get them hooked.

Sorry, but animation studios do not give a toss about your name animated as a logo for ten seconds or want to read your contact details without seeing your work first.

I’ve even seen people include all the software logos they use. DON’T DO THIS!

You are not selling Adobe After Effects or Photoshop. You are selling your skills; get on with it!

Imagine a creative director sitting down to watch a ton of reels from many other freelance animators.  They have very limited time, and if your intro goes on and on, they might stop watching.

Get straight into the action and leave your contact details for the end.  IF they like your work, they will contact you.

When applying to other animation agencies keep it short. I highly doubt any busy creative director or producer will have much time, so keep your reel to approx. 30 to 90 secs.  This generally applies when contacting your first studios for freelance work.

“Keep them wanting more”

If you are later in your career and are contacting clients directly, or building a studio, your reel can be longer, up to 3 minutes. As single clients, directors of companies with no animation experience want to be dazzled.

3 – Edit

You generally want to create short segments of your projects and cut in and out of them to keep everything dynamic.  BUT not too short where they don’t understand each shot.

“Entertaining, not annoying”

Think of it like a flipbook, teaser trailer.  You’re not telling a story here but regularly changing the viewer’s attention whilst showing you have solid skills.

4 – Shot length

You might be tempted to show long segments of a project.  Keep each shot down to approximately. 3 to 8 seconds. Here are some ideas:

If you are a character animator and, for example showing a walk cycle, just two loops are enough.

If you are a character animator showing a dialogue shot, offer a short segment, cut away to another, and then cut back again.  It keeps the viewer interested and changes focus.

If going for character animation roles, the studio may want to also separate entire dialogue shots you can send after.

If you are a motion designer and show an explainer video, just give them a short segment, cut to another project, and then back again.

If you are a 3D product modeller and animator and showing off a model, cut in and out of elegant camera pans and rotations of various angles.

5 – Quality over quantity

It may sound obvious but only keep your highest quality work in even if it means your animation showreel ends up shorter.  One bad project showcase can drag the whole feeling down.

It’s better to have two short, high-quality shots than ten mediocre ones.  If you think a shot is just ok and adding it to fill and pad out time… DON’T!

6 – Best first

Some busy creative directors won’t watch your showreel to the end, so you must grab their attention right off the bat. 

Put your best and engaging piece first to immediately make the best impact. (Reminder – see point 01 – don’t waste time with an intro!)

Try and leave one of your best shots at the end to leave a good feeling and lasting impression.

7 – Define your role

You may have multiple skills as a generalist, but only add examples in the niche you want to work in. Don’t add a 3D modelling shot if you don’t want to work on 3D modelling projects or in that area. 

If you want to work as a generalist and have a wider skill set then you can certainly add various types of art and animation pieces.

8 – Be honest

I shouldn’t need to tell you this but DO NOT be tempted to put work that is not yours.  Only add work in which you did all or most of the work.  

Imagine a client calls and says I love the creature animation you did in that shot, and you awkwardly reply, “ah, I only did the background in that scene.”

It’s ok to add work where you were a team member, but add an overlay text stating your role.

9 – No tutorials

It’s completely natural to explore and learn from free online animation tutorials, there are some fantastic resources available.  But don’t ever add work from one, a client might recognise it!

If you have learnt something amazing, make it your own entirely different project and add your personality.

10 – Personal work

Don’t be afraid to add your personal work, there is nothing wrong with this.  You probably won’t have much or any client work initially. 

Personal work can be creative and the only thing that matters to employers is it shows off your art and animation skills.