The film industry in North America is becoming more and more saturated. Statista details that the number of films produced each year has been increasing since the year 2000, peaking at 871 films in 2018. And while the increase in production is generally a good thing, this also means that it can be hard to stand out as an independent filmmaker trying to establish their footing in the industry. So what are you supposed to do about it? One thing that can definitely help is a great film portfolio. Read on for some tips to help you put together your online reel!

Create A Blog

Well, the first thing you have to do is build yourself a site. While you can use YouTube or Vimeo for your reel, it’ll help if you have a website to make finding you online a lot easier. A good place to start is to buy The Marketing Heaven’s views and think of a memorable name that will stick to your intended audience.

You can take it a step further by using your blog as a means to track your journey as a filmmaker, as having a record of everything may also help you in the long run. By doing this, you can not only better engage with people who might connect with your work, but you can also revisit certain stages of your process as a means for inspiration. An added kicker to creating rich content would be its effect on your blog’s search rankings. Ayima stresses the importance of relevant and robust content to boost your rankings in search engines, as this means that you will show up more prominently when people search for terms related to your work. And if more people can find you — the higher your chances are of people seeing your reel.

Minimalist Web Design

The next thing you can do is to make sure your site is pleasing to the eyes. However, you can’t have a site that’s too distracting as it may take away from the main point: your reel. So how do you go about this?

Well, minimalism has taken over as a design trend in 2019. There’s a pretty good reason behind this. The use of whitespace, similar to the use of negative space in photography, removes distracting elements from your page and leads the viewers’ eyes to what you want them to see. And in this case, it’s your reel. Keep this in mind when designing your blog. They’re here to see your work, so try to keep your website’s design as simple — but as undeniably you — as possible.

Tell A Story With Your Reel

Now that you’ve got your site in order, let’s talk about content. While it’s entirely ok to upload all your clips in any order, remember that editing dictates your audience’s overall experience. The great Alfred Hitchcock emphasizes this as he breaks down his iconic scene from Psycho, saying, “You could not take the camera and just show a nude woman being stabbed to death.” Instead, he masterfully uses cuts to highlight the parts where the action lies: the head, the hand, the torso, and the curtain. This is what you have to do with your reel. Try to string together clips that are seemingly unrelated, and use them to form one cohesive piece that showcases your creativity.

Show Off Variety

Lastly, you’ll want to show off your flexibility as a filmmaker. Curt points out that somehow the world has convinced us that we should only be showing our best work as filmmakers, but there may just be some merit in showing off our versatility rather than flaunting the perception of perfection. Try to incorporate all that you can do in your reel, as your range will surely carry a lot of weight when it comes to gauging your skill.

It also helps keep to people interested and avoid stretches of monotony in your reel. So mix it up, throw in meditative shots along with your high-octane footage and you’ll surely show everyone that you are no one-trick pony.