Lead with your strongest work
Your best moment should be in the first 5–10 seconds. Don't build up to it. If your reel opens slow, it won't get watched to the good part.
Open on a clear close-up of your face in a scene where you're driving the moment — ideally something with dialogue and emotion.
Keep it tight
Aim for 60–90 seconds total. Two or three strong clips beat six mediocre ones. Every clip should show you doing something different — a range of emotions, tones, or character types.
- Cut anything where you're not the focus of the frame.
- Trim setups — jump into the meat of the scene.
- Prioritize scenes with dialogue over silent reaction shots.
- End on a strong beat, not a fade to nothing.
Quality is non-negotiable
Every clip should be HD, correctly cropped, and free of platform watermarks or on-screen graphics. Mismatched quality between clips is the fastest way to look unprofessional. This is exactly why retrieving your footage properly matters.