WEB SHOWREEL: What is it and why is it necessary?

Clients often ask us: How can a digital agency or web studio show their work in 30 – 60 seconds? So that the viewer likes it and wants to cooperate. Our answer to this question: we need a web showreel.

Showreel is a demonstration of the studio’s completed products: websites, landing pages, applications, design and layout. It can be a design layout from Figma, dynamically animated to the music; a screencast of a finished site or application superimposed on a 3D mockup of a laptop or smartphone. Showreel is more about visuals, so it’s worth showing the most beautiful works.

Case: Agency Seriousness

In 2019, we worked with the digital agency “Seriousness”. The guys create websites for small and medium-sized businesses: restaurants and bars, hookah, language clubs, pharmaceutical companies.

We started with the preparation of source codes: for some sites we recorded screencasts, for others we raised psd layouts of designs. About ten or twelve sites came out that were included in the showreel.

Any showreel looks dynamic only with the right soundtrack, so the first thing we did was buy the music. It took us two hours: the track had to fit the pace, style and budget – cost no more than 25-30 dollars. Next, we broke the track into segments – each scene went strictly to the beat. In modern editing, this technique is used very often: this way everything that happens looks more dynamic.

In the animation, we used camera spans with forward and reverse zoom. With the help of frequent angle changes and the project being shown, the video looks visually rich and not boring.

In addition to the main part of the video, we made a splash screen — an opener with the company’s logo at the beginning of the video, and at the request of the client showed it again at the end. These parts of the video branding are not mandatory elements of the showreel, but can always be present in it.

“Seriousness” were satisfied. The guys have inserted a showreel on their website, and periodically write to us if their clients need our services.

By publishing a well-composed showreel on the site, you demonstrate:

• The level of your work
• The amount of showreels
• Love for your work: a good master always has something to show
• Respect for and care for site visitors: it’s easy to spend thirty seconds of your time and evaluate your level

What criteria should be followed for the selection of material?

We recommend showing the work you are proud of. Did you make a cool design, come up with an interesting animation of the elements? Great, record a screencast. Have you made a website with good typography? Great, this needs to be shown in the showreel!

Who wouldn’t like the web showreel format?

First of all, those who lead large, large projects, where design and layout is far from the first place. These can be online stores, aggregators, thematic services in a narrow niche, where the essence and not the form is important.

What can be done in such a case?

Make a showreel with infographics! We will show your progress in the form of animated graphs, charts and columns. The viewer in an accessible form will see the entire amount of work done. The resulting video can be used in project presentations, in an article or in case studies on your website.

Summary

A web showreel is a video that presents your work in one minute. It is easily perceived by the viewer, demonstrates the level of production and the amount of work performed.

In our Based studio, we often face the task of presenting a digital agency or studio. In this case, we recommend that clients order a Web showreel.