My site is http://www.willcory.com I have a few pieces I have done so far on there.

I’m glad you’re getting alot of use out of this article. Great to hear. In response to your questions:

There are alot different ways public domain and copyrighted re-dubs could be taken, and I think its really up to the individual who is listening. While doing my first internship at a post-audio house in Minneapolis, a young sound designer with no professional work credits (exactly like myself) submitted a demo reel to the studio to get an internship. I of course couldn’t resist and watched it right away. The demo reel was literally the entire bank lobby shootout scene from The Matrix (approx 3 minutes in length). This unfortunately broadcasts right away that you either have no professional work to show or your redub of a scene from The Matrix is better than any professional work you’ve done. But remember, your potential future employer/client really (i think) cares about the quality of your sound design. If your redub of a scene from the Matrix sounds fucking awesome, they’re gonna hear that and your TALENT will be acknowledged. You also need to ask yourself, do want to have a demo reel with redubs or do you want to have no demo reel at all? The answer to this should always be: have a demo reel. There will be some fringe cases where you’ll land a sound design opportunity without the use of a reel. Things like: recommendations from friends, obscure networking scenarios, indie/student film directors, and theater productions all qualify. But most of the time, even when its an indie student film, with no pay, and the movie sucks, and you hate the way the director talks…you’ll still be asked for a sample of work before being hired.

I should also mention I got that internship in Minneapolis with a demo reel that consisted of 3 short films, 1 clip from a student film i worked on in college (which was horrible btw), and 2 short films that I made with my friends. I knew this was not ideal, but i was confident enough in my sound design work to put them on a reel I was sending to professional studios with large clients. I also had a cover letter and resume that went along with it that made my intentions very clear.

In terms of crediting or mentioning sound effects, I never did anything like that and I’ve never seen or heard of that being a faux-pas. If a large portion of your sound design was created from your own personal field recordings, you definitely want to mention that as it demonstrates your field recording skills and is just simply impressive in itself with all of the sound libraries that are out there.

I hope that answers your questions! Good luck Dave!

A few things I’ve always wondered is how do redubs of public domain and stock footage come across, if used in a demo reel?

And, if using base sound effects with an Attribution license, is it kosher to have a master list on my website, and add that link at the end of the video?

Some of us have to start small…

Thanks for the wonderful comments. Its great to hear that my tips and demo reel are doing some good.

Yeah, it is INSANELY difficult to get a “real” job in the sound design field. I myself JUST got a job as an audio designer for a video game development company called Volition located in Champaign, IL. It took over 3.5 years of slaving away doing freelance and applying for jobs. I applied to over 170 jobs (audio and non-audio related, including freelance gigs)from mid 2008 until September 2009 alone!

Keep up the hard work and never ever quit. If you want to work with sound and audio professionally, you have to be vigilant as hell and keep plowing forward regardless of how hopeless it may seem at times.

Good luck!

Kyle.

You are a sound for sore ears! Like most of the others on here, I am super grateful for your advice and demonstration of how to make an interesting sound design reel. Being a newly-grad in Chicago I thought it wouldn’t be TOO hard to find a job, but boy was I wrong! I am really looking forward to heeding your demo reel advice and applying it to my future employment endeavors.

Thanks a load,

Todd

Sorry its taken me so long to write back. When listing the credits for a favorite movie, it might just be obvious that you’ve replaced the original sound with your own if it was a big blockbuster that everyone knows. Regardless, you should put a disclaimer stating that you removed the audio from the scene and have replaced it with your own. Don’t worry about copy right infringement…people don’t make money off of their demo reels, they use it as a tool to get an interview. And you do not have to list the names of the people who did ADR…just that you know how to do it and that you did it in the clip in question.

Hope that helps. Good luck!