Here I am going to look into 3 major companies from both Animation and Game, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar and Riot Games.
Walt Disney Animation Studio Requirements:
As like any job the company wants you to include, a resume and a cover letter but of course since its animation they want to have a show reel and a break down list to go with this.
Most of the time I have heard show reels should be around one minute and no longer than two minutes, but Disney is different and requests a show reel between 3 -5 minutes long.
The website listed key things that should be included in the show reel, and what they look for within each of those key items. For example I'm very interested in character animation so looking at the animation part of the document I would want to include variation of scenes with different types of acting and movement, and of course include a break down sheet of where the rigs, props etc. are from.
All screenshots taken from: http://www.disneyanimation.com/careers/application
Pixar Requirements:
Pixar have an extremely detailed and helpful page about how to create a show reel that is perfect for them, so I will just highlight some of the key points they make about creating one for them.
Again when applying they ask for the same things as WDAS, Cover letter, Resume, Show reel and the break down of the show reel.
Pixar requires that the show reel be no longer than 4 minutes, so slightly less than what Disney required.
When putting in footage into your show reel, do not make a collage of work, they want to see that piece of animation as a whole and not cutting into lots of smaller pieces dotted around the 4 minutes because it wont make any sense.
Background music. WDAS didn't mention this on there website so it was interesting to see what they had to say about it. Keep it BASIC! As they said on the website, they tend to turn it off so you don't even need to have a soundtrack because its not important, its all about the animation.
How to order your work is very important (again Disney didn't mention this) but put your best work first because the person watching your work isn't going to want to keep watching all 4 minutes if the first 2 minutes aren't your best, you have to hook them in to keep watching.
Taking time to polish, this is point 9 on the website and I think an extremely important one. Using common sense about what looks good and appealing the the person watching, just make sure it looks clean and don't like something you threw together and point 11 says that if you don't have any stuff to put on a show reel, don't send it in. They don want to see work that isn't that impressive or incomplete, you have to remember this is what will get you the job at the end of the day.
Screen shots taken from: http://www.pixar.com/careers/Creating-a-Demo-Reel
Riot Games Requirements:
Riot games is a lot different from the previous two, but I still thought it would be interesting to look at because they are a big inspiration to me. I looked into two different sets of requirements (each different job had a different set), I have looked at Animator and Character Rigger.
Animator:
Riot give a brief introduction of what you are required to bring to the job if you were to apply so here as the animator they say you will bring life into the character, you can read more in the screenshot below, but that pretty much sums it up.
http://www.riotgames.com/careers/animator
Character Rigger:
Show Reels:
Here I have picked out some show reels that I think work well and I shall explain why after each one.
Adam Green:
Watch original here: http://vimeo.com/18003309
I originally saw Adam Green's show reel when I went to Annecy in 2013, this animation has stuck with me and inspired me every since. After doing all this research I thought I should go back have a look at why it works so well and fits in with the guide lines.
He has clearly placed his best works at the front (the scenes from Tangled), it opens with good humor and movement showing straight away what sort of character animator he is. Green's opening title is short and snappy but you can easy remember where it was in the video and didnt take up too much time.
Anselm von Seherr-Thoss:
Watch original here: http://vimeo.com/67227563
I picked this one just because I like how he referenced what he did in each shot of the animation, making it clear to all the people who are watching. Pixar mentioned doing something similar to this when making a show reel because sometimes they can lose track of where they are on the break down sheet and this can relocate them quickly.
Jorge Garcia:
Watch original here: http://vimeo.com/51115623
This show reel I really liked the mixture of work because you could see their professional work and the work they have done in there free time as well. It was also a good demonstration of a break down sheet (was included in the description) so I found this helpful for later when I will need to write my own.
Puppetworks Studios:
Watch original here: http://vimeo.com/54365061
I picked to include this studios reel because I thought it really did show case their skills, it showed a variety of characters and how each character had unique movements and animations.
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