Chapter 39 — Exercises

A reel is not shot; it is chosen. So these exercises train the two skills the chapter is really about — curation (deciding what is best and cutting the rest) and positioning (making the work findable and hireable). Many need no camera at all; the ones that matter most use footage you already have, from the three projects you built across this book.

Exercises are graded by effort and depth:

• ⭐ Warm-up — a few minutes; locks in a concept.
• ⭐⭐ Core — the real practice; do as many of these as you can.
• ⭐⭐⭐ Stretch — deeper or more ambitious; where the biggest gains are.

Model solutions and critiques for the starred and odd-numbered items are collected in Answers to Selected Exercises at the back of the book. Try each one before you read its answer — a curation call you got wrong teaches more than an answer you only read.

A. Seeing the reel (Eye & Ear Training)

These need only your attention and the eye you've trained since Chapter 1. This is the Frame Log's payoff — reading other people's reels the way you'll read your own.

1. ⭐ The ten-second test. Find three demo reels online (search "cinematographer reel" or "video editor reel" in your niche). For each, note the exact second you'd have stopped watching if you were a busy hirer, and why. Then note what their opening shot was. (Answer provided.)

2. ⭐ Weakest-shot hunt. Watch one reel all the way through and name its single weakest shot. Would cutting it have made the reel better? This trains the floor-not-ceiling instinct. (Answer provided.)

3. ⭐⭐ Read the arc. Watch a strong reel and map its shape: where's the hero shot, where do the cuts accelerate, where's the peak, how does it end? Sketch the energy as a curve. Does it match FIGURE 39.3's slow→fast→stop, or something else?

4. ⭐⭐ Cut-on-the-beat audit. Watch 30 seconds of a reel with the sound on, then again muted. With sound on, do the cuts land on the music? Muted, does the edit still feel rhythmic, or was the music hiding sloppy cuts? (Answer discusses what to listen for.)

5. ⭐⭐⭐ The niche read. Watch five reels and, for each, write the one sentence of what that person should be hired for, based only on the reel. Then find their actual bio/tagline. How often does the reel's implied niche match their stated one? Where they mismatch, which is more convincing — the words or the work? (Answer provided.)

B. Reading a reel (Read the Sequence)

6. ⭐ Picture the opener. Re-read FIGURE 39.1 (the first three seconds). Without looking, list the four things it proves to a hirer before a word is spoken. (Answer provided.)

7. ⭐⭐ Diagnose the field. In FIGURE 39.1, THE CUT holds the hero shot a full 3 seconds while the rest of the reel cuts fast. Rewrite THE CUT and THE EFFECT as if the reel instead opened with 0.5-second shots from the very first frame. What is lost? (Answer provided.)

8. ⭐⭐ Fix the timeline. Look at FIGURE 39.3. A student's reel puts the sign-off card in the middle (at 40s) and ends on a flurry of fast shots cut to black. Name both problems and the fix. (Answer provided.)

9. ⭐⭐⭐ Write your own reel-open. Take the single best shot from your three projects and write a full seven-field Described Shot (Frame, Move, Light, Sound, Cut, Effect, Lesson) for it as the opening three seconds of your reel. Be specific about why it earns the watch. (Model answer provided.)

C. Curating (Curate This)

The heart of the chapter. This is where the reel is actually won.

10. ⭐⭐ Run the funnel. From all three projects, do the full FIGURE 39.2 funnel: everything → "could show" (genuinely good) → "must show" (proud to sign) → your final keepers. Write down how many shots survived each pass. If you kept more than ~10 at the end, run it again. (Guidance provided.)

11. ⭐⭐ Pick the hero. From your keepers, choose the single best shot — the one that opens the reel. Then defend it in one sentence to a skeptic: why this one first? If you can't defend it, it isn't your hero. (Answer discusses how to judge.)

12. ⭐⭐ Kill three darlings. Identify three shots you love but that aren't among your genuine best, and cut them from the reel. Write one sentence on why each hurt to cut. This is the Chapter 29 muscle (🔗 §29.6) lifted to your whole body of work. (Model answer provided.)

13. ⭐⭐⭐ Two reels, two lengths. Cut your keepers into a 90-second reel and a 30-second reel. Which is stronger? (Usually the 30 — because it forced harder choices.) Write what the 30 taught you about the 90. (Answer provided.)

14. ⭐⭐⭐ The coherence pass. Lay your chosen shots end to end (no music yet) and watch. Where does it feel like "three different people made this"? List every seam — a color clash, a tonal jump, a pace break — and note the fix (a unifying grade, a re-order, a cut). (Guidance provided.)

D. Cutting the reel (Cut This)

Use any editor (DaVinci Resolve is the book's reference from Ch.26 on, but any works).

15. ⭐⭐ Music first. Choose three licensed candidate tracks of different energies (driving / warm / cinematic). Lay your hero shot against each. Write which one your work "wants" and what that says about your brand. (Answer discusses the choice.)

16. ⭐⭐ Cut to the beat. Take your chosen track and your keepers and cut a rough reel where every picture change lands on a downbeat. Then deliberately push five cuts off the beat and watch. Describe the difference in feel. (Answer provided.)

17. ⭐⭐ Build the sign-off card. Make your end card: name, niche (2–3 words), one contact. Hold it 4–5 seconds, legible, with the music resolving under it. Screenshot it. Would a stranger know how to hire you from this frame alone? (Model answer provided.)

18. ⭐⭐⭐ The full reel. Assemble the complete 60–90-second reel: hero first, accelerating build, peak on the crest, sign-off card, unifying grade, 1–2 sync sounds, mastered to ~-14 LUFS, captioned. This is the Production Checkpoint. Export it and watch it on a phone. (Guidance provided.)

19. ⭐⭐⭐ Add the audio proof. Into your (possibly music-only) reel, place exactly one crisp sync sound that proves you record clean audio — an interview line delivered well, a real camera-move whoosh, a detail sound. Where you put it, and why there? (Answer discusses placement.)

E. The portfolio and the site (Fix the Shot & Build This)

20. ⭐ Above the fold. Sketch (on paper) your one-page portfolio using FIGURE 39.4. Mark what a hirer sees before scrolling. If your reel isn't in that zone, redraw it. (Answer provided.)

21. ⭐⭐ Fix the site. A described portfolio: a splash animation, then a menu, then a "Work" page, then a project grid, then finally — three clicks in — the reel, hosted as a downloadable file, with a login wall on client pieces. List every gate and its fix. (Answer provided.)

22. ⭐⭐ Get the link. Stand up an actual home for your reel — a free video-host profile is enough — and produce one shareable URL. Open it on a phone. Does it play instantly, inline, captioned? Fix whatever doesn't. (Guidance provided.)

23. ⭐⭐⭐ The mobile audit. Open your portfolio page on a phone and time how long until the reel plays. Check: is the text legible, is the contact tappable, does anything require pinch-zoom? Write a three-item fix list. Most hirers are on a phone — this is not optional polish. (Answer provided.)

F. Niche and brand (Worksheet)

24. ⭐ Footage tells. List the six shots you're proudest of across all three projects. What subject, feeling, or kind of story do they have in common? That commonality is pointing at your niche. Name it. (Answer provided.)

25. ⭐⭐ The intersection. Fill in FIGURE 39.5 for yourself: what you're good at, what you love enough to keep making, what people pay for. Where do all three overlap? If nothing does yet, which circle needs to grow? (Model answer provided.)

26. ⭐⭐ The positioning sentence. Write your one sentence in the shape "I make [format] for [who] that [feeling/outcome]." Read it to someone and ask, "who should I meet?" Revise until they can name a real person or business. (Model answer shows strong vs. weak.)

27. ⭐⭐⭐ Brand consistency check. Look at your reel, your portfolio page, and your most recent three social posts side by side. Do they feel like one person? Name every inconsistency — color, tone of voice, values, the kind of work shown — and write how you'd unify them. (Answer provided.)

28. ⭐⭐⭐ The generalist trap. Write the generalist version of your bio ("I shoot weddings, corporate, events, real estate…") and the specialist version (one niche). Show both to two people and ask which they'd hire and for what. Report what you learned about narrowing. (Answer discusses the expected result.)

G. Getting hired (Settings Drill & Scenario)

29. ⭐⭐ The tailored ask. A restaurant owner messages: "Saw your stuff, might need a video." Write the reply — one link, a specific reason to watch a specific part, and a clear next step. Under 80 words. (Model answer provided.)

30. ⭐⭐ First-portfolio plan. You have your three projects but no paying clients. Write a concrete 30-day plan using the chapter's moves (second-shoot, spec piece, low-rate-for-a-case-study). Name a real business you'd make a spec piece for. (Answer provided.)

31. ⭐⭐ Reel specs drill. For each destination, write the reel's starting specs (length, aspect ratio, where it's hosted, captions): (a) your portfolio page; (b) a vertical-first social platform in your niche; (c) an email to a corporate producer. (Answer provided.)

32. ⭐⭐⭐ Plug the leak. Using FIGURE 39.6, honestly diagnose your funnel: which stage leaks most right now — presence (nobody finds you), reel (they find you but don't convert), or conversation (they're interested but don't hire)? Write the one change that would plug it. (Answer discusses each leak's fix.)

H. Interleaving (mixing prior chapters)

The reel is a synthesis of the whole book. These deliberately pull earlier skills into the reel context.

33. ⭐⭐ Shoot for the reel (Ch.1, Ch.20). On your next shoot of anything, grab five extra detail/insert shots (🔗 Ch.20) with the reel in mind — the textures and small gorgeous moments that cut fast to music. Note how differently you shoot when the reel is the destination. (Answer provided.)

34. ⭐⭐ Rule of Six on your reel (Ch.29). Take three cuts in your reel and, for each, name which of Murch's six priorities it serves. Are your cuts serving emotion first, or just rhythm? Re-cut one to serve emotion better. (Answer provided.)

35. ⭐⭐ Grade for coherence (Ch.31–32). Apply one light unifying grade across all three projects' shots in your reel — matched blacks, a shared warmth. Compare before/after. Does it now feel like one hand? (Guidance provided.)

36. ⭐⭐⭐ The vertical reel (Ch.23). Cut a 30-second 9:16 version of your reel for a social platform, reframed to the safe zones and captioned for muted viewing (🔗 Ch.23). What did you have to change besides the frame? (Answer provided.)

37. ⭐⭐⭐ Deliver and archive (Ch.36–37). Export your reel as both a high-quality master and a platform deliverable (🔗 Ch.36), then file it into your project archive with a name you'll understand in a year (🔗 Ch.37). The reel is a finished deliverable — treat it like one. (Answer provided.)

I. Synthesis

38. ⭐⭐⭐ Teach it back. In about 200 words, explain to a beginner why "a reel is judged by its weakest shot." Use the curation funnel, the ten-second read, and one concrete example. Teaching a concept is the strongest test that you own it. (Model answer provided.)

39. ⭐⭐⭐ The would-I-hire-me audit. Show your finished reel and portfolio link to three people who work in or near your niche. Ask only: "If you needed this kind of video, would this make you call me — and what, if anything, gave you pause?" Collect the pauses; they are your next revision list. (Guidance provided.)

40. ⭐⭐⭐ The full front door. Assemble everything into one deliverable package: the reel (16:9 + a 9:16 cut), the portfolio URL, your positioning sentence, and a tailored outreach email template. This is your career's starting equipment — the thing Chapter 40 sends you into the world with. Put it somewhere you'll actually use it. (Guidance provided.)

When you have done these — especially the curation and cutting ones — you have crossed the last line in this book: from someone who makes video to someone who is hireable for it. Move on to Chapter 40, where we look up from the reel to the road, and plan the working life it begins.