Showreel
We built a platform for cinematographers to display their work online. In the movie and advertising industry a good DP needs to present their work quickly to impatient agencies and producers. Traditional websites are cumbersome to build and maintain and other website building platforms were bloated, leaving a gap in the market for a more slim-lined approach.
How the idea was formed
We had been commissioned by a well known cinematography agent in California to develop a website for one of her clients. We worked with Eric Schmidt to build him a simple but effective presence on the web which would help him get noticed when competing for work. After the successful launch of Eric’s site we were approached by other cinematographers on the roster. After developing and launching another four sites we began to notice a consistent pattern in the requirements, they all seemed to want a very similar suite of features.
This got us to thinking about the potential for building this into a niche product. Showreel was born from the idea of providing an easy way for professionals in the movie and TV business to upload, preview and share their work online in a portfolio style website.
Early interviews
Arranging a number of one-to-one interviews with the existing clients on the roster enabled us to dig a bit deeper and helped to validate the need for a product like Showreel. We were also able to touch on the most pressing needs that would have to be met from the application if the roll out was to be successful. This let us build a priority list of needs:
Reliable, secure video delivery.
Fast and easy uploading of content.
Clean and simple designs for templates, something that makes the videos stand out.
Ability to share work whilst on the move.
Share protected content safely.
App architecture
By decomposing the existing patterns, which became apparent when developing a variety of sites for professional cinematographers, we were able to piece together a structure for the app which could be used as a starting point for managing the content and delivering the sites.
Interface sketches
A great way to play with concepts and ideas is to initially work with very rough sketches, these are easier to experiment with to get the main flow of the application into focus. Part of the reason sketching works so well at this stage is it’s throw away nature, we aren’t so precious about holding on to something that only takes a minute or two to complete.
Showreel brand
We developed a neutral colour palette and a clean, simple logo as a complimentary device. The scheme needed to transition easily into the product and not conflict with the video content.
Showreel website
We kept the initial design and content for promoting Showreel to a minimum, the site contained all the basic elements our customers needed to help them make a decision. Features and pricing were the most important elements to get right, before launching we interviewed cinematographers to gain validation on the pricing strategy and understand the most important features and how these should be presented.
The product
Delivering just the right balance of features to entice new customers as well as keep our existing customers happy was a challenging task. We produced a good foundation for building on over time, whilst also making necessary trade-offs to ensure we got the product to market as quickly as possible.
The first pass at a sign up flow was a very simple single screen, we opted to get them into the application as fast as possible. This worked well and we could guide them through the initial steps once they were onboarded.
The editing interface
Our idea for the app was to keep the editing experience as simple and fast as possible. For this we opted for a preview screen on the right with all of the editing controls on the left hand sidebar, whilst editing the content the preview would update automatically upon any changes.
Theme design
The design of the themes was crucial to the success of the application, these had to be simple but very slick in the design and layout. We wanted to provide enough variety to kickstart the product, but also not suck up a large amount of time making too many themes before which could delay the launch.
