Analysing work portfolios

Casarotto Ramsey and Associates' portfolio is a well-executed and expertly managed site. The organisation of the portfolio allows viewers to quickly and cleanly navigate their way through the various works that the organisation has produced.

What I found effective was how they displayed their productions. An eye-catching frame from the production paired with the title of it and - on the majority - extra information such as a general release date and on what platform it's being released on. When clicking on the production that has intrigued you, you're taken to a new page and are given even more information such as a trailer, the writer, director, producer, editor, and many other miscellaneous roles.

Something that I found extremely helpful was the large collection of clients that they have worked with in a compact list that is organised alphabetically, by role, and by the umbrella that they worked under (film and TV, theater, below the line). It allows the individual using the site to look through all the clientele. As an individual interested in screenwriting, this setup gave me the opportunity to look through their database and look into each person's works, giving me a general idea of their inspirations and their methods. Having such a large collection of professionals in one space is useful for people who are unable to find portfolios made by people in a specific job.

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Dan Crinnion is an editor who has worked on the likes of Killing Eve, Beowulf, Critical, and No Offence. His website is presented very professionally, with links at the top of the site taking viewers to all the shows that he has done editing work on. On the homepage, he offers a short introduction to him and his work. Arguably his most popular work is Killing Eve, and so he made sure to include banners and images of the show featuring the copious reviews that reveal how well-received the show was, backed by the multiple award nominations that it, the actors, and actresses starring in it has gotten.

To the side of his website, he has included an archive of all the posts that he has created on his site that the viewer can use to navigate through his posts much more efficiently. They are sorted by month and year which is the best decision as if he chose to get anymore detailed by including the date, the archive would become too cluttered and messy, and if he only used the year then the posts would be too vague and broad.

When looking further into the tabs at the top of the site, he offers the viewer many varying clips of his work for them to watch. This allows the people researching him for inspiration or possibly a work opportunity to see what his editing style is.

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David Katznelson is a director of photography and has worked on many large title productions. His portfolio is much like that of Casarotto Ramsey and Associates' portfolio. He features a number of his works on the main page, with a frame from each production as the corresponding photo, and when the viewer hovers their mouse over the photo they are given information about the production such as the title, director, and season that he worked on if it is a TV show.

Katznelson's portfolio is very visual, which is clearly reflecting on his profession as director of photography and a cinematographer. I, as a more writing-central person, wouldn't use this style in my own professional portfolio - however, this doesn't mean that this style isn't effective as it is showing what his personal filming methodology is. This makes it easier for employers to decide whether they wish to contact him or not. 

I like the simplicity of his portfolio with the black background and yellow writing that stands out against the aforementioned colour. With such little detail regarding his portfolios design, the viewer isn't distracted and can focus solely on the work on the portfolio.

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To compare each portfolio to one another, I liked David Katznelson's portfolio the most. With how simple looking the portfolio is, there was no confusion about anything. The black background also helped to reduce eye strain, as the other two portfolios that I mentioned here have very bright backgrounds. The font on each website is easy to read, however I feel like the font used on Casarotto Ramsey and Associates is the hardest to decipher as it is a very soft looking font, whereas the other two are more sharp. The size of the text is also quite small to make up for the copious amount of writing on some of the pages on that portfolio, so it can become even harder to read. Out of all of them, I liked Dan Crinnion's layout the most as he included an archive on the side of the portfolio which separates his posts into clear time periods.