GH3 My very first Real Estate shoot

Ianscreations said:
Please provide feedback:
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Nice images but I have two issues.

One is that I didn't get a sense of the whole house and how rooms interconnect.

The second is that I find panning side to side, down to up with the wide angle disconcerting. I haven't done one of these types of projects but my feeling is that a mixture of static wide angle shots for a wide view, complemented by panning with a "regular" lens would serve the sense of the space better.

Otherwise, looking good (as I said, these are just personal preferences).

Best of luck with future projects.
 
I agree about the distortion from the W/A lens. That would work better for static shots and dolly/tracking (slider) shots but all interior lines distort so much when panning or tilting that it can become a bit distracting. It felt just a tad long as well.

All-in-all nice work and I'm sure that through trial and error you'll figure out a system that works well. Very nice start though!
 
Thanks guys. I fully agree with your feedback.

I agree with the problems with distortion while panning/tilting. The problem is that my next widest lens (12-35) could not capture the space of the entire room. I'm not sure how else to show the room without a wide angle. If it were a static shot, it might as well be a picture (there was already a photog there). Suggestions?

I like the idea of using the wide angle to establish the room and then perhaps swapping to the 12-35 for the pans/tilts.

How would you suggest showing how the rooms interconnect? Short of glide-cam work, or 180 degree pans, I'm not sure how to achieve this. But this was a big goal for me, so I'm sorry to hear I failed.

This house will also have a photography slideshow so I wanted to have a lot of dynamic elements to the video to differentiate it from the stills. I agree I probably overkilled it.

Next time I will definitely use the wide for establishing static/slider shots only.
 
Beautiful home. Much nicer experience than anything I'd find on any of the real estate websites like zillow/trulia. Agree with the wide angle on pans but overall I think the quality and lighting were excellent. As far a length I think it's fine, when I'm house hunting I want to see as much of the home as possible, especially before I make an appointment.
 
First, I haven't done a video of this nature but have been researching this because I'm interested in getting into this field.

my thoughts:
"If it were a static shot, it might as well be a picture"- Have something moving in the background. Steam from a pot, TV on , ceiling fan on.

I would also invest in a steady cam. I got very lost looking at your video. Its nice to have a sense of direction in the house.

my 2 cents



 
"If it were a static shot, it might as well be a picture"

Having very, VERY slight camera movement will do wonders compared to a still frame or even a static shot. I do agree that the pan and tilts with the WA were a bit off-putting. Use your own home to practice your technique and you'll nail it.


Also,

One of the best ways to get the "flow" of the house is to tour the house with the Real Estate agent. For their in-person tours, they've already mapped out a plan to best show the home.
 
MurtlandPhoto said:
"If it were a static shot, it might as well be a picture"

Having very, VERY slight camera movement will do wonders compared to a still frame or even a static shot. I do agree that the pan and tilts with the WA were a bit off-putting. Use your own home to practice your technique and you'll nail it.


Also,

One of the best ways to get the "flow" of the house is to tour the house with the Real Estate agent. For their in-person tours, they've already mapped out a plan to best show the home.
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Unless it is a million dollar home or a newbie agent….they won't spend 2 min with you.
Most agents take photos with their iPhone and don't care or understand why
they need to market a property properly.
Plus there are hundreds of firms that market properties
and many have exclusives with the larger real estate companies.
Most of the photographers that work for these firms work for peanuts.
They are lucky if they get $50 per home…..
That is the reality. You can probably break in if you have some
contacts or friends who are real estate agents.
To be honest with you, I had better luck doing tours
for apartment complexes.
Most real estate agents hate spending money to market a home.
They slap it on the MLS and scurry to fight hundreds of other
agents to get the next listing. The listing agent very rarely shows the home.
The buyers agent is the one that gets the feet in the house and they
have nothing to do with getting a home marketed…...
 
This is a great first effort. I really liked your slider shots. I agree with the others on the wide angle use in panning. Also some of the shots were a bit long in run time.

As for the flow of thee house, yes phyiscally walking the floor plan with a steadicam would do it. But what about some simple lower thirds titles to describe where we are in the house? "First Floor Powder Room", upstaris hallway put "24 ft hall leading to 4 BR and 2 Baths".

I love the idea of adding motion thru objects -- steam from a pot, ceiling fan. What about also adding actors? A group of men in the family room watching football. Husband and wife cooking in the kitchen. Teens in the basement... You can have the actors appear and disappear in the shot to show the room empty and lived in.
 
sigamy said:
This is a great first effort. I really liked your slider shots. I agree with the others on the wide angle use in panning. Also some of the shots were a bit long in run time.

As for the flow of thee house, yes phyiscally walking the floor plan with a steadicam would do it. But what about some simple lower thirds titles to describe where we are in the house? "First Floor Powder Room", upstaris hallway put "24 ft hall leading to 4 BR and 2 Baths".

I love the idea of adding motion thru objects -- steam from a pot, ceiling fan. What about also adding actors? A group of men in the family room watching football. Husband and wife cooking in the kitchen. Teens in the basement... You can have the actors appear and disappear in the shot to show the room empty and lived in.
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Those are all great ideas…..I would love to see the real estate agents face when you quote them $2500 for a video full of stedicam shots and actors…..heh, heh….
On the sale of a $300,000 home the sellers agent would gross about $9000 and then they have to pay the agency fee and other costs so they could net
about $7000 and then depending on income and where they live would be paying 12-50% taxes on that $7000 - so net net might be $6000-$3500???
Most real estate agents struggle to make 35K per year…..only the top producers crack the $100K mark…..
Most of them take their own photos and many pay a service about $250 for a total marketing package.
Believe me, I spent 10 years chasing this market and made some inroads but it was a daily struggle
to overcome the cheap services. I had hundreds of agents who "offered" me a chance to get their business
by doing a freebie up front…..I did many freebies that went no where.
 
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awomias said:
Hi Ianscreations. I do quite a number of real estate films. Here is one of mine. Shot with 3 GH3's and GoPro Black and original score. Enjoy! https://vimeo.com/80237286
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Very nice! I loved how you used the lady as a vehicle to show the house and take you room to room. This is an ideal real estate video in my opinion. It differentiates itself from photography and showcases the home in a dynamic way.
 
awomias, i love the video you posted here. a fresh approach to the real estate video game! i will check out some of your other videos in detail when i get time. the drone shots did not go unnoticed.

but allamuchy to NYC in an hour? ????? with all that 80 traffic? Sweet mansion though.

i've seen some other creative approaches to real estate videos using actors (good looking couple) if i can find the link i will post it, it was a while ago.....wait, here it is:
https://vimeo.com/61381578

well i thought that one was cool because they left the house to show the surrounding town.

I think Shrengost nailed it though.....you're squeezing blood from a turnip when you do the math. These agents aren't making much. I'd say sure, do these vids, but not exclusively. Milage may vary from region to region.
 
Scott F said:
Milage may vary from region to region.
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Precisely!

Most agents I have spoken with have zero time to discuss but at least some of them see a value for certain properties, provided YOU can do all of the work for them. Their livelihood depends on sales. If you can convince one to proceed and what you do increases sales for them then they will see the value in it. Prior to that it is a tough sale (to realtors).
 
Well I know from experience (we tried to sell our house last summer) the realtor wasn't paying the photographer s***. And she did a pretty good job from the photos I saw.

I recently shot & edited a real estate video that was narrated on camera (too awful to post here after seeing friggin' drone footage) a mixture of stills and video. I'm pretty sure it did the trick in terms of selling the house, but the budget was LOW.

They can be fun (maybe that's pushing it) to shoot and edit, but like I said, all eggs not in that basket.

Doubling back to the OP.....I think your video was OK for a first outing, but that lens is just too wide & distorted. (Unless that is some kind of wacky Funhouse for sale?) To me it almost looked like still images with a warp/distort effect applied in post.
EDIT: the push-in shots are hot....the panning & tilting are killing it for me.
 
awomias said:
@MichaelSchrengohst - been using drones for the last 3 years!! This is one I did of a $4 million home, 14,500 sq ft on 160 acres ... https://vimeo.com/77721060. Also check this one in my previous post ... https://vimeo.com/80237286. You can get over $5000 for real estate films ... just have to be in the "right" market!
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Yep, that is it…..When you have a market where it takes some pushing to get a listing noticed then agents will spend the money…..when you can make a $100,000 commission…..$5K is not that much….
 
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