Wow! What a crazy month it has been here for me. Over the past few weeks I traveled several thousand miles to share as a social media speaker at many events around the country. One of the more popular presentations I have done recently has been on video in real estate. In that video I share several video demonstrations on various tools & tips. Things like the importance of using an external microphone, using tripods, etc.
I think these video tips are fairly important and could be useful to others, so I will be sharing these short video examples and tips over the next few weeks here on the blog. Today I am sharing tip 1 for creating better real estate video.
Getting The Right Indoor Video Shot
The biggest issue I have seen in most indoor real estate videos has to do with the camera position. Too many times I see the shot focusing on the windows of a room and shooting directly at them. While it is important to point out the lightness & brightness inside a room caused by a window when trying to sell a home, if you try to convey this the same way in your video that you do when physically in the home with a buyer you end up with all kinds of problems.
Because there is so much brightness, many ignore turning on the lights in the room to try to keep the shot from being over exposed which causes problem one. Then you have the unbalanced amount of light as you pan the room. Most cameras can not adjust fast enough as you pan so you end up with part of your shot looking fine, part completely washed out and then another segment that is so dark you may think you are in a real estate cave. Not to mention the fact that it looks like the room changes color from tans to yellows to grays to whites.
You can spend hours in the editing booth trying to adjust color and exposure in your shot causing you to want to pull your hair completely out. While this option is available, there are others that are much easier. The angle you choose to shoot your video at can fix all these issues almost instantly.
Instead of shooting your video directly into the windows with no interior lights on, move the camera to the other side of the room near your windows. Turn on the interior lights and begin your video shot there. By doing so you will see a more consistent amount of light across your shot without the white balance & exposure changing as many times as a chameleon.
Here’s a quick demo video from my recent presentation on Real Estate Video Basics:
Jeremy,
Because I live in Colorful Colorado I like to take pictures of rooms but focusing out the window at the view. After all a small bedroom is just that a small bedroom. Thoughts of doing this? Good idea? Bad idea?
I think if you can get your ISO adjusted properly for a still photo that it can be very beneficial. Unfortunately on video though, it’s a much more difficult thing to do.
Excellent website. Lots of useful information here. I am sending it to a
few friends ans also sharing in delicious. And obviously, thanks for
your effort!
Thank, Jeremy.
Thanks
a lot for sharing. You have done a brilliant job.
I like your job!