Bob Richardson
February 5th, 2014, 11:32 AM
I'm adding real estate videos to the types of productions I do.
Last week, I shot this:
141 Del Prado (v1 - r1 - no logo) on Vimeo
It was shot entirely on a single GH2 (stock, not hacked) with a Lumix 12-35mm "X" lens.
Edited in Premiere Pro.
The majority of the shots are ungraded, however there are a few noticeable times when I had to boost the shadows and you can see macroblocking and other artifacts. For example, near the beginning right after we go through the front door, there's a pan of the large living room. I stopped this down so everything would be well-focused, which required boosting the ISO, and I limited overall exposure so that the wall sconces didn't get blown out. This however crushed the shadows. The limits of dynamic range, but we can't all have Arri Alexas for home tour videos. :-) (But maybe a BlackMagic pocket cinema camera?)
The day was overcast during the time when most of the downstairs interiors were being shot, so I used battery-powered LED lights on stands, set to daylight temp, outside the windows to give the impression of daylight streaming in. By the time I got upstairs, real sunbeams had emerged and the problem again became a balancing act between blown highlights and crushed shadows.
Inside, lighting was sometimes supplemented with the same LED lights adjusted to a tungsten temperature.
An inexpensive 32" slider was mounted on the tripod to create a sense of constant motion and changing perspective. (If we don't change the perspective, then the point of a motion video is lost, may as well just so a slideshow of stills.)
A number of the shots were sped up. Normally in my production work I find myself wishing that a shot was longer or a pan was slower. But for these videos much of what I shot was too slow/too long. I found that anything other than a pure doubling, however, introduced terrible artifacts as uneven numbers of frames were omitted. (Yes, one could spend hours with a retiming utility or plug-in). Next time I will repeat my camera moves at a variety of speeds.
For future productions I'm going to try and talk my clients into not having text... I find that it draws the eye away from the very thing that's supposed to be showcased, and the only way to combat this is to include more or longer shots, which makes the whole video longer. Everything a homebuyer needs to know about features is in the listing description, the video can serve to just give an impression. Voiceover could solve the problem but can also be distracting in its own way, and add to the costs of the production.
As I do more of these, I'll be looking for ways to improve workflow and minimize the time for shot setups. What do people think about using steadicam-like devices instead of fixed-location shots? Too dizzying for the viewer? I'm also considering a motorized pan head to get predictable, repeatable moves at various speeds.
Feedback and critiques are appreciated.
Last week, I shot this:
141 Del Prado (v1 - r1 - no logo) on Vimeo
It was shot entirely on a single GH2 (stock, not hacked) with a Lumix 12-35mm "X" lens.
Edited in Premiere Pro.
The majority of the shots are ungraded, however there are a few noticeable times when I had to boost the shadows and you can see macroblocking and other artifacts. For example, near the beginning right after we go through the front door, there's a pan of the large living room. I stopped this down so everything would be well-focused, which required boosting the ISO, and I limited overall exposure so that the wall sconces didn't get blown out. This however crushed the shadows. The limits of dynamic range, but we can't all have Arri Alexas for home tour videos. :-) (But maybe a BlackMagic pocket cinema camera?)
The day was overcast during the time when most of the downstairs interiors were being shot, so I used battery-powered LED lights on stands, set to daylight temp, outside the windows to give the impression of daylight streaming in. By the time I got upstairs, real sunbeams had emerged and the problem again became a balancing act between blown highlights and crushed shadows.
Inside, lighting was sometimes supplemented with the same LED lights adjusted to a tungsten temperature.
An inexpensive 32" slider was mounted on the tripod to create a sense of constant motion and changing perspective. (If we don't change the perspective, then the point of a motion video is lost, may as well just so a slideshow of stills.)
A number of the shots were sped up. Normally in my production work I find myself wishing that a shot was longer or a pan was slower. But for these videos much of what I shot was too slow/too long. I found that anything other than a pure doubling, however, introduced terrible artifacts as uneven numbers of frames were omitted. (Yes, one could spend hours with a retiming utility or plug-in). Next time I will repeat my camera moves at a variety of speeds.
For future productions I'm going to try and talk my clients into not having text... I find that it draws the eye away from the very thing that's supposed to be showcased, and the only way to combat this is to include more or longer shots, which makes the whole video longer. Everything a homebuyer needs to know about features is in the listing description, the video can serve to just give an impression. Voiceover could solve the problem but can also be distracting in its own way, and add to the costs of the production.
As I do more of these, I'll be looking for ways to improve workflow and minimize the time for shot setups. What do people think about using steadicam-like devices instead of fixed-location shots? Too dizzying for the viewer? I'm also considering a motorized pan head to get predictable, repeatable moves at various speeds.
Feedback and critiques are appreciated.