Visual Impact of the "moving camera"

You've seen it in almost every movie you've ever watched: the camera moves smoothly and deliberately, from an actor's face, to the woman behind him, and then pulls back while circling the couple at the same time, then, in the same shot, the camera turns, dropping to a low angle, and focuses on another woman approaching the scene. The camera doesn't jerk or wiggle; you feel as though you are there in the scene, as though the camera is your eye.

Filmmakers use a body-mounted camera stabilizer to accomplish this marvelous style of filming (the Steadicam is the original equipment developed in the early 1970s). Several years ago I added a steadicam-type rig to my equipment inventory, and found an immediate surge in demand for my "moving camera" work.

Real Estate Video Tour Pricing

Real Estate Video Tours

Examples of my Real Estate Video Tours:

Historic Ordway House, Warner, NH 

Country Cape, Warner, NH

Bartlett House, Warner, NH

Restored Victorian, Warner, NH 

 

Many videographers are now offering real estate video tours which are filmed by mounting the camera on a tripod at different fixed locations in a home and panning, tilting and zooming to show different features of a room. A good "virtual tour" using 360 degree software with still photos often can achieve much the same effect.

However, with the "moving camera", I film in real time as I walk from room to room, stopping to move the camera closer to examine a special feature, like a fireplace, and then moving back for a wide angle view before walking through a doorway to the next room.

The camera I use (Panasonic HVX-200) delivers a cinema-quality hi-definition wide-screen image, which holds its crisp, gorgeous colors even when compressed for the web.

There is no other filming technique which gives the viewer a better "feel" for actually walking through and looking around a home.

I can upload the tours to YouTube.com or any other website or video format. However, most of my clients ask me to use Wellcomemat.com to stream the video. Wellcomemat is a national real estate video website which provides an MLS approved video player for you to use in your listings. (In 2009 two of my tours were selected as top video of the week on Wellcomemat.com.)

The cost of a standard 4-5 minute real estate tour video is from $150-250. Voice-overs, titling, complex editing and other special features are priced by hourly rates.

Informational and Guided Video Tours

I've produced a number of short films for clients who want to give the viewer the sense of a guided or informational tour, during which the tour guide moves naturally through a space and speaks directly to the camera. I've also created several walking tours in natural environments which are particularly effective in putting the viewer into my shoes as I hike a trail or explore a an area.

Examples of guided tours:

New Hampshire Telephone Museum Tour

Deer Isle Shoreline: Haystack Mtn School of Crafts

High Line Park, New York City