The Power of Long-Form Video
The “fly-through” video has become ubiquitous.
So what’s next?
Our latest project was with a team that’s selling a truly unique home: over two centuries old and with a pedigree that spans four generations of power players. It housed a Vermont Governor, a Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court, and even hosted Calvin Coolidge during his presidency. They’re looking for a specific buyer with capital and an appreciation of history.
Luckily, history like this is a desired commodity in New England.
However, these are things you just cannot convey with a standard marketing approach. Enter the power of storytelling through video.
There were so many incredible pieces that came together for this production - the ancient notebooks full of historic photographs, the on-site audio from the antique record player and original doorbell, the on-camera presence of Phyllis, and a healthy collaborative spirit between Prologue Productions and The Higgerson Team.
Our long-form approach stands against the typical hard-and-fast approach to real estate video (which certainly has its place), and the results speak for themselves. In less than a week, the film became their most-watched video on a Youtube channel full of great films.
What we love about this narrative approach is that it is versatile - it doesn’t need a historic home to work. The story could be in the architecture, the lifestyle, or the location. When you bring the human element back into the frame, the sky is the limit.
Not only is the story carrying the listing out to a huge audience - the sellers are delighted by the effort and investment being made by the listing agent.
Behind the Scenes…
Video like this is typically only done with much higher budgets and complex schedules, but the entirety of this production can be done with a couple people, a few hours of planning, one day of filming, and a week for the edit. The total budget for the film was $3,000, and an additional 60-second vertical cut for social media cost another $250.
We started by nailing down our strategy - what’s the value we can provide to the viewer, and how are we framing the property? After we determined that our goal was to show the pedigree of the property and imbue it with a sense of history, we next co-wrote a script and created a shot list, where we agreed on how we wanted the film to look and feel.
We determined that Phyllis, the Marketing Director of The Higgerson Team, would be the one to narrate, and budgeted how long we’d need to be on-site to film with that in mind.
While The Higgerson Team already had a great listing video, additional shots of the 7 bedroom home were needed to match the thoughtful approach we wanted to take with this story. We arrived at 10am, and wrapped up around 4:30pm.
Editing the video took about six working days of back and forth to finalize, with the majority of the cut having been finished in four days.
If you have a property worth the extra effort or are looking to differentiate yourself as a real estate professional in your market, reach out to see if a project like this is right for you!
