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Kodak Video Challenge - Lake Oconee Waterfront Home Tour

By
Real Estate Agent with Coldwell Banker Lake Oconee Realty and Lake Country

Getting my entry in at the last minute!  This is a tour of a luxury waterfront house for sale in Reynolds Plantation on Lake Oconee.  Reynolds Plantation is consistently ranked one of the top golf communities in the United States.  Condos and houses start mostly in the 300's and go up, up, and away from there!

Click at the bottom of the video and watch it in HD!

I had help from my fiance on this one.  We used a Kodak Zi8 camera, a borrowed lapel mic, a tripod, a wooden dowel fashioned into a crude stabilizer bar, and Adobe Premier Elements.  I found the tunes on royalty-free music sites across the web and we made the "Marge at Large" intro using Google's free Sketch-up program.  This first attempt took FOREVER but now that I've done it once, the next video should be easier.

I had no idea how difficult it would be to condense a 5,000 sq ft house into less than 4 minutes.  I considered leaving out the 3D intro and my "star" appearances in order to fit in the whole house but I feel like creating my "brand" is important.  Plus, your viewers get to know you through your videos.  I'll probably remake the video a little longer for my website and show the parts of the house I left out.  In my opinion, someone who is serious on their hunt for the right house on Lake Oconee will be happy to sit for a full five minutes watching a video. Shorter clips may get you more views, but will they get you quality views?

Some challenges:

- bathrooms!  Much like a still camera, it's really difficult to get good shots of bathrooms on video

- lighting  I don't care if you turn on all the interior lights, these little cameras have trouble dealing with light coming in from the outside.  it changes the video and makes it look dark inside.  i would have closed the curtains, but with a lakehouse the big thing is the view!

- embed  So I used the HD embed but then I had to downsized the actual video to fit on the page. How do I get it to automatically default and play in 720p?

If this first video is any judge of things to come, I should amass a great set of clips for a blooper reel!  I'm not the most graceful person in the world and on top of all my tripping, laughing, and choking, I even managed to break the front door knob!

Hope you like it!

 

Margie Kopp

Coldwell Banker Lake Oconee Realty

http://www.margeatlarge.com

"This post is written as a submission to the ActiveRain Kodak Video Challenge contest. I have the chance to win the KODAK PLAYTOUCH Pocket Video Camera, great for realtors looking to 
create wide angle home tours and real estate marketing videos!"

 

Eric Robbins
New Rulez Marketing, LLC - Orinda, CA

Good video - I like how you did the narration while walking down the path. Good luck in the contest.

Eric Robbins, Chief Storyteller

CityTourVideo | Look Ma! | MoveVideos

Jan 29, 2011 06:24 AM
Marianne Howell Wright
Triangle Area Real Estate - Chapel Hill, NC
Triangle Area Real Estate, Cary area & Chapel Hi

Margie, I can't believe it was your first video! I loved the sketch up intro. A good intro is so important and you were smart to get that done up front so all of your videos will have your brand.

Jan 29, 2011 09:09 AM
John Novak
Keller Williams Realty The Marketplace - Las Vegas, NV
Henderson, Las Vegas and Summerlin Real Estate

Hi Margie - Really like your intro and ending on-camera segments. For a house this big, I would probably just hit some of the interior highlights and then the great views of the lake from inside and outside (and I know exactly what you mean about lighting challenges). Good luck in the contest!

Jan 29, 2011 05:12 PM
Cynthia Larsen
Cotati, CA
Independent Broker In Sonoma County, CA

Excellent video, Margie. You do very well on camera, very photogenic. This should be a really good marketing tool for you. And I know what you mean about challenges, I just about pulled my hair out.

Jan 30, 2011 10:20 AM
Melissa Zavala
Broadpoint Properties - Escondido, CA
Broker, Escondido Real Estate, San Diego County

Margie: I landed here because Craig Daniels mentioned your video in his blog today. Cool.

May 01, 2011 02:54 AM
Margie Kopp Sorrell
Coldwell Banker Lake Oconee Realty and Lake Country - Greensboro, GA
Lake Oconee Real Estate

Melissa-thank you for taking the time to check it out. It was my first attempt at a video for real estate and I learned a ton through the trial and error of the process. Hoping to do videos for each and every listing I get which is a big commitment as they take a lot of hard work and time. Worth the efforts though!

May 01, 2011 03:01 AM