How Homebuilder Brand Videos Help Sell Homes
How Can a Residential Developer Start Building Their Reputation? With Homebuilder Brand Videos.
How are homebuilder brand videos different from real estate videos? They don’t focus on an individual home.
They take a higher level approach. So instead of selling an address or a floorplan, they sell the reputation of the company that built the home. They position the homebuilder and what sets them apart.
For example, CityScape is not your typical real estate developer. It’s a socially-conscious company that believes home development should lift communities up, not drive existing residents away.
They focus on Atlanta’s intown neighborhoods, making affordable craftsman-style homes available to low-to-moderate income families.
Homebuilder Brand Videos for CityScape
To begin defining the CityScape brand, we created two videos—a homebuilder brand video that listed the amenities available in all of their homes, and a neighborhood video for their Preston Hills development.
For the Preston Hills video, I shot mostly outdoors, in early morning and late afternoon to capture the best light. Shots were planned around the available sunlight.
Parts of the development were only lit in the morning, while other parts were shot just before sunset.
Filming the Model Home
For the interior shots, I used a combination of natural light and softbox lighting. I wanted to give the scenes a sense of movement, so I relied heavily on my gimbal and slider to move the camera.
The point of the video, however, wasn’t to sell this individual home. The model would represent all of their homes.
This was a homebuilder brand video after all.
So I added callouts listing the home’s features, and used motion tracking to integrate the type into each scene.
I also looked for ways to add visual interest. For example, using a fisheye lens to shoot homes around a cul-de-sac. Or time lapse shots that feature billowing clouds.
In addition, I shot most of the exteriors in slow motion. That gave the footage an idyllic, dreamy quality.
Filming During a Pandemic
Telling CityScape’s story wasn’t easy, however, due to the restrictions from COVID-19.
Most of the neighborhood’s residents were sheltering at home, and unwilling to open their doors to outsiders.
So we filmed home exteriors only.
The model home became the “stand in” for the interior shots. It represents the interior style of all the homes.
All footage was captured with zero human contact.
Thank you to Robb Jones and Ralph Cook at CityScape, as well as to Propellant Media for bringing me into this project.
About the Author:
Harry Hayes is the owner and executive producer at Content Puppy Productions, a corporate video production agency based in Charlotte. Before starting Content Puppy, he spent 20+ years as an advertising writer and creative director.
