If the IM is the steak, the video is the sizzle.
The very idea of a property video is that it’s a hook, a sizzle, a wow piece to make a potential buyer read the information memorandum (IM). Buyers may be less inclined to take 30 mins to read an IM to initially see if it’s an opportunity they want to pursue. They probably get heaps of them.
The first step is to get the prospect interested in the IM itself. We take the key points from it and put them into a standard video structure. The structure of the video stays the same, but because of that structure we are able to make the video creative, dependable, and reliably impactful. Once we’ve got the basic messaging, we then follow our proven video roadmap.
Establish the city first. Buyers are all over the world, we’re familiar with Australian cities, they may not be. If we watch a video about Chicago, we’d want it clearly established upfront, with a famous skyline for example. Australian cities are no different, the Opera House, Federation Square, a sweeping coastline. Something iconic.
Next we move closer. As we move closer we establish where in the city our property sits. Motion graphics may be used to point it out; a light beam, a glimmer, something that draws the eye to it.
We then move closer still. It’s at this point we get the reveal shot. Even a fireworks display has three acts, and property videos are no different. Right now we’re at the end of the first act: the reveal.
We’ve established where the property is and now we see the building. This is where we move from the air to the ground to showcase the exterior of the building before moving to the interior. Inside, using a short montage, we get a sense of what the interiors are like, we dwell on nothing specific but keep things moving so we get a sense of how modern the building is, the light & space, the atmosphere and culture of it.
Now that we’ve established the building we move out to showcase the lifestyle of surrounding areas. The key point here is to make it look bustling, aspirational and vibrant, to reassure the buyer that this building is in a desirable area that’s central and on the rise.
Next we’re back up in the air, but this time with a far wider scope so we can point out surrounding infrastructure and place the building at the center of it. This includes things such as trains, main thoroughfares, tourist attractions, shopping precincts & future developments. Sometimes when you're selling an asset it’s the asset itself, as is the case with A-Grade buildings. Other times it’s about the location itself and what a building could potentially be. In this case we find it helpful to track in a 3D model, a visualisation of what the building could be in the future. This may not be fully developed yet but, with a disclaimer, we can still give a sense of the development potential and look to the future.
Once all of this is done, we bring the video to it’s crescendo, going backwards through the edit showing key hero shots one more time and building to a powerful close, leaving the viewer with a sense of excitement and opportunity.
A great property video should last around 90 seconds, show the buyers enough to get them excited but leave them wanting more.