Commercial Investment Real Estate November/December 2018 | Page 41

Sound TECH TIPS FROM A PRO Whether your videos are informal or formal, or take place on the street or in a studio, these guidelines will make them better. Visuals Many people don’t think about something as simple as their clothing. It’s more than looking nice and professional or relaxed and approachable. A common mistake is clothing that creates a moiré pattern — which comes across in video as shimmering, wavy, and distracting. “To avoid a moiré pattern, don’t wear any crazy patterns like herringbone, flannel, or checks — including stripes. They dance around the screen and are distracting,” says Valerie R. Castro, a filmmaker whose work includes videos of hundreds of live events as well as experience in the film industry. But solids have limitations, too. “Don’t wear black, because it is too harsh and sucks up the light,” she says. White tends to glow on camera and can become too noticeable on the screen. She considers blue the safest color to wear on TV, followed closely by pastels. Finally, if you are shooting outdoors, the best lighting is natural sunlight. “Shoot with the sun behind you,” Castro says, to make sure your subject will be lit evenly. Cloudy days are more challenging, but not impossible. When uploading videos to YouTube, Vimeo, or other video platforms, add tags to help search engines classify the file correctly. Use both general tags, such as “CCIM,” “com- mercial real estate,” or “real estate expert,” and tags specific to that particular video, such as “Forest Valley Mall,” “cap rates,” or “77 West Washington.” Don’t try to work the system by adding tags or titles that might attract attention, but don’t accurately reflect the con- tent. “It’s important not to stuff random keywords into your video title for the sake of appearing in lots of searches,” writes Amy Liu, a senior manager of content marketing, on the Vimeo blog. “If your video title and description do not CCIM.COM A video with people speaking is useless if the sound is bad. When filming outdoors, use a shotgun wind protection screen on the microphone to prevent background noise — such as wind and traffic — from interfering with the sound. Avoid wearing dangly jewelry, because it also is distracting and can hit your microphone, causing pops on the soundtrack. Finally, don’t speak too fast on camera. “You want your viewers to understand what you are saying,” Castro says. “Speak like you are having a conversation with a friend.” Hardware and Software The simplest way to get started is to use your smartphone to film. It won’t give you Hollywood quality, but it works. But for a bit more, the Canon VIXIA HF R800 at less that $300 is a “user-friendly compact HD camera,” Castro says. “Just point and shoot.” For $700 to $850, there’s the Sony FDR-AX33 Handycam, she says. A 4K ultra HD camcorder, which is higher resolution than normal HD, is easy to use. You’ll capture some great visuals with its ultra-high definition, but “you must have a fast and powerful computer to import these large image files.” Once you’ve shot the video, use a video editing software program to cut, finesse, and tweak the video, including adding text overlays and titles. Good video programs for non-experts include iMovie for Mac, Vegas Movie Studio, or Adobe Premiere Elements, Castro says. Need Help? Video professionals can charge from $200 to $500 an hour. To save money, Castro suggests hiring local film students, who charge less and are always looking for projects for their resumes. accurately reflect the content of your video, search engines may penalize you.” Whether you are going after hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of viewers, video marketing can define you as a commercial real estate expert. It also can help you contact potential customers you’re not reaching via your other mar- keting and networking. Finally, it can be a fun and creative way to share your market knowledge with the world. John Zipperer is vice president of media and editorial at The Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco. Contact him at [email protected]. November | December 2018 39