video tour

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A-two
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video tour

Post by A-two »

This is my friend's site. www.bobmcinnis.com/house Her new video tour took my breath away. Whatever tech failings it has are more than compensated by the friendly personal touch and just about the most comprehensive tour I have ever seen anywhere on any house. Have we discussed the pros/cons and how to do this on another thread? Interested in your views.
Waves from America
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Normandy Cow
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Post by Normandy Cow »

Joanna,
I have tried to view the video, but it just says "connecting..." and has done for the past 10 minutes. Is it maybe that there are too many people trying to view it at the same time?

It's funny that you should bring up this subject, because yesterday I was almost going to do the same because I came across a really good video tour on www.canchy.com - and I would like to do something similar for my website! There are a couple of things I would do differently though - it's a bit long at 7 mins, and I would try to ensure that the women doing the cooking are a little more attractively dressed than the ones wearing the slobby old leggings in the Canchy one. (If the owner of Canchy is a member of LMH then I apologise for being so rude!!!). Also I'm not sure about the woman wandering around wrapped in a towel on her way to the bathroom!

But all in all, I think it is a really good little film, and can only enhance their website and must influence people to book.
Last edited by Normandy Cow on Fri Jan 06, 2006 9:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
alexia s.
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Post by alexia s. »

"it just says "connecting..." and has done for the past 10 minutes" - then it warns you that the connection is not secure & asks if you want to go ahead. (I didn't, but some people might take more risks than I do.)
Best,
Alexia.
A-two
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Post by A-two »

alexia s. wrote:"it just says "connecting..." and has done for the past 10 minutes" - then it warns you that the connection is not secure & asks if you want to go ahead. (I didn't, but some people might take more risks than I do.)
It's absolutely fine from here, tried again just now and no prompt saying connection is not secure. What's that supposed to mean anyway? Email isn't secure either. When I log in to the site, the first frame of the movie is in the frame, click play and it runs instantly. If you have any more problems, please let me know and I'll pass it on.

The "Petit Canchy" video is a good contrast, thanks for posting it, being a completely different thing altogether. The house is well dressed, lush even, with very staged, rather stilted photos, that have a painterly quality and high, professional, production values, even end credits. What I question most is whether it's a good idea to show people in such graphic detail living an idyllic (for some) life in the house. I don't want anyone to tell me how to live my life. For me, it's far too graphic, and if I don't happen to have a small child, a dog, lots of friends and a passion for cooking and classical music, it's hard to imagine how I could possibly enjoy my time there. By the time I finished watching, I felt that I was very much in someone else's private space in which I would be intruding if I stayed there without them! (sorry to the owner if reading this). I couldn't agree more that I could live without having seen the images of rumpled bedsheets and an almost naked person getting into the shower.

By comparison, Pam's video is a simple home movie, very few edits, in fact most of it is done in one take, starting at the front door, following her around the house from room to room, then down to the beach and marina. You get to see exactly how long it takes to get there even! No frills, no staged photos, no music, she ad libs all the way describing features as she walks around. The camera work leaves something to be desired (sorry Pam) and swings through various exposure changes that don't help represent the interiors, but that's the style of it, very unpretentious and natural. I expect she plans to redo the exteriors when there are leaves on the trees, but overall, I think it wins over the Petit Canchy. First, it does not present you with expectations of how you are supposed to spend your time in the house, neither unforgettable images of someone else getting into the bath, and it's a more honest and accurate representation, essentially being a sneak preview of how she shows guests round the house at the Check In.

Personally, I'd go for something different from either of these two. They both have good points, but given the choice and taking my bias into consideration, my vote still goes for the less pretentious every time.
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Post by alexia s. »

Joanna,it's next day here and the video actually starts now ... but it stops every 5-10 seconds & I have to wiggle the mouse till it restarts. I gave up after the tv reference.
I use a mac - but so do other humans.
Best,
Alexia.
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Post by alexia s. »

What an amazing video(Canchy) - but I agree with Joanna: it doesn't work. I think that this is very largely because the music
chosen is nostalgic, which makes us look back in time, when the whole point of presenting a holiday property is to make people look forward in time. Nostalgia is about loss & regret & I found this film very sad, if beautiful. I want to be excited about planning a holiday, not sad. Maybe Woody Allen would rent this house ....... but he might not be the ideal tenant.
Music is SO powerful (this is why it is banned in countries with oppressive regimes). Whoever chose the music for this video knew that it was lovely but didn't think further than that.

Small, important point: I would never put people in a video. If the viewer can't identify with them the house won't be as attractive. e.g. I was quite comfortable with the people in the French video (maybe because they didn't speak?) but very uncomfortable with the owner in the American one. I couldn't identify with her - so what are the chances that I would be comfortable in her home? Low, I would think!
Best,
Alexia.
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Normandy Cow
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Post by Normandy Cow »

I too have now been able to view the American video.

Wow! What a contrast between the two - we certainly have both ends of the spectrum!!!! I have now decided that my goal for this year is to produce a video for Le Gaillon, which will fall roughly in the middle-ground between these two.

1. It will be much shorter - 2 minutes max - I don't want people to lose the will to live before they get to the end!

2. I agree about how personal music can be - but I have to say that I prefered the dreamy music on the Canchy video to Pam droning on about televisions and thread-counts on the sheets on each bed in each bedroom! (Sorry Joanna, I'm sure your friend is a lovely person, but from this video she really did not inspire me to visit her house). I will have to find something which is both dreamy yet a bit more modern too and which will not offend anyone!

3. I will only include fleeting distant views of people in the background (if at all!). May include a couple of shots of the children happily frolicking in the garden but that's all. (And you will definitely not be seeing any shots of me wandering around wrapped only in a skimpy towel - Yuk!!!!).
mvus
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Post by mvus »

This is an interesting topic as I'm planning to offer video presentations as an optional extra to my photography service on my new holiday rental site for southern Spain.

I think the idea of having the owner showing someone the house is quite effective as you are far better off using nice photos if you are just going to show the house and rooms. The problem is would many owners feel confident talking to camera?

The use of hand held cameras is an absolute no no because it always looks amateurish ad makes people feel sea sick watching it and the second video was made using a tripod and electronic panning device which you can buy for about £120. I think 2-3 minutes is long enough as you can ramp up the quality without too long a download
A-two
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Post by A-two »

I agree with nearly all these comments, especially the need for a tripod and Alexia's astute analysis of the nostalgia music.

While I appreciate that length affects download time, so maybe best to keep it short for that reason, I don't agree that length is an issue per se. A 2 minute movie can send people to sleep as easily as one of 7 minutes, it all depends on content and pace. (I worked in film and tv production for many years). The audience are not sitting in a cinema seat unable to click delete and market research teaches us to keep people hooked as long as possible. I would have a full 30 minute documentary on my place and the surrounding area attractions if I could.

Most owners would not feel comfortable leading someone round the house, me included, and I agree that if you don't relate to the owner, it could be offputting. I would be willing to do a voice over interwoven with silence, sound effects, bird song for the exteriors etc. Music is tricky because it raises copyright issues, but if forced to pick a piece for my place, I would have to go for Billy Joel's New York State of Mind (also relevant because he lives locally and you may see him around.) Would that put some people off if their personal preference was classical? I don't know.
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Post by alexia s. »

I'm very much a classical music lover but I love all good music & I would prefer to hear something light for a rental presentation: classical music in this context is bordering on the silly, unless it's dynamic, jazzy, humourous.
Best,
Alexia.
A-two
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Post by A-two »

Oh yes, let's play "If your house were a piece of music, what would it be?"
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Post by alexia s. »

Joanna,
If you want an example of classical music that is "dynamic, jazzy, humourous" try "Golliwog's Cakewalk" - the game here is: "name the composer" (easy - just google).
I'd probably use Gershwin for our villa - it's about the right period, and it's the style I'd look for.
Best,
Alexia.
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Alan Knighting
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Post by Alan Knighting »

Up to this point I thought the advice for the design of websites was to avoid anything that moved or flashed or played music.

Now we have video tours and musak to accompany them. What’s going on?

Don’t get me wrong, I love music but I’ve already heard a lifetime of canned music while waiting for call centres to deal with me.

Vivaldi rules, OK?

Alan
chris mooney
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Post by chris mooney »

no alan..greensleeves
adventuruos chef about to embark on the his french culinary extraveganza!!!
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Alan Knighting
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Post by Alan Knighting »

Chris,

I would take your "poor" pictures and menus any day of the week.

Alan
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