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Congratulations to Art Ibewuike, February 2024 PFRE Photographer of the Month! The theme this month was "Living Room or Family Room". Art Ibewuike - #895 Paul-Dan Dragoman - #898 Peter Wingfield - #900 Here's what Art has to say: Thank you so much for ...

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Congratulations to Ollie Paterson--November 2019 PFRE Videographer of the Month!

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Published: 03/12/2019

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Congratulations to Ollie Paterson from San Diego, CA, who has won the November 2019 PFRE Videographer of the Month Contest! Here is Ollie's winning video. Ollie also won the April 2019 VOTM contest with this great video.

There are many conflicting opinions on the value and purpose of real estate videography/cinematography but regardless of your stance, you have to appreciate the time and effort these folks put into their projects. The production value of videos in this contest has grown leaps and bounds over the past few years. I'm sure the homeowners and clients (realtors) were ecstatic with each and every one of these videos. Congrats to everyone and keep up the great work!

Here's what Ollie had to say about his win:

"Thanks to Brandon and PFRE for running this contest, and to the PFRE judges for the award. It really means a lot. I feel like I get a lot out of entering this contest each month. It is always great to see other films for inspiration and it helps me strive for a better shoot/edit. If anyone wants to reach out for any reason, hit me up on ollie@olliepaterson.com or on IG @olliepaterson_pics. Thanks team!"

Quick facts about this video:

  • Shot on Canon 5D Mark IV with Ronin-M Standard pic profile, no C Log.
  • Lens 16-35mm f/2.8 and 50mm f/1.2. DJI Mavic Pro.
  • On location for 1.5hrs; 4 hours editing on Premiere Pro.
  • Shot for a Realtor in Rancho Santa Fe, CA.

PFRE Videographer of the Month Winners:

Brandon Cooper

16 comments on “Congratulations to Ollie Paterson--November 2019 PFRE Videographer of the Month!”

  1. Yes, Joe...indeed you are. At least with me. What more did you need to see? There is enough in that video for me to want to go and actually experience it in real life. Well done, Ollie.

  2. @Joe, you might be alone. Stunning video, loved it. Sets the home apart as a work of art. Nice work Ollie!

  3. Ollie, congrats on yet another VOTM win, well done! There are a many things that I admire about your work. Most important (to me, anyway) is your commitment to brevity and focus. In 60-90 seconds, you paint a picture of a potential *lifestyle* that might await me, if I were to buy the home. IMO, this is always a key element in effective marketing of the property. Some would have you believe that a boring, self-indulgent, self-narrated, shaky, hand-held video walking from room to room for 3-4 minutes, reciting facts (that are obvious in a simple photo!) is what RE video should be about. Well, I don’t need to have a videographer pointing the camera out the window and doing a fast pan, just to show me what’s east, south and west in the neighbourhood. I want a video that gives me what’s always in YOUR videos: lifestyle, key features and most importantly, creating a desire to want to visit the property to see more!

    Well done, Ollie, I love your work and just want to say, “Keep doing what you’re doing!” because I think you’re rocking it! Congrats again!

  4. Reality check - this is a slide show with music and motion effects. If you had seen the stills, what did this "video" accomplish?

  5. Ollie, I love your pace... sometimes videos feel like they overshare and thus turn an interested buyer away before seeing the property in person, or try and keep an audience captive for too long (boring!). This was just right, and the soft focus foregrounds on the pans are wonderful. Very watchable and mood-setting. (@Joe - your "reality check" comment made me watch the video, and I totally don't understand where you're coming from here...)

    Congrats on the win!

  6. Ollie crushing it as always, congrats on another well-deserved win! Dude those golden hour colors! So good!!! A ton of fantastic shots in this video. That birds eye pool shot, and the shot through the flames into the bedroom transitioning to the next bedroom shot... crazy good. Perfect pace throughout. Some of the best color grading I've seen in a RE vid. The only problem is now I don't want to deliver this craptacular video I'm editing. Inspiring work Ollie!

  7. And Joe, you're not an artist so of course you don't get it. Duh. You are however a fantastic narrator, and your videos serve a purpose. But it's the whole apples and oranges thing.

  8. @Dana – I'm not competent to judge these videos from the standpoint of a professional photographer – I lack the technical skills and the vocabulary. I come at them from what I've learned through 40 years of feedback from buyers, renters and Realtors as a real estate developer, home show proprietor, publisher of print and Web-based publications, and producer of more than 4,000 videos on YouTube.

    The silent film era ended in 1929, and consumers don't want it back. Muzak and its successor went bankrupt, due in part to consumer irritation with the product.

    People watch a video with the expectation that they'll learn more about a home and its location than they would from seeing still photos. Give them the equivalent of a slide show with music and they feel baited-and-switched. That's not a good feeling. Worse yet, if they've seen half a dozen of that type of real estate "video," they're likely to stop watching and miss the few useful ones. PFRE is poisoning the well for genuine video by handing out participation trophies to useless ones.

    You say "overshare." I say, spare buyers from wasting time on homes that don't meet their basic expectations on bedroom and bath count, # of garage spaces, flow for entertaining / family time, etc. Spare Realtors time wasted showing homes to disappointed buyers – that was a primary objective of almost all of the top-producer Realtors that bought my videos.

    @Tony "… reciting facts (that are obvious in a simple photo) …" Spend enough time in homes with actual buyers and renters answering questions about what they see in front of them, and you'll have a different perspective on this.

    @Scott - Not an artist - and don't want to be.

  9. Most of us that operate in the luxury home market create photos and video for the agent and their brand... to win the next listing. Reality check - video at this level isn't about the home buyer!!

    Nice job Ollie,
    Matt

  10. @Matt - Your walk-throughs are nicely done. With an informative, conversational voice-over in lieu of music, they'd useful for buyers and for selling agents in a variety of ways.

    Reality check - many buyers are also sellers. Some of them will view the typical real estate video as negative branding for the agent, and will be disinclined to retain them as either a buyer or seller agent.

    In order to enhance their brand and win a listing, an agent is going to have to explain to sellers how the video helps market their homes. What are they going to say that an intelligent seller will believe?

    Video is a very different medium from photography. Effective real estate video is a multi-faceted topic, and I see it being viewed at PFRE from a narrow, navel-gazing perspective.

  11. @ Joe... OK, I was going to leave things alone after your reply to my comment earlier today but after reading your unbelievably condescending reply to @Matt’s comment, I felt that I needed to take a break from my “navel gazing” to offer a retort.

    First, I am not a big fan of your video work. I’ve taken the time to review a good number of your videos and they simply do not resonate with me, in the least. I do not say this from a place of malice or judgement, as I’m not in a position to judge--after all, your approach has clearly worked for you, insofar as you’ve delivered 4,000 videos to your clients. I respect that. What I’m having a really hard time with, Joe, is the manner in which you offer your comments. They are written with a tone that seems to indicate a belief that your preferred way to do RE videos is not only the best way, but is the only way to do RE video. I believe with every fiber of my being that there is *always* another way of doing something. Ollie’s approach is one such way; and in the same way that your approach has worked for your clients, Ollie’s approach has worked for his.

    However, the biggest reason why I felt so compelled to comment this month--and the thing that is most troubling to me--is the timing of your comment. Joe, you are most certainly entitled to your opinions, including not being a fan of Ollie’s winning entry. That said, to use the announcement of his win to denigrate his work by saying it is “a complete waste of video’s potential and a home buyer’s time” is so offensive to my sense of decency, that I find it galling. At best, it was inappropriate; and, at worst, it showed a complete lack of class and grace...just so discourteous to Ollie. What’s worse, is that it wasn’t even a valuable and constructive critique of Ollie’s video; it was simply a mean-spirited statement that only serves to highlight a close-minded pettiness, aimed at someone who has won an award for creating a video with an approach that’s different than yours!

    Much like in the PFRE photography contests, the video contests are getting increasingly more difficult to win, as the bar keeps getting raised in the field. Ollie should’ve woken up with the opportunity to savor and relish his accomplishment, and been given the time to read the many well-deserved notes of congratulations from his peers. Instead, he had to read your despicable comment. It was not cool to say what you said, when you said it, and I think that as a 40-year professional, you should’ve known better!

  12. @Tony – I don't recall ever suggesting that my approach to video is the only way to do it. Virtually everyone here has technical skills and artistic sensibilities that are far superior to mine, and I've seen many real estate videos over the years that are far better than anything I'll ever do.

    Instead of focusing on what you view as my "mean-spirited statement" and "close-minded pettiness," how about responding to the substance of my critique of the slide-show with music approach to video?

  13. I think there are two main philosophies with real estate video - document the property, or capture the feel of the property, evoke a mood. I have this conversation with clients on a regular basis.

    @Joe, I think you’re very clearly coming from the documentary side. It’s a valid approach and one that most real estate brokers default to. After watching your videos, there’s no reason to look at the photography or read the brokers verbiage about the listing. Viewers get everything they need. It’s a successful approach in many ways.

    As I was learning video, a wise and grizzled shooter gave me a great piece of advice. Sell the sizzle, not the steak. Obviously this takes the approach of selling an emotion and hoping it’s enough to trigger a buyer to call the real estate agent - even if they haven’t seen every nook and cranny of the house in photo or video already. Part of our job is to get people in the door, or pick up the phone, and let the agent work their magic. Taking a less literal approach is also successful.

    A client of ours commented that showing every aspect of the property (including Matterport type coverage) works agains the agent since buyers don’t pick up the phone. Buyers think they understand the property and then move on to the next listing unless it seems to be a perfect fit.

    Who knows, maybe that’s a more efficient use of a real estate agents time, but since they’re hiring us I’d prefer to get their phones ringing.

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