Using Storyboards to Plan Real Estate Video Tours and Walkthroughs

Video tours and walkthroughs have become an essential marketing tool for real estate agents and homeowners looking to sell their properties. A video allows potential buyers to virtually tour a home or commercial space at their convenience without having to schedule an in-person visit. However, creating an effective real estate video requires thoughtful planning and preparation. Using storyboards in the pre-production stage can help real estate agents and sellers outline their vision and map out shot sequences before filming. 

What is a Storyboard?

A storyboard is a visual outline that lays out the scenes and sequencing for a video production. Storyboards are composed of a series of images, drawings, or rough sketches accompanied by notes that describe the action, locations, camera angles, lighting, and other details for each planned shot. For real estate videos, storyboards allow agents and sellers to plan exactly what rooms, features, and views they want to showcase in the video tour. This helps ensure the final video flows logically and highlights the most appealing aspects of the property.

Benefits of Storyboarding Real Estate Videos

There are several advantages to creating storyboards before filming real estate tours and walkthroughs:

• Organizes shots. Storyboards help map out which rooms and areas will be featured and the order they will appear. This provides a clear roadmap for shooting.
• Maximizes creativity. Storyboarding allows time to visualize creative shots, camera movements, and scene transitions. This helps elevate production value.
• Refines the vision. Storyboarding gives agents and sellers a chance to refine exactly what they want to achieve before filming begins. This saves time and prevents missing important shots.
• Logistics planning. Storyboards allow agents and video crews to plan shooting logistics including equipment, lighting, and scheduling needs.
• Sets client expectations. Reviewing the storyboard helps get the agent and seller on the same page regarding the video’s content and style before shooting.

How to Create a Real Estate Video Storyboard

Follow these steps to start storyboarding your next real estate video tour or walkthrough:

• Choose a template. Search online for “real estate video storyboard template” or “storyboard template” to find and download a template that provides storyboarding frames and space for notes. Templates help you sketch and organize your planned shots.
• Map property route. Draw a rough floorplan and outline the route you want the video to take through the property from start to finish. Plan which rooms and areas to highlight.
• List planned shots. Make a shot list of the scenes you want to include such as: front exterior, kitchen, master bedroom, backyard patio, etc. Break it down by location.
• Sketch key frames. Draw simple rough sketches representing the key shots and angles you want for each location and scene. Don’t worry about being perfect. 
• Add shot notes. For each frame, include notes about what will be shown on screen, the camera movement and framing, lighting, transitions, and any other pertinent details to help communicate your vision to the camera operator.
• Refine order. Look over your sketches and notes and refine the sequential order of shots to create the best video flow that showcases the property.
• Confirm plan with client/agent. Review the completed storyboard with your real estate client or agent and get approval on the planned video content and style before filming. Ask for any revisions.

Having this detailed storyboard provides a clear creative and logistical blueprint for efficiently producing your real estate video tour or walkthrough. Essentially, it allows you to create your project vision with storyboard templates before you even start filming. Investing time in thoughtful pre-production using storyboards helps ensure you craft an engaging, high-quality real estate video.

Storyboarding is an essential planning tool for real estate agents and sellers looking to produce compelling video tours and walkthroughs of listings. So, before you press record, reach for a storyboard to bring your real estate video vision to life.