Madison Locations, Inc. - The Film Location Network

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HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH YOUR PROPERTY

A film company or photographer works to a deadline so when it comes to a choice between locations, it may well be the quality of your images as a deciding factor. Here are some photography tips to help you showcase your property's most filmable assets. Remember that you are trying sell the best features of your property – so shoot them clearly and cleanly.

Best practices for your photos:

We recommend using a digital camera to photograph your property, however, you can use a 35mm film camera and have the images developed onto a digital CD at your local drug store. There are also disposable digital cameras available for purchase at your local drug store, complete with detailed instructions on how to operate the camera and store digital images onto a CD. Please limit picture sizes between 320 x 240 to 1280 x 1024 pixels and under 100kb

# OF PHOTOS:

Generally, a home can be well covered in 10-24 photos.

What Photographs Should I Take?

You’ll need both outside & inside shots of your house, building or structure – unless you DO NOT wish INTERIOR filming. Here are some examples of the types of photos that will best represent your property listing.

Front Exterior Shot
Reverse picture from front of house looking out
Picture of living room looking into dining room
Hallways
Kitchen
Living room looking into other rooms
Living room with lots of light
Master bedroom
Back yard

EXTERIOR:

Start with the outside of your property and take a wide shot of the front of your house, the driveway and the backyard. Next, take a reverse shot from the doorway of the property looking out. And don’t forget the back side – take the same shots of the rear of your home or property.

INTERIOR:

We recommend that you turn on the lights, open the curtains, and pull up the blinds to capture the best possible lighting . Photograph in natural light whenever possible. Now, shoot the inside of the property, one room at a time. Try to duplicate the experience of someone arriving at your property and walking through it, room by room. You want to pay attention to spacious rooms such as living room, dining room, bedrooms, library, den, over-sized bathrooms, attic, or even a basement. Include a few tight shots of special features like high ceilings, unique doors or gates, woodwork, and antiques.

Make sure to switch places and photograph a "reverse", focusing on the opposite side of the room where you just stood.

A catalog shoot might put only a camera man, an asst. and a model together in the room. But on a bigger shoot, the room must be 30% larger than normal to fit both the camera, crew AND actors – or have a window or door leading to a yard or deck (the camera can shoot through the window or door.

BUSINESSES: Lobby and entry area, front desk, open work spaces, board room, restaurant, bar, banquet room, ballroom, hearing room, cellar, barrel room, cave, warehouse.

LOCATION “AS IS”: Many homeowners clean up their site – don’t bother unless it is to make the walls and perimeters more obvious, and makes photography easier for you. It’s always possible that your property is perfect as is, given the project storyline (imagine the rooms of the two very different characters in The Odd Couple – run-down and neat in the very same home). Besides, the production company will probably want to re-dress it.

Remember, each project has very different looks - imagine an MTV commercial, with a 17 year-old boy drinking milk out of the carton at a high-tech steel fridge, versus a Lands End catalog shoot with mom displaying new fall fashions in her country kitchen.

Saving your photos:

Now it is time to save your photos onto your computer. Make sure to place all of the photos in one folder and select the photos which are best. You will want to rename and number each photo so it will be easier to upload onto the website. example: "01single_front" and for the reverse of a photo: "04entrance_reverse".

Now your ready to post your photos. Register or login if you have already created an account follow the easy steps to create or edit your listing from the “My Account” area.