Lights, Camera, Action - Houzz TV Comes to Leyden Glen Farm

In January, I got an email from a man named Rick. "Hey Kristin. I work for Houzz. We are starting a TV section on our website. Would you be interested in us coming to your place to shoot a video?" Evidently the story about our brightly colored and creatively decorated farmhouse that came out on the Houzz.com website way back in September 2012 has been very popular with their readers. 

Discussion happened over the dinner table. We all decided that HouzzTV sounded like a good opportunity for our little sheep farm and my creative business. I responded to Rick - and we talked about a date. We decided upon the beginning of May and then I promptly forgot about it. Sometimes things like this crash and burn and never happen. Best to not worry about it and see if it will happen as the date gets closer. 

Well, it did happen. On May 13, Rick Spence and 3 crew members arrived bright and early at the farm. The plan was to make a video about our farmhouse, our family, and how I decorated our place with all the patterns and colors. It took two days and hours and hours of filming. I took some photos (when I remembered) and they are below. 

If you had ever asked me if this all could have happened here at our little farm, I never in a million years would have thought that this kind of opportunity would arise. The video is live now over on the HOUZZ.COM website. Next week it will be posted to YouTube. I will then ask you all to share it with your friends and family. (Waiting til it is on YouTube will help me monitor the numbers of views). 

Hop on over here to the Houzz.com website to check it out. You may have to scroll down a bit to look for the VIDEO link. We're all in it - me, Julia and Mark. It is pretty cool, I must say.

More photos and filming story at the farm continues below.......

It was a beautiful day. 

Rick arrived with 3 other men from California. Rick had promised me a good professional job and I trusted him. You may remember his name if you are a fan of HGTV. He was the Host of a show called Curb Appeal several years ago. To say that he was a great guy would be an understatement. 

It's always a tad bit uncomfortable when you are meeting and greeting people you don't know early in the a.m. and knowing (or not knowing) what to expect. There was a videographer named Danny, a sound engineer (whose name I cannot quite remember), and Alex who was a TimeLapse photographer and DRONE camera specialist. Yes, you read it correctly - DRONE. 

They all checked our home out and Rick came up with a plan. First off, I was interviewed for 2 hours in the living room. (As opposed to still photography, there are a lot of lights needed for the camera. It is fascinating to watch this kind of production happen.)

Rick was very professional - as was his team. He sat on the couch and fed me questions. I answered them. After the interview, they filmed and filmed and filmed more. 

It was a gorgeous day - with high billowing puffy clouds. Alex set up his camera in a bunch of different windows and did time lapse photos. They explained to me that they are very effective in video (and they were right). The camera is set to automatically take photos every 5 to 10 seconds for about a half hour. You can learn more about that here over on YouTube. The result is beautiful and the still photos can be incorporated into a video. 

After lunch, Rick asked Mark if he would mind having the dogs work the sheep. This was the first time the drone camera was used and I could not wait to see it work. Here are the three men watching the drone and hoping for the best with the sheep and dogs. 

Here is Alex flying the drone. 

Alex used an iPad mini attached to something that looked like joy sticks from a gaming console. I am not really clear how it all worked but the thing lifted off the ground and began flying around. It has 4 propellers on it and works similar to a helicopter. Alex flew it around using the joy sticks to move it different places all the while watching the iPad to see what he was getting. 

Here is a close-up of the Drone Camera sitting on the couch. This gives you an idea of the size of it. About the same size as Vera the cat. 

Amazing, huh? Nessie (our older collie) was the dog moving the sheep and she got tired so we stopped. We all ran back in the house and they downloaded it onto Rick's computer. 

The footage was okay but it was decided to try Kate work the sheep the next day. In the video, you will see both Border Collies Ness and Kate and Winston our Great Pyrenees Guard Dog. 

Here are some more photos of Alex flying the drone down our little road. Before lift off.

Action shots of the drone camera. Pretty cool, huh? 

Alex worked so hard - filming all kinds of angles all day long. He took hours of drone footage and very little was used. It certainly did add to the feeling of the video. And he had a fantastic time doing it. So very fun. 

Mark was interviewed outdoors. Rick told me he did a great job. Then late in the day, when Julia came home from school it was her turn. They put a mike on her and we fixed her hair and threw on a pretty pink sweater. She did a great job and you can see her in the video. 

She was a bit shy and tongue tied but she is 16 years old. It's not every day that a farm kid has this kind of experience.

Thank you Julia and Mark for putting up with my craziness. 

Three cats watched all the action from the kitchen island. 

The next day, it was all about the house. We began with another interview of me talking about the way I decorated our home off camera. It took about 45 minutes and I was not filmed. 

Next up, it was the farmhouse's turn for glory. Fortunately, my photographer friend Rikki Snyder had volunteered to come for the day. She and I styled each room, moving the clutter and making the house presentable for the world. Danny filmed many angles as we moved on to the next room, getting it presentable. 

Our house isn't very big and it is a real place with real people living in it. Any occasion like this takes an inordinate amount of work to stage it for the camera. To say I was exhausted at the end of each day would be an understatement. 

The results are really good and it was totally worth the work and disturbance to our daily lives. Now for the world to discover our beautiful little place in this little corner of Western Massachusetts I hope you enjoy watching and listening to the video. And thank you Houzz!

Here's the link to the video. Next week, I'll give you the link to Houzz's YouTube channel so you can help me spread the word.  Have a great day everyone!