The filming rhythm.

Pre-job shot, stage anchors, sealing the receipt. The cadence that turns work into a digital receipt.

1. 01

   Pre-job intro shot · 10–20 seconds

   Before you touch a tool, frame yourself horizontally and talk to the camera. Your name. Your business. The job in one sentence. The address. Yes, the address — this is the homeowner's receipt, not a public reel. Estia seals it to their account; nobody else sees it unless they share it.

   Sample intro

   “Hey, I'm Marcus with Marin Tile Co. I'm at 412 Larkin Street for a master bath surround rebuild — demo today, waterproofing tomorrow, tile Wednesday. Let's get into it.”
2. 02

   Stage anchor points · one clip per milestone

   Every meaningful milestone in the work gets its own clip. You don't need one long video. You need a clip that opens with what you're about to do, shows you doing the parts that matter, and ends with the result. Most stages are 2–8 minutes. A few will be 30 seconds. None should be 45 minutes of you and a compressor.

   How the stages look · 3 trades

   Tile bath

   • 01Demo · old surround out, walls inspected for rot
   • 02Waterproof · membrane laid, every seam banded on camera
   • 03Tile lay · pattern dry-set, then mortared in
   • 04Grout & seal · grout colour, sealer applied, final wipe

   Electrical panel swap

   • 01Site visit · existing panel, label every breaker before you touch it
   • 02Power-down · meter pulled, voltage confirmed dead
   • 03Install · new panel mounted, conductors landed, torque-marked
   • 04Inspection · city sign-off, panel directory filled in, walkthrough

   Roof tear-off

   • 01Tear-off · old material removed, decking inspected for rot
   • 02Underlayment · ice & water at eaves, synthetic across the field
   • 03Install · shingles or shake, fasteners shown going in
   • 04Ridge & flashing · flashings stepped in, ridge cap on, drone walkaround
3. 03

   Show the work · three beats per stage

   Substrate before, install on camera, result. The before shot lets the homeowner see what changed. The install close-up earns the trust. The result frames the next stage. Skip any one of the three and the receipt feels thin.

   What not to do

   • Time-lapses from across the room. They prove nothing.
   • A wide shot of the whole bathroom with no close-up on the material going in.
   • Filming the cleanup but skipping the install. The install is the receipt.
   • Vertical video. Estia accepts it, but the receipt reads as unprofessional.
4. 04

   Seal the receipt · the closing clip

   Before you pack up, do a slow walk-around of the finished work, horizontally, narrating. If the trade calls for it — leak test for plumbing, breaker-by-breaker for electrical, water test for roofing — film the test. If the homeowner is on site, walk them through it on camera and let them say one sentence. That clip is gold; it's the closest thing to a video review you'll ever get.