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My family didn't get a TV until I was eight and even then, there were only two channels, both from Canada, one in French. As a thirty-something, I lived TV-free for five years. Fast forward to today: my house has three televisions, one is Wii-dedicated, the others haven't been turned on in months. So is it any wonder that the popularity of Youtube cooking demonstrations and the introduction of video blogs about cooking astounds me? I wonder, Is it the Food Network phenomenon? How easy it is to 'shoot' a video with either a quick Flip or even an inexpensive digital camera? I decided to look around at the state of video blogging in my blogging world, the food blog world, just to see what's up. Here's what I found.
These food bloggers produce and publish quality videos, some are 'vloggers' (video bloggers), others publish an occasional video.
So Good TV: Food & Wine with Heather Johnston
Heather is a chef, wine professional, mother, wife and indie filmmaker. Her personality really shines in her videos, she's all business (no chit chat) and competent in the kitchen, so the videos are both efficient and a pleasure to watch.
White on Rice Couple
Wow. Since the husband and wife team are professional photographers, it's no surprise that their videos are professional too. But the charm -- to me -- is that while the images are often spectacular, the videos don't seem like they're headed for television, say, they're perfect for the web, professional and casual and breezy all at the same time. These videos showcase more "production" and are often funny.
Elena's Pantry
Elena's videos are well-organized, packed with little tips that will be useful for beginning cooks.
Dani Spies
Dani has published a lot of "ingredient 101" videos. She's got a confident manner and is articulate on screen, explaining ingredients from start to finish.
Crash Test Kitchen
Lenny and Waz are 'two foodies with a video camera' -- their videos are casual and familiar, a husband and wife feeding one off the other, adding comments and occasionally disagreeing. Think what it would be like to have your sister- and brother-in-law show you how to cook something -- with British accents! -- right in your own kitchen. That's what Crash Test Kitchen is like.
Food Wishes
'Chef John' has a lovely smooth voice. The videos are full of how-to tips and variations.
Show Me the Curry
Anuja and Hetal are friends and founders of the online Indian cooking show. If Indian cooking seems overwhelming, their direct approach makes it all seem easy to cook. The videos are well-organized and direct, no chit chat!
SOME QUESTIONS, SOME THOUGHTS
So that's my list of good cooking videa blogs. But to find these seven blogs, I waded through about two dozen much-less professional sites.
Here are my impressions.
> Wow. Videos must take a lot of time to produce. What makes them worth it, to the bloggers? Do they deliver pageviews?
> Wow. The quality of videos really varies. First, the personality of the presenter. Deadpan? Boring. Perky-perky? Annoying. It must be hard to strike the right tone. Then the production. Many include music, different cuts. Others are little more than a camera, on, a demonstration, dull.
> Wow. The technology really gets in the way of the user experience. I found posts with videos that failed to load or wouldn't play or wouldn't pause or or wouldn't stop or wouldn't adjust the sound. It's also easy to get lost in videos, especially if a site has multiple videos and you use tabs. Where IS that video that's playing now? And yikes, how have I managed to start a half dozen videos at the same time? Please, turn yourselves OFF!
> Wow. What a time suck. Just writing this post took hours, even though I only sampled a few videos.
> My favorites videos were short and specific, demonstrating an unusual technique. Demonstrating an entire recipe? Not so much.
> My favorite videos were produced with pictures and voice-over instructions. They were more direct and to the point.
> Those intros and closes? the ones with music and graphics and 'branding' stuff? Keep 'em short, please. That's all about you. I'm not here for 'you', I'm here for 'me'.
AND YOU?
What's your experience with producing videos for a cooking blog? Was it hard, is it important? I'd love to know what's behind it all.
On the other hand, what's your experience watching videos on cooking blogs?
