It was a constant balancing act between producing a video twice a month (planning, filming, post-processing, launching) and improving processes, efficiency and overall video/design quality.
Whether it was honing existing skills, new skill development, daily creative problem solving, or general admin/organization, the firehose was always on full blast…
Highlights
motion design and funnies
1 year anniversary sizzle reel
transitions and promos
A figurative firehose of fun.
And flearning.
Honing existing skills
Honing existing skills
Including but not limited to from-scratch branding, animation, promotional materials, website design/maintenance, and post-processing bi-monthly videos.
food photography
New skill development
The learning curve was steep. Improving food photography/directing, implementing best YouTube thumbnail/social media practices, using a camera without shaking from caffeine, color correcting, and creating an Adobe After Effects/Premiere integration workflow were just some of the essentials – the onslaught of skill level-ups was constant.
youtube thumbnails
New skill development
The learning curve was steep. Improving food photography/directing, implementing best YouTube thumbnail/social media practices, using a camera without shaking from caffeine, color correcting, and creating an Adobe After Effects/Premiere integration workflow were just some of the essentials – the onslaught of skill level-ups was constant.
youtube thumbnails
food photography
Daily problem solving
Daily problem solving
On-the-fly learning and solutions became a specialty, whether it was lighting a set, YouTube algorithm nuances, researching camera technology, or finding the best chromakey practices for our unique setup.
In exploring options for a “green” screen (actually blue because there was green plants in the window), I ultimately landed on building a 4’x10′ (1.2m x 3m) light box over traditional lighting. This meant increased speed of bi-weekly setup and provided consistent lighting, while also allowing me to reuse After Effects chroma key templates for post-production efficiency.
Organization and Communication
Juggling up to 8 episodes in various phases with a remote editor was no simple task.
Scrum boards, episode life cycles, filming/editing checklists and shared calendars were all a must to get everyone on the same page and line out upcoming due dates.
Dancing Yeti Easter Egg
Just for fun, I threw a dancing yeti in the background of every one of our how-to videos. This was going to be a years-in-the-making promotional stunt to increase user engagement but unfortunately the idea never saw fruition.
I’m still a huge fan of though because do you see those moves?!
Premo Cooks had to close its doors for personal reasons before our YouTube empire saw fruition.
Despite no longer producing content and no marketing, the channel continues to grow with an average of 3600+ views, 175 hours of watch time and +26 subscribers per month. I like to think it has something to do with quality content that is genuinely useful and entertaining. : )
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