There are certain looks and shots you have to hit to make it look professional. Here’s a sample food video checklist:

This video was produced for this assignment by a former student.

1. Make a recipe shot list

Write down a list of all the recipe steps and ingredients used in the video. Each step is shot separately & the shot should be 15 seconds or less.

2. Film an ingredient stop-motion animation

Shoot a 7-10 second stop-motion sequence featuring your cooking ingredients. Consider there are 24 frames (pictures) in each second of the video. Plan out the movement and interaction of the ingredients. Your camera must be absolutely still, and you should trigger the shutter using a remote.

3. Video coverage — Wide shot + Close-Ups

You will most likely shoot your video twice; once as a wide shot and again for close-ups. Close ups will be your money shots. These are shallow depth-of-field shots that showcase the really fun stuff, like bubbling cheese or simmering steak fat.

4. Always shoot in a horizontal orientation

Those square videos are cropped or resized in a video editing software. Always use the back camera, and never the selfie camera. The back camera is a better camera and has more pixels.

5. Voice-over

I recommend doing a separate voice recording with a microphone that plugs into your iPhone (or your iPhone’s earphones/Mic) and use your phone’s Voice Memos App to record an audio file you will later use in your edit.

Assignment 1: Ingredients Stop Motion

  • You will need to decide what your recipe will be and make a list of ingredients.
  • Get those ingredients.
  • Prepare your work station; drape out a piece of colorful construction paper in a way that gives you both a surface to work on as well as a backdrop.
  • prop your camera (iPhone) on a tripod or something similar. It is crucial that the camera does NOT move at all!!!
  • Connect your iPhones wired earphones/microphone
  • Set up soft lighting to illuminate your set (the more light the better).
  • Shoot in the Lightroom App. Set the appropriate color temperature, shutter speed and ISO. Shoot in JPG format.
  • Plan out the movement of your items in the frame
  • shoot your sequence in one continuous session, only release the shutter using the remote cable.
  • Transfer all images to your a fresh folder on your computer.
  • Use QuickTime Player to create the animation sequence.
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