Q: What are some tips for shooting my own videos?
The 6 most important things are: #1. Be yourself. #2. Practice so you know what you are going to present #3. Light your area well so you can see what's going on #4. If you are doing demonstration videos make sure that the audience can see what you are doing. If your hands are out of frame during an important step, it's frustrating for the viewer. #5. Watch the footage that you have shot. If you don't get it, or it's not interesting to you, then reshoot. #6. Have fun!
Q: Do you practice your videos before taping them?
I make the videos projects a bunch of times, to make sure I know what I'm doing. The actual videos are unscripted. I try to do the videos like I teach projects in a class or at a party.
Q: What camera do you use when filming your videos?
We’re lucky to be able to use my husband’s professional Sony F3 and Sony EX3 cameras. Kodak makes a flip cam that's pretty good for making home videos, too.
Q: How many videos do you do, and when?
We make our South San Francisco “warehouse” videos once a month, and the "kitchen studio" videos once every 3 or 4 months. On warehouse days, we'll shoot about 10 episodes and on a studio day, about 20! We then edit them and release them twice a week on Wednesdays and Fridays.
Q: How do you recommend I get more views on my channel?
To be completely honest, this is a mystery to me. It took my channel over a year to get to 1 million hits (and by that time we had 100 videos posted - all original content, nothing reposted). Once it reached 1 million though, it started moving more rapidly. I wish I could give you sound advice that would magically work, but all I can tell you is "get the word out". I made cards and handed them out to every person I met at every function.