Behind the Scenes of a Cooking Capsule

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Posted on: November 11, 2008

Posted in: Food, Technology, Thoughts, Video

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Behind the Scenes of a Cooking Capsule

I’m posting this video to introduce a very cool project I’m part of called Cooking Capsules. Cooking Capsules is an Android application for the G1 Google phone. If you know me even a little bit you know I have a thing for mobile phones, I love food and I like to cook for my friends. That is actually how I got involved in Cooking Capsules. I’ve had my friend Mary Ann Cotter, the woman you see prepping the food, over for meals many times. She is the founder and CEO of Smart Capsules. She created the Cooking Capsule application that lets you watch a cooking show, shop for ingredients using a handy shopping list and make the food with step by step directions. It’s brilliant. I host capsules with some recipes inspired by my Mom’s cooking. I took this video right before we filmed a capsule on Kheer, an Indian rice pudding. It’s a delicious comfort food and a great dessert.

Since I’ve become a vlogger I’ve become very independent of having a crew to produce my video stories but occasionally I’m involved in something like this shoot that puts traditional production models back into practice. As I mentioned, Mary Ann is the CEO but she’s also responsible for the look and feel of the product. She came out and directed the shoot. At the sink washing dishes is the hard working Dia North, she is a very talented and organized field producer. Up at the lights is Shane King. He and Gerry Berkowitz our audio tech took care of lighting the set and getting the shots and the sound.

The shoot is traditional, but the delivery is not. Mobile devices are a whole new frontier for content delivery. Now that the G1 is on the market there is more to choose from than just the iPhone and there is a slew of new applications that entertain, educate or just help you waste some time while on the go. Cooking Capsules is both a useful and fun to watch application and this is just the beginning. There is so much ahead with Smart Capsules and I’m thrilled to be at the start of it all.

We’re ramping up Capsule production so I’ll be sharing more behind the scenes clips, shopping trips and much much more about food and cooking.

  • wow, such a great concept - is there something similar on web?
  • Jemima P
    Go ladies! Love the little 'inside scoop'. So this is what you get up during the day when I'm not around????
    Jemima P.
  • Greg Balanko-Dickson
    support your local documentarian!
  • Thanks for the comment Greg!
  • I love it!!
  • Zac! I'm so glad to see a comment from you! Thanks for stopping by.. hope you are well. Would love an update on you when you get a chance.

    See ya.
  • dearsusan
    Very cool! Love your candid behind-the-scenes look and perspective. Not something we get to see everyday!
  • Susan, so kind of you to leave a comment. I love getting feedback. No, the behind the scenes isn't often part of the package. I think that's because the person with the camera is usually busy working. I found having a little flipcam though helped me document many things that would otherwise be too much of a pain to film with a regular video camera. The fact that the flip records to a hard drive and you can upload right to your computer is a real bonus.

    Thanks again for the comment and I hope to see you again!
  • Cooking Capsules: Brilliant!
  • @silverton LOVE your comments on this!
  • re: @silverton LOVE your comments on this!
  • Mary Ann Cotter
    Seesmic video reply from Disqus.
  • The Expanding Media Universe
  • I'm so glad you took this footage! It really brings the day back. It's a great little behind-the-scenes slice of life. It's so great beyond belief to be working with you and the rest of the talented team(s). I'm so excited about all we've got cooking up and love that people are loving it.
    -Mary Ann
  • What an awesome idea! You are so cutting edge:-)
  • Lisa, I thank you so much for leaving a comment. I think part of the beauty of being in San Francisco is having access to some real innovators. I'm pretty fortunate to have had the jobs I've had and to have met some visionaries. This project as well as my time working at Seesmic make me feel really excited as a content creator and the kinds of distribution that are available.

    Thanks again for stopping by.
  • That was pretty neat seeing the behind the scenes stuff. I think it's funny how production people are not always that interested in being in front of the camera but prefer to be behind the camera. Nice segment.
  • Hey Tony! I never got a chance to thank you for posting a comment here. It's always great to hear from you. What's new in your world? I hear you ate a salad the other day... what was that all about?! Did you loose a bet with Kandi or something? Anyway, hope you are well and thank you again for the comment!
  • I picked up on that too, Tony. Maybe I misinterpreted, but some of those glances seemed to border between discomfort and real annoyance. There's a control factor to being behind the scenes that could rightly feel threatened by acceptance of "total crap quality" social media. Certainly, production "purists" could be tempted to look down upon the "lousy A/V" quality of "those geeky losers" on BlipTV or Phreadz or Viddler. Does that sound too harsh, or element of truth to the observations?

    Glad to see Mary Ann ring in with an "official" response of support, but still wonder if many traditional production folks don't feel the very real pressure from the great unwashed masses of social media. Bottom line is always audience appeal, as again Mary Ann rightly notes: "love that people are loving it" is the key. So if you're behind the camera and just uncomfortable, "don't sweat it, just be yourself, it's gonna' be great fun!" If you're behind the scenes and feel you inner Control Freak freakin', well, our time's up for today and we can talk more about that during our next session. ;-)
  • Michael,

    I'm puzzled by this post. My "official" response was very heart-felt and I'm not sure about some of your extrapolations or whom you were quoting. Video is about the content, whether it is highly produced or an artfully done little flipcam slice of life like this one.

    It is tremendously exciting that the technologies exist allowing us all to be broadcasters. With this comes a lot of interesting and timely citizen media. I judge media by the quality of content, not the technical production quality.

    We happen to be interested in pooling our professional new media talents into making high production value shows for mobile. Does that make us purists and control freaks? Maybe when it comes to our own media.

    If you sensed anything there it may have been stress. We were stressed. Don't get me wrong- some good fun was had that day, but we had a budget and a schedule and we were caught in a real moment of sleep deprived multi-tasking (the producer doing dishes, me styling food, the d.p. working on lights, and the lighting guy working on sound, etc). Cooking shows we've all discovered, even 2-3 minute ones, are no easy feat, but the more we do, the more we can streamline the process and tip the fun to stress ratio even more in favor of the fun. Because doing what we do? It's a lot of fun.
    -Mary Ann
  • Those Amatuer Writers and Sociolgists
  • discussions are the best part of this vlog
  • User As Content :: Conversation As Entertainment
  • greekfood
    How do I jump on board with some Greek cooking? Love this idea! Let me know please.
  • Sam! Thanks a million for stopping by! I love Greek food, I bet you've got some great recipes to share. What would you make? Could they be shown in a 3 minute or less video? These are some of the considerations for how the videos are chosen. Are you on twitter? You should follow @cookingcapsules for more info about that... I'll also be posting updates here. Let's swap recipes! Thank you again for leaving a comment! Means a lot to me!
  • Sukhjit! What a cool project, and the crew look really nice too. I'm glad you're keeping up with your creative tech projects, sounds like you're learning + doing so much!
  • Jenn! Thank you so much for leaving a comment. Yeah, I love innovation which is why I'm totally into web2.0 and social media. Innovation and connecting people... 2 of my favorite things. Take care and thank you again for stopping by!
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