Why your best dish can make your worst reel
The plate your regulars love most is often the hardest one to film. Sauces flatten under a phone's light, slow-cooked browns turn grey on screen, and a dish that takes twenty minutes to enjoy has nothing happening in fifteen seconds.
Film the moment, not the plate
Video needs movement. Look for the second where something changes: a sauce poured, a crust cracked, a flame, steam lifting off a bowl, a knife going through. If nothing changes in the first two seconds, most people keep scrolling.
Light it from the side
Turn off the spotlights above the table and use daylight from a window at your side. Side light gives texture and shine. Light from above flattens everything, and a phone flash makes food look like a hospital tray.
Choose dishes for the camera as well as the palate
- Strong colour contrast on the plate
- Some height or layers
- One element that moves or changes
- A hand in the frame, so it feels human
Let the caption carry the story
Your signature dish may not win the reel, but it still wins the caption. Show the action in the video and tell the story of the dish in the text: where the recipe comes from, who cooks it, why guests order it twice.
Before every WITKO shoot we write a shot list with your chef, so the camera is ready when the right moment leaves the kitchen.