Guacamole How To - ID# 343

Glenbrook North
Division: A
Demonstration
Entry Description

This is a demonstration video on how to make delicious guacamole using a family recipe.

Recent Teacher Comments

  • 4/18 10:23 am - Great intro and use of titles to show ingredients and equipment. The static camera CUs worked well throughout the preparation of the dish, but it lacked a finished product shot(s). The pacing was slow throughout so I was expecting several views of the finished product. The titles and music carried this video well. Also, a cutting board would help!
  • 3/12 10:37 am - Some focus issues. Pleasant music. Some of the demonstrations were a bit sloppy (the cutting of the onions), and the cutting of the avocado looked dangerous (never cut into your palm). Hands looked very red. Looks like it would be tasty!
  • 3/11 3:46 pm - https://drive.google.com/file/d/14vjbRFhr8MkBgNShw-a4wv8YHRxlprx0/view?usp=sharing
  • 3/8 12:04 pm - what works: music choice; good tight close up shots of detail/action; clean backgrounds and framing with nothing distracting; good graphics use; use of focus (although a little slow reveal); great topic/demo choice. what could make it better: this is food production-opening shot more appealing; too much information, too fast in beginning is confusing (no wash hands step, no cutting board, unappealing lime-undermine authority); chef speaking o/c or in voice over would help with details, specifics and instruction; avoid use of sped up footage; shot with knife cutting avocado held in bare hand with scar visible is scary. no final plate up shot with delicious final product.
  • 3/7 4:30 pm - Good overall demonstration. The strongest part of your production was your titling and graphics. They were easy to read and unobtrusive and they fit in with the overall flow of your shots. Your shots were well framed and the lighting was largely good. Nice use of rack focus in certain spots to highlight certain steps and ingredients. I feel like this whole production could have been paced faster in the edit. Certain steps you demonstrated could have been sped up, such as the adding of the cilantro/green onions and the pinches of salt/cumin. These things were almost too deliberate. The plate shots where most of the action takes place could have used a bit more light. Most of the shots felt like they were in soft shadow. A few nit-picky things I'm going to point out. You technically didn't use chives in this recipe. They may have called for chives, but what you used were green onions. I understand these can be used often interchangeably, but it's important to be accurate for a video such as this. Also, cilantro is chopped, not diced, since cilantro is leafy rather than something that can be diced like carrots, onions, peppers, etc.
Judge 1

Positives: Good use of graphics. Nice camera composition.

Improvements: Narration would have helped make the process more clear to understand. Some jump cuts in the editing.

Judge 2

Positives: I enjoyed seeing people eating the guacamole at the end. I think the camera work and the lighting were very good and they showed all the ingredients and all the utensils and bowls you would need to make the guacamole.

Improvements: I think narration would have helped. I didn't respond the the music choice. Please do not call scallions chives.

Judge 3

Positives: The color scheme was effective. The graphics were excellent. The text was placed correctly and it was legible. Your project was edited well. You stayed on each shot just long enough to impart the specific information and at the same time kept your demo moving.

Improvements: This is more of a concern that an improvement. When doing demos it is vitally important to consider safety. Don't cut avocados while holding them in your hand as you did near the start of your video. You are teaching a dangerous cutting technique in this video. From a storytelling perspective; If someone (like me) notices the danger, then the dangerous action becomes the focus of the shot instead of the lesson of cutting an avocado. You were very careful make the food shots very appealing through your demo until the last shot. Clean the guacamole bowl and put the tortilla chips in a bowl instead of leaving them in the bag, and wipe down the table. Little details like that really help.

Judge 4

Positives:

Improvements: