My Creative Procedure (Not Process )

Yes you read the headline correct this is a blog post about my creative procedure. When I create content I go through a little process that feels a lot like a procedure. I decided to do this blog post for anyone curious on how I get my ideas from my head to the final product you see on Youtube. My website or even Instagram but today’s focus will be my filming procedure.

I Write It Down

The first thing I do when I decide on something I want to film is write it out. I write down the process and all of that. When I decided to do Lauren’s Kitchen my latest Youtube series, where I film me cooking various meals. When I came up with the idea, I wrote it down, then I wrote down name ideas. I wrote down the date I was going to shoot, location, which happened to be my kitchen. Then I made a list of tings I would need, this included new pots and pans, white aesthetically pleasing plates and ingredients. When I put my idea and thoughts on paper, its one step to being more of a reality than when I keep them in my head.

Prep And Set – The Most Annoying Part

This is the part I hate the most. I do not have a filming room, so when I set up I manually have to clear a space in my apartment and put up all my lights and cameras. Because of space issues I break down all my lights and all the equipment I use for easy storage. Whenever I film a video I have to take them out of my closet and from under my bed, and set them up. This can take me an hour depending on what Im filming. Hauls I sit on my rocking chair so I just have to make sure that area is well lit and I have space to try the pieces on.

Lighting is really important so I try to film in daytime in front of a window and also use a ring light and two other soft lights. I struggle with lighting because of how light enters my small apartment makes lighting my area difficult. There are only certain areas in my apartment I can film comfortably, this limits me a lot. I put my camera on my tripod I either sit in the spot and use my view finder or, have my dog or teddy bear sit in for me until I find the perfect placement and the shot is set up.

After all the equipment is up, then I get ready. Gone are the days when we could just film or come online barefaced wearing PJ’s, many people make a living from YouTube. So I shower, do my makeup a full face beat and style my hair this can take between an hour to an hour and a half.

Press Record Then Take It Down

Recording the footage is the easy part after set up is done. For Lauren’s Kitchen I use several cameras so I have to be aware and cognizant of my angles and camera placement. 98% of the time I’m doing this alone and a simple mistake like forgetting to adjust my audio can lead to me having to do the entire thing all over again. True Story I had recorded three different videos one day and it wasn’t until I was sitting in front of my laptop ready to edit it that I realized I had no audio. But overall once I sit in-front of the camera it flows and that’s the super easy part.

The very next annoying part is the take down. Now I have to take everything down and put everything back. This means unscrewing light bulbs, microphones and wrapping them back up neatly in their packaging and putting them way. In some cases take down also includes packing away other things used. If it’s a haul video I have to now clean up clothes and put them away. Lauren’s kitchen requires so much clean up when I’m done, that I when I shoot Lauren’s kitchen it’s the only thing I shoot that day.

Edit, Export and Upload

Then comes another not so fun part, editing. Editing a video can be tedious, very tedious. When I worked in television I had no idea why editors would take so long or charge so much for their work but now I know. It takes a lot of concentrating and patience and you have to pay attention. This can take hours, days or even weeks depending on your schedule, how many cameras you use and how much time you have to do this. I edit my videos on the weekends and in the evenings after work. I typically shoot on a Saturday depending on when I get done cleaning my house and running errands. if Saturday doesn’t work then I have to get it done on Sunday and I’ll hopefully try to start the editing process on Sunday too. When I edit I always make sure afterwards I watch the entire thing on a large screen before I export it. I do this to make sure I didn’t miss anything that could ruin me lol. In Lauren’s kitchen episode 4 I had lipstick on my chin for half of the video. I decided to address it in a voice over, since there was no way for me to not use that footage and no way in hell I was going to shoot it over.

The exporting process is basically just turning it into a video that can be uploaded onto Youtube or wherever you would like to share it. When footage is dropped into whatever editing software you use its usually raw and very big when you edit and then export it you are making it into a shareable size. I started editing with premier Pro but I now use Final Cut X. Final Cut is way easier to use but I personally prefer premier because you have more control of how you edit. It’s like diving a stick or automatic. When you drive a stick you are in control, when you drive automatic you are just managing the steering wheel. It’s just easier for me to use Final Cut since I edit on a MacBook Pro. I tried to edit on a PC once and I almost got anxiety, of course that was many years ago, I don’t know how they have evolved now.

Then I upload it to YouTube, this usually takes a few hours depending on how long and the size of your footage. There are hundreds of videos on YouTube that walk you through the best way to export your video so it uploads perfectly to YouTube. There is a video on YouTube for everything you can think of, as it relates to your entire process/ procedure.

That’s A Wrap

That is my entire procedure, it does take a lot of time but if you love doing it. It is so rewarding, you make your video Live on YouTube and the responses from people make it all worth it, give and take a few trolls who are battling internal demons and it’s an amazing process. I still work a regular 9-5 and do not do Youtube full time. However on my off days I plan an execute a lot of digital content, run a book club, manage a blog, do a few collaborations with brands and try to keep my house clean and organized the whole time. I spend time with friends as much as possible and try to squeeze in time to call my friends who live in different places. I hope you enjoyed this blog

xoxox Lauren