Videos

Once upon a time, I got a freelance gig writing for the VuPal network, and specifically for their FoodVu blogs and videos.  The blogging was easy enough.  I’d get a topic, do a little research, and then bang out 200-300 words.

 

The script writing was more challenging.  The videos had to be about 1 to 3 minutes in length, and it took me a while to figure out how to hit that mark.  Some of the videos would feature a single speaker, while others would have multiple actors.  Sometimes there could be props, and sometimes there would be background pictures to emphasize whatever point the host was making.

 

There’s nothing like writing to deadline to exercise your writing muscles, especially if you’re having to write to deadline on something you’ve never thought about before.  Unsurprisingly, I’d do some things differently if I had to do these again, but the money I earned by writing these was only part of the reward.

FN Crazy videos:  The “FN” here refers to the Food Network.  The word “stan” wasn’t a thing back then, but essentially we were doing a snarky stan of the Food Network.

Grocery School videos:  These were the most straightforward instructional videos, all about how to buy food and what to look for.

Food Gear videos:  Like the Grocery School videos, these were instructional videos about how to buy the right kitchen tool (broad term that included everything from knives to lunchboxes), but I was allowed to get pretty creative.  Once a second host was added, I got to add a little more banter and silliness to the exposition.