This was the first “all-music” video that I’ve done for Pie Academy– “How to Make a Crostata”. I usually just blab away – do this, do that – but it was fun, for a change, to tell the story visually, minus the blab.
I really want my videos to not suck so any helpful tips are appreciated. Just remember that even though I’m 6’5″ I still cry easily.
–Ken Haedrich, Dean of The Pie Academy
The video looks really great. Nicely edited. It made me hungry. To really critique it, though, I have to know who your target audience is. It’s hard to tell, which I guess (don’t cry!) is a critique in itself.
In describing your video, you talk about YOUR needs, rather than an audience’s. Do you see it as an exercise (like this one)? If so– awesome! You’re the target audience, you liked it, case closed.
But if it’s for others to watch–Pie Academy visitors, maybe– knowing your target audience might cause you to do the video a little differently. To show you what I mean, let’s look at possible target audiences and how different versions of the video might satisfy each:
Crostata Makers: If you were targeting fans of the crostata, people who want to make one right now, you might add back narration, so they can follow along. You might slow down on the complicated stuff, and refer us to the recipe so we can read as we go.
People interested in learning advanced techniques: For this version of the video, you might pick one thing– rolling out crust, say, and focus on it in a short intensive. The video might only be 45 seconds long and called something like How to Roll out a Crostata Crust (can you tell I got an “A” in titling in college?)
Total Pie Newbies: In this version, you might explain what a crostata is and why they should love it. Then focus on one or two key crostata techniques that apply to all pies. A video for this target audience might also pitch other videos to help build audience for Pie Academy.
Three approaches to the same material (and there could be many more), but all come from the way you choose your target audience. Your shooting, editing– and web posting– decisions are a little different for each. By aiming at a clear target, you’ll know how well you’ve succeeded.
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Steve Stockman is a writer/ producer/ director in Los Angeles. How to Shoot Video That Doesn't Suck, available in 9 languages, is the best selling video how-to book in the world. You can find the updated (2017) edition from Workman Publishing wherever you get books, ebooks or audiobooks. 
Thanks, Steve – I really appreciate your thoughtful response and critique. To some extent, yes – it was an "exercise" as you point out: I wanted to try something a little different from the usual tutorial-type videos I do. In so doing, I probably didn't give near enough thought as to whom my audience was for this particular video: It's not really clear to the viewer. On a larger scale, your comments also reminded me that I need to have some sort of a master plan as to how my videos are arranged on ThePieAcademy website: at this point, they're just sort of there, without any rhyme or reason. So, I'll work on that. Thanks again, Steve. This was a big help, and I didn't cry once!
Ken
Glad I could help, Ken! And Blueberry is my favorite. Just saying.