Foodandthefabulous

Vine – an amazing tool for the food bloggers, cooks and eaters

(To be clear: I am a semi-technophobe but, miraculously, an ardent Social Media Advocate. Read my piece on Social Media and the Food World here. I’m Food and the Fabulous on Vine)

“Hi, I’m Ishay. I cook, I eat, I speak a lot about food culture and nostalgia and sometimes I blog. I am utterly enamoured with six second videos too.”

Six second videos,  you ask?

I’m speaking about Vine App, Twitter’s video application for iPhone and iPad. You’ve got six seconds to present your message and while at first you’ll be tempted to pan from one end of the room to the next, and consequently ‘spend’ your six seconds, what can be achieved is incredible! And, these videos play on a loop.

If they say a picture tells a thousand words (a concept, as a writer, I accept but don’t leap with joy at the thought of), then imagine what a combination of visuals, words and music, if correctly placed can do!

I’ve been using Vine for 57 days now and I believe it launched in mid January 2013. I have much to learn and am looking for a gadget to hook the iPhone to a tripod – steady hands make all the difference.

This is an example of a Vine video; I’m braising the spices for a yellow split pea dhal and show a few shots of the ingredients and preparation process.

For sound on the videos, open in separate window and unmute

In this video I share some of the ingredients I was using that evening: butter, chocolate, coffee granules, flour – I was testing about five different brownie recipes. It’s a spontaneous process in my case, and how it’s filmed evolves as I press go (which is the screen in case you wondered)

I am inspired by the visionaries, creatives and comedians who have found themselves a new outlet for expression, and who are gathering followers and fans like it’s going out of style. Except, it’s only beginning. More about these inspirationals in a bit.

Twitter’s CEO Dick Costolo in an interview about Vine, told the Wall Street Journal, “We all agreed that this is the next thing down the road.”

Bigger than Instagram?

For three months I’ve been saying a little yes on the inside when I’ve interviewed local digital leaders, hoping their answer would be the same.  Mashable reported:

“Vine’s secret weapon is a combination of being simpler to use than most video apps and the fact that it has one of the biggest social networks in the world as a parent company and platform. “It’s really beautifully integrated with Twitter and there’s a new level of simplicity around video capture that they hit on that has made it intriguing to people,” said Pam Kramer, president at Lightt and a former VP of consumer marketing at Twitter. “I think it moved a step ahead from integrating a still photo to integrating something more dynamic.”

How’d they do that?

Without fail, Meagan Cignoli, has me cooing at her eye for the beautiful, her exquisite timing and perfectly lit Vines. She’s also most gracious about compliments and interacts with other users. Alright, end swoon now.

Meagan is one of the Viners entering the Tribeca Film Festival, which has opened a section especially for these six second videos.

One of my favourite vines, melting popsicles.

Jason Coffee and his very photogenic family live in Hawaii, with their beautiful pup Bean and are winning hearts over with their perfectly timed lip-synching, wholesome skits and ‘puppetman’ Vines, where Jason’s hand seems to maneuver the kids like puppets. It’s amazing to watch – I haven’t yet figured out how it’s done. A magic lens, a special app, an old ‘blind spot’ trick. I know Jason isn’t the only one doing these now. Maybe someone will email me the answer? I’ll be a’waitin’ by the phone!

Lip-synching – a reference by Jason’s daughter to Sweet Brown, bless her

For more on some very interesting Viners and a Vine for Food 101, click here

Love that sizzle! - My lamb belly with sriracha and black sesame seeds sizzling

Promote your love for your city!  - Love Cape Town