---
name: cooking-video-production
description: Plan and shoot cooking videos end to end: overhead rig selection, food styling for camera, food-friendly lighting, and edit pacing matched to the recipe. Triggers when an agent needs to film a recipe video, set up a top-down cooking shot, style food on camera, or plan the edit for food content.
---

# Cooking Video Production

## Purpose

Take a recipe and turn it into a finished cooking video: the right overhead
rig, food that looks good in motion, lighting that keeps color honest, and an
edit timed to the recipe instead of padded with dead air. Covers both
landscape cuts (5-10 min) and vertical cuts (under 60 s).

## Workflow

1. **Read the recipe, count the real minutes.** List every step and its real
   cooking time. That list drives every decision below.
2. **Generate the shoot plan.** Run the helper:
   `python3 bin/recipe-shotlist.py <recipe.json> [--format long|short]`
   The recipe JSON is `{title, steps: [{action, est_min, motion, kind}]}` where
   `motion` is `fast` (chop, pour, sizzle, flip), `slow`, or `static` (simmer,
   bake), and `kind` is `prep`, `cook`, `rest`, or `plate`. The plan assigns an
   angle and frame rate per step, flags adjacent same-angle cuts, and gives an
   edit-time target and pacing checklist.
3. **Lock the rig.** Default to two positions: overhead straight down for prep
   and assembly, side angle at counter height for sizzle, steam, and plating.
   - Cheap: clamp-on gooseneck phone arm on a shelf or table ($8-15), rear
     camera, stabilization on.
   - Solid: boom-arm overhead kit (e.g. OverHead Pro style tripod kit) with a
     counterweight, or a C-stand with boom arm sandbagged on the leg under the
     boom for wide stovetop shots.
   - Always: test 30 seconds of footage for wobble, focus, and legs-in-frame
     before the real shoot.
4. **Light for the food.** Key at 45 degrees in a big softbox close to the
   dish; white foam core as fill. 5000-5600K for general food, drop toward
   3000K for breads, soups, and caramel-toned dishes; custom grey-card white
   balance each session; kitchen overheads OFF (mixed color is unfixable).
   Details in `references/lighting-setups.md`.
5. **Style for motion.** Plate fresh and shoot fast; keep garnishes edible and
   in the recipe; one warm hero, one cool accent, neutral plate. Use oil
   spritzes, fake steam, and condensation tricks for close-ups. See
   `references/styling-tricks.md`. Anything inedible (display-only tricks)
   never gets served or presented as the eaten dish.
6. **Shoot the money shot first.** Film the finished plated dish as a backup
   before the real one, so the edit always has its opening hook.
7. **Cut to the recipe's pace.** Open with the money shot, walk every step in
   order, jump-cut repetitive prep, cut on action, let sizzles breathe. Text
   overlays carry ingredients and step numbers (the video must work muted);
   music ducked under voiceover, not over it. Frame-rate rule: fast motion
   gets slow motion, slow motion stays at regular speed. Dead time (oven,
   simmer) becomes a time-lapse or gets covered.

## Output Contract

- A shoot plan naming angle + frame rate per recipe step and an edit-time
  target (long: ~5-10 min landscape; short: under 60 s vertical 9:16).
- Rig and lighting decisions stated with concrete gear classes and color
  temperatures, not vibes.
- Every recipe step has a checked-off shot; no step appears on screen
  unfilmed.
- Final plate held 2-3 seconds longer than feels necessary before the end card.

## Operating Rules

1. Never invent a camera spec, price, or CRI number; check the source sheet
   (`~/workspace/skill-production/scratch/cooking-video-production-sources.md`)
   or look it up.
2. Two angles minimum on every shoot: overhead plus a side angle. Adjacent
   steps must not share an angle and focal length unless a cutaway separates
   them.
3. Fresh food, fast shoot. If the hero plate wilts, re-plate rather than
   "fixing it in post."
4. Inedible styling tricks stay on display plates only. The eaten bite is
   real food.
5. The skill never speaks about anyone's private life. It is a production
   skill; people are not the topic.