The current global health crisis has definitely affected entertainment production, and I think what is happening with professional YouTube shows is particularly interesting. Bon Appetit has a very active YouTube channel and they're constantly putting out extremely well produced TV-worthy content. However, during this crisis they're switching to cooking from home and the videos look a lot more like the "old days" of YouTube, going back to webcam culture. This is even happening to traditional TV, with Jimmy Fallon hosting his show from home with his wife filming it on an iPhone and his kids running around in the background. There's something very personable and authentic about this, and I wonder which "professional" YouTube channels will survive this weird moment. Is the quarantine forcefully bringing YouTube-TV back to its original "Broadcast Yourself" model? What about traditional TV shows? Do they feel more authentic?
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ReplyDeleteThanks for introducing me to the Bon Appetit Youtube channel. I just can’t stop watching … I think what we cannot ignore is that even though Bon Appetit aims to produce TV-worthy content it still sticks to the concept of home cooking. As said in its Youtube description, Bon Appetit “wants everyone to love cooking“ and develops recipes “that anyone can make at home.” If that’s the case, I think quarantine forces it to somehow return to the essence of cooking videos. Viewers are now watching chefs cooking from home, just like they do, rather than in professional kitchens. In one video, Carla says that the reason for using enamel pot is that she found a lid that fits it. This immediately made me feel strange. I cannot stop thinking that she can easily use enamel cookware because this video was shot in a well-equipped professional kitchen. Indeed, if she use enamel pot at home I won’t have such a reaction as it is simply one of her home equipment. And I believe that she will bring up another reason. To me, real home cooking heightens sincerity and honesty and decreases the distance between the producer and the viewer, which may be an interesting angle to examine anything evoking the homely.
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