Video: Rotisserie Turkey Legs

This is my video entry in the Take On Turkey Challenge:

I've been meaning to do video blogs for a while now, but I could never get myself started. A large part of why I signed up for the contest was to force myself to make a video.  The contest gave me a deadline, which does wonders for focusing my attention.
What did I learn?

1. Speak up! And smile! I have a bad habit of mumbling when I do public speaking. I had to constantly remind myself to project my voice when I was filming, particularly in the outdoor scenes. And would it kill me to smile a little, once in a while?
*I took a public speaking class a few years ago where they filmed you giving a presentation in front of a group...and then made you watch it. You learn a lot that way, but they told us to watch it once to get all the negative thoughts out, then watch it again to see what you did right. Because that first time through...holy cow. Watching myself on video is painful; I just pick myself apart. "Speak up!...wow, I should lose ten pounds...slow down, you're mumbling..." At least I know I'm going to do it, so I can get past that and look for what went right to include in the video.

2. Watch out for the charcoal chimney! When I set up the grill for indirect heat, I put my chimney on the patio stone I keep next to the grill, like I always do. Then I turned back to the camera and started filming the "Welding gloves are a griller's best friend!" bit. Except it came out "Welding gloves arOUCH!" as I backed into the blazing hot charcoal chimney.
*Even worse, I accidentally deleted the shot while I was cleaning out some other bad shots. I was going to include it as an outtake, but it's gone now. So I have a crescent shaped scar on my right calf, and nothing to show for it other than this story...

3. My kids are cute! But I knew that already. Watch the closing scene of the video to see what I mean.

4. My wife is patient! But I knew that already, too. She was my second unit director, assistant editor, and technical expert. I'm the computer guy in the house, and normally I have to answer the technology questions. But she's had more experience with iMovie than I have. She had to show me the basics so I could get going. Thank you, dear!
*And...we're both opinionated, so she had to put up with me while doing it:

Diane: That section is too jerky. You need a transition in there.

Me: But...that's the effect that I'm looking for! Bang, bang, bang, legs on the spit.

Diane: But it's...(takes a deep breath)...ok, whatever...

5. You can buy your neighbors off with turkey legs! My next door neighbor was power washing his deck at the same time I was shooting this video. I kept trying to film around him; I'd wait for him to stop, then try to get my shot. Between my flubbing my lines, and him starting up again in the middle of them, I was struggling. I went over, explained what I was doing, and asked him if he could take a break. I promised him a turkey leg when I was done, and he quickly agreed. His daughter told me later that they fought over the turkey leg I gave them. So, I have at least one positive review for this recipe...

What do you think? How was my directorial debut? Any other recipes you'd like to see me do in video? Leave them in the comments section below.

Related Posts:
Recipe for Rotisserie Turkey Legs, Brined and Herb Basted

Check out my cookbook, Rotisserie Grilling. Everything you could ask about the rotisserie, plus 50 (mostly) new recipes to get you cooking. It's a Kindle e-book, so you can download it and start reading immediately!

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