When I received an email in my inbox from Sarah back in September 2017 asking if I’d be interested in teaching an online course for Brit+Co, I wasn't sure if it was real at first! I tend to believe that we all have some degree of imposter syndrome and it certainly is bound to kick in when a company like Brit+Co reaches out to you. I definitely had a few thoughts cross my mind like: 'Are they really asking ME?' and 'Can I really do this?' On top of that, anyone that knows me, knows I would much rather be behind the camera than in front of it and don’t prefer being the center of attention. But I gave it some thought and reminded myself that we learn the most when we feel uncomfortable and push our own boundaries - so I agreed.

We just shot the class at the end of February and I thought it would be fun to share my experience. I learned a lot during the process and am grateful I was given this opportunity. Keep reading if you are curious about the process and what my favorite part was.

Course Planning

After a few initial emails, Sarah and I got on a call to chat about the class topic. She already had an idea of what I would teach based on what she saw from my work, so that made it pretty easy. Cody, the producer of the class and the person that I ended up working with the most, was looped in and I developed the class outline with him.

What is great about Brit + Co courses is that they work as stand-alone courses. Each course contains all the basic information you need to complete the class project so you don’t need prior knowledge to take them. On top of that, they are typically 60 mins long which makes it less intimidating and actionable.

Since I’m the kind of person that likes to get “in the weeds” I definitely spent some time figuring out how to put together the outline so that we covered all the valuable information while still being able to complete the class project within a reasonable amount of time.

Practice and Prep

I knew I would be painting live during filming so I made sure to get in lots of extra practice. I painted a lot of oranges, limes and strawberries to make sure that I could paint them while talking. If you’ve ever tried explaining what you are thinking while you paint, you’ll know what I mean!

Filming

At the end of 2017 when the shoot date was set for February 2018, it felt so far away. But as 2018 started, the date snuck up really quickly. Before I knew it, hotel rooms were booked and flight reservations were made.

I arrived to San Francisco on Wednesday afternoon, checked into my room at the Chancellor Hotel next to Union Square and gathered my things to bring for the pre-production meeting. The hotel is only a block away from the Brit + Co office which made it easy to walk to. Cody and I reviewed the supplies I brought, went over the outline one more time and that was it! Short and sweet.

We had a few calls to review and discuss during this outlining process. I thought that he had great insight and feedback based on his experience producing courses for Brit + Co.

I arrived early the next morning at 8:00 and by 8:30 I was eating a cup of fruit while getting my hair and makeup done. I felt so “done up” with my nails, make up and hair.

Then it was off to filming. It was fun spending the day with the crew: Cody, Victoria, and Trevor. In my point of view, they spent the day watching me stumble over my words and acting nervous and awkward on camera. They will likely tell you that it wasn’t that bad. They’re just being nice.

Rebecca, from the design department arrived towards the end of the day to provide input on what still shots the team needed to develop graphics and other digital material for the class.

The day flew by, we took a break for lunch, and filming finished around 5:00 pm for me.

Editing

After filming, my part was pretty much done! Video editing and graphics would all be completed by the Brit + Co team.

Launch

Sarah got in touch with me a few weeks before the scheduled class launch date with additional details. And now, here we are! The class is launching this week and I’m excited (and a little nervous) to see how it turned out!

What was the best part?

*Brit+Co Office Entrance // Photo Credit: Brit+Co*

It wasn’t the first time I filmed a class, but it was the first time I filmed a class working with a whole team of people - a very different experience! You might think that my favorite part of the experience would be the result: having a class on Brit + Co’s site alongside so many other talented creatives (I still can’t believe it). But, my favorite part was working with the team. They are all friendly, supportive and love what they do. The energy that comes from that is contagious and motivating. I loved being able to learn a little bit about the people behind the cameras while we filmed because they are really the ones that made this whole thing happen.

So a big thank you to Brit+Co and the team for the support and for making it all so fun.

*Behind the scenes still // Credit: Brit+Co*

You can take my Watercolor Painting + Digitization class here!

Thank you for reading,
Susan

Filming with Brit + Co | Watercolor Painting + Digitization Class