The idea for this video came to me two years ago, and I even tried to create it soon after. But due to a lack of technical skills and other projects taking priority, I couldn’t pursue it. So, how did it all begin?
Back then, my main goal for the restaurant videos was to showcase the menu items, helping viewers and potential customers get familiar with the offerings. Beyond just visually pleasing aesthetics, I needed to add more informative layers—people needed to know what was in front of them: the ingredients, how it was prepared, and other details that could help “sell” the idea of trying it. Sure, adding text over the visuals, like everyone else does, seems easy enough. But would that be engaging enough? Would it make viewers keep watching?
Then the idea struck—what if I mimicked a HUD (head-up display)? When the dish enters the viewer’s POV, it gets scanned, and all the necessary info appears—no, better yet, it gets printed on the HUD. That sounded cool already. But then I thought, why not tie this concept to something familiar from pop culture? Something people already recognize. Of course, Terminator! The cult classic. The 1984 movie that put James Cameron on the map and made Arnold Schwarzenegger a superstar. Everyone knows it.
So, picture the Terminator visiting a restaurant, sitting at a table, and trying different dishes and wines. Everything is shown from his POV.
When I first came up with the idea, my main challenge was creating the HUD—the visual style, the aesthetics, and the text design. I was too focused on the form instead of the content. That was my mistake. As long as the message is well-thought-out, the technical part will eventually fall into place. That’s how things generally work. Don’t get caught up in the details—focus on the core message, the structure, and the content. The rest will follow. Two years ago, I didn’t realize that. I started editing the video with a few dishes but put the project aside for “better times.”
Those better times came a few months ago when I expanded my team. I hired a cinematographer to capture the necessary footage and a video editor skilled in animation. Plus, it’s the 40th anniversary of Terminator, so the timing couldn’t have been better.
This time, I was much better prepared to approach the project. After reading a few books on social psychology about making ideas stick (Made to Stick, Contagious, Impossible to Ignore, Influence—links are on the Reading Nook page), I was ready to write a simple script with HUD messages that followed the key principles from these essential marketing books.
While I’m satisfied with the footage we captured, the final cut still leaves me wanting more. Maybe it’s because this was the first time I let someone else edit my idea. After a few rounds of trial and error, we reached a result I’m happy with, though it still needs some polishing. Honestly, by this point, I just wanted to move on to the next videos, get feedback, and implement the necessary corrections. And that’s how this video was finally published.