- From a food stylist, food prop person perspective,
what the (beep)?
Like where did this come from?
Like what is that?
Surely, it's not cheese.
And I'm pretty sure those are freezer magnets.
(Melissa laughing)
My name's Rishon.
- My name's Melissa.
- And we're food stylists.
And today we're going to talk about,
specifically, like food scenes in movies and,
as food stylists, what we think about it.
(jazzy music)
Okay, let's do it.
- [Rishon And Melissa] Oh.
- "No Reservations."
- I love this movie.
- I do too, it's so cute.
(cheery music)
(thumping) - Rare enough for ya?
- Okay and the plate of food.
- The plate of food.
- Obviously, the food styling on this,
it's like, it's been not only is it being plated
to make it look like professional restaurant,
professional chef has plated the food,
but then it's also done to make it seem like
it's already been to the customer
and the customer's already sort of like
gotten into it a little bit.
- I have to think of, how many steaks did they have
on hand for that? - Totally,
totally.
- Because it's, I mean, that's rare.
- That's super rare, yeah.
- And, you know, the more you sit there,
the more your heat gutting it or trying to make it
still look juicy, shooting this, you know, take after take,
that's rare is gonna
start gettin' - Yeah, for sure.
- a little, little sad.
- A little sad for sure.
- Here, you're not just dealing with food being the issue.
- Right.
- Your dealing with people and actors.
And did they remember
their lines? - That's it.
- You could have made the perfect plate, the perfect steak.
- Right.
- And then somebody forgets their line halfway through and
now you've got a (laughs). - Son of a (mimics beep).
- Now you've got to reset the whole thing.
That scene right there.
- I love that.
Now that has got, that's completely natural.
I would say that that's not faked in any way.
- No, they probably just
did it. - They just did it.
So, how ever many takes it took to get that shot.
And even like the actors that are line cooks in this,
when she's like basting these Cornish hens,
it's like, okay, are you an actor or are you a cook?
Or are you an actor that can cook?
And so they like felt more comfortable
about allowing you to do this.
Or is that even somebody else's hands?
- Right.
- So, she's about to put this like caramelize sugar cage
over this panne cotta.
How many? - How many sugar cages
do we think they made?
- Yeah, how much did they have to do for that?
- Those things are so easy to break.
- Oh, yeah, totally.
- [Rishon And Melissa] Oh.
- And she broke it.
Son of a (beep).
And that's the other thing, too,
is like with food styling on movie sets,
your food is a prop.
You're actually preparing the food
and then the actor is eating the food.
So, it has to look a certain way,
but then also, be like completely edible
and hopefully, delicious.
- Yeah, well you also have to
take into account dietary restrictions,
- Oh.
- of the actors.
- Oh, I did not.
Why would I - Because
- think about that?
- someone, like, if that little girl was
gluten-free. - Gluten intolerant.
Bless her heart. - Or couldn't have soy,
or couldn't even have tomatoes, like
- Oy vey.
- you've gotta find ways to make that work.
All right. - Okay,
this one's another, really,
I love this movie, too. - This is a good one.
- Also, like a
food-centric movie. - Yes.
- Like, this movie is about food,
two very different worlds of food.
- Yes.
- [Papa Kadam] People here don't eat those things.
- [Hassan] They have never tried.
- Oh. - Oh, my gosh.
- The one-handed egg crack.
First of all, like cracking an egg with one hand is like,
you've reached - It's a skill.
- a certain level when you can do that.
Just the whole motion of that.
(Melissa clicking and moaning)
- So nice.
I have to say, eggs are hard A-F
to cook and to food style. - Yes.
- So, like, I really can only imagine
how many takes it took them to do that.
So, then she's doing this technique
where it's the traditional like French-rolled omelet
or like a tri-fold omelet.
And then she's knocking her wrist
to knock the eggs to the edge of the skillet.
So, like that's a technique.
And they probably worked on that for who knows how long.
Oh, my God!
- "Hook"!
- [Wendy] Peter, don't you know who you are?
- The bones on that are pretty ridiculous.
- Is that a?
- That's was a big old turkey.
- Turkey, for sure, big turkey.
See, this is what I remember. - What is that?
It looks the tail of a Peep.
- How fun!
I would have loved to have - I know.
- done something like that. - Okay, that legit,
looks like a Peep. - Those are Peeps.
(Melissa laughing)
Those are Peeps. - Yeah, they do look
like a Peep. - For sure.
- The carved cheese?
- It was giant wedge of cheese.
That's beautiful.
- What does it say on it?
- Chudbutt?
It had somebody's face in it.
- Oh, it does.
From a food stylist, food prop person perspective,
what the (beep)?
Like, where did this come from?
Like, what is that?
Surely, it's not cheese.
And I'm pretty sure those are freezer magnets.
(Melissa laughing)
- Can you imagine getting that brief,
as the food stylist
on this set? (Rishon laughing)
- We need you to create a fake giant block of cheddar.
It needs to have a face in it
and it needs to have letters.
- As a food stylist, you have to create
these imaginary worlds, almost.
Like you have to put yourself in the mindset of like,
if I was a lost boy, what kind of pie would be in Neverland?
- Yeah, I totally agree.
I thin that's really funny that you say that
because that's essentially what actors do,
you know? - Yeah.
- Actors like have to put themselves in those situations
to like present this experience to their audience.
So, we also have to do the same thing,
but it's just from a different perspective.
Oh, "Eat Pray Love."
- Oh, I love this movie.
- This is such a good one.
- I wanna go someplace where I can marvel at something.
- You have this beautiful plated pasta.
It's so familiar and--
- I think that's something that's very iconic.
And definitely like a food stylist trick
is like twirling the pasta.
I have definitely - Yes, it's true.
- for food styling purposes,
put on gloves and just like grabbed chunks of pasta
and sat there and hand twirled everything.
And I'm like - Totally.
- this is not real life.
- That's a different, that's a completely
different bowl of pasta. - That is not
the same plate of pasta.
- That looks extra saucy.
So, like that first one was probably plated
specifically for camera,
and this one was plated for her to eat.
That, where it's
got the sauce - That, oh.
- just right at her lips.
- Somebody had to
food style. - Somebody put that there.
- Yeah.
- I swear to you.
And even the way the noodles are like
hanging over her fork, - Yes.
- the way she's holding it.
Like, you gotta pause and like basically
set it up for her to put it in her mouth and like, yeah.
Okay, "Marie Antoinette."
- It's too much, is it?
- Oh, no.
- Cake is a whole other ballpark
of thing. - Yes.
Especially French cakes.
- Especially for a period piece, for one.
And for two, like, cake, you got somebody special for this.
- Yes, not me.
- Not me.
(both laughing)
- It's like, how much work went into these
for you to look at them for?
- [Rishon] Two seconds.
- [Melissa] Exactly.
(Rishon gasping)
- Champagne tower pour, hey what's up?
So, fancy. - Yes.
- I'm like a romantic, a little bit.
And I imagine the food is real.
I mean, you're not using like fake raspberries.
That's like real orange peel.
- Yeah, to me it would just be easier to make
real candied orange peel - To use real food.
- than it would to be to figure out
- I totally agree.
- what prop would look like--
- This thing.
- Speaking of like a period piece, you know,
there are certain things that embodied wealth.
- Yes.
- Right?
And I think probably like fresh berries.
Then there's like more gold,
like lots of gold dusting and wow.
"Chocolat."
- "Chocolat."
- Would you like to come in for some chocolate?
- Just that.
The stirring of hot chocolate.
Is that chocolate?
- You could use real chocolate and keep it melted or--
- You have to assume that a movie set is not
like a functioning environment for cooking.
Like, I know food stylists that have had to
like cook pizzas with a hairdryer.
Oh, look at the snail! - Does he have a cape?
Oh, my Gosh, I never realized that.
- So, another note.
You've got cooks,
you've got bakers,
and then you have chocolatiers.
- Yes, yeah, you definitely, like you could have had
a food stylist on this set,
but there definitely was a
chocolatier on this set. - A chocolatier?
Again, when they do these like close up,
just hand and food situations,
you have to wonder if that's the professional
or if that's the actor.
She just like gets a scoop, a handful of like raw
cocoa nibs and she's like putting it on her board.
And she's like crushing it.
So, I mean like, literally, shows you sort of
an idea of the process of making chocolate from scratch,
which is like totally cool.
They definitely had somebody,
an expert on hand of that sort of thing.
"Sweeney Todd." - Oh.
- You broken mad?
- The years, no doubt, have changed me.
- The roaches, I was like (quivers).
(Rishon laughing)
- And this is like the dark side of food styling.
Obviously, not just because it's
"Sweeney Todd: Demon of Barber Street," for one
and he's--
- There are roaches crawling on the cutting board.
- No roaches crawling
on the cutting board. (Melissa gagging)
- Actually talking about like food styling.
Like, we have some what looks like lard or shortening
or something like - Yes, it does look
like shortening. - covered in flour
that she's making her like, probably,
they're in Britain, right?
They're in England? - They're in Britain.
They're in England, yeah.
- So, this is probably a hot crust,
like hot water crust.
- The lighting has a huge effect
on the way you see the food.
Like, it's cold.
It does not look appetizing.
You have that like, reaction to it.
You're like, "That doesn't look good at all.
"That looks like nasty (beep)."
This is a different level of food styling, people.
Like, you have to play that role.
So, it doesn't, it's not always
about making a magical experience.
Sometimes, it's about whatever.
Okay, so then, the scene changes.
Now, it's like in a dining hall.
The lighting is more now so it's brown.
So, it's like it is more inviting.
It's crazy 'cause if the first ones
were actually the edible ones
and now these are the ones that are made out of people,
now you've like changed the context.
So, it's like now it's more inviting
but you're technically eating
something you shouldn't eat.
- It's almost like everything else seems like
a little dull, but the like tray of pies
that's she carrying looks, - The tray of pies
and the food, yes.
- they're like ultra
vivid color. - brown and crispy.
I mean, they are beautiful.
They're beautifully designed.
- What's cray is like knowing
what's supposed to be in these,
my mouth is still watering.
(both laughing)
And I don't know what that says about me as a person.
"Home Alone."
- And "Home Alone 2." - "Home Alone 2."
- Guys, I'm eating junk and watching rubbish.
- Oh, the ice cream sundae.
Yeah, it looks like kid put it together.
So, it's not like styled for like presentation purposes.
It's styled for eating.
So, that's another thing.
Ice cream sundae. - That, for sure,
has to be 100% edible.
- Oh, it's 100% edible.
- Because Macaulay Culkin is like chowing on this.
- Yeah, for sure.
Sometimes ice cream can be fake because it melts so quickly,
- Yeah.
- under hot camera lights or whatever.
- It is, like, partially melted, which is why
to also makes me think it's real ice cream.
Oh, that's ice cream. - Oh, the ice cream from
"Home Alone 2" is from the hotel.
Oh, okay, okay, okay.
- All right, so we got a very different styling here.
We got the kid put it together.
And now we have the like--
- It was literally on like a throw away plate,
like a disposable plate. - Yes, yeah.
- And now, he's like in the hotel.
He's like a bed.
- Like all the silver gravy boats filled
with all the different toppings.
- Bouche.
- Look you can see kind of maybe a little bit of ice cream,
but the main thing I notice is like the whipped cream
and then the chocolate syrup
just sort of like drizzling out.
And there's like a little bit of sprinkles on there.
I wonder how many people just like attacked
that sundae when it came off set.
And they're like, "Okay, we're done.
"We're finished with the scene."
Everybody's like, "Grab a spoon."
- Right.
- Like, "Come on,
"let's eat it." - Oh, my Gosh.
- Okay, "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs."
- It really works!
- The thing, to me, about animated food,
especially in this instance,
it's like it takes the most iconic version
of a food and makes it into the animated version.
So, like with the burger,
you can see all the layers so clearly.
Like, you can see the cheese,
you can see the slices of tomato,
you can see the lettuce.
When like, you make a burger in real life,
you may not see that,
like, so perfectly. - Yeah.
- The lettuce is a little leafy and then there's like,
like I said, it's like that piece of cheese
that's like forward-facing.
It's almost like it cheating out
a little bit to make it more apparent.
And there's like a little bit of mustard
on that tomato.
- [Melissa] Oh, yeah there is.
And like the bottom of the bun,
you can see like it's ever so slightly
lighter. - Lighter.
They did a great job.
- Good job animators.
- Oh, "Willy Wonka."
(clapping)
Okay. - You can't talk about
food movies without talking
about "Willy Wonka." - Oh, gee, for sure.
- We are the music makers.
- Technically, in the storyline,
obviously the whole room is edible.
We don't know how much of it was actually edible,
- Yeah.
- and how much of it wasn't.
- I would think of something this scale,
for whatever they ate,
that was edible. - That was it.
- And everything else, - You're right.
- because there's so much,
that it would have to be a prop.
- Because like those
giant gummy bears. - I know.
I want them.
What do we think the chocolate river is?
- I guess it could have been chocolate.
Cocoa powder and water.
- Maybe, oh, yeah.
- You know? - Sure.
- Just like something simple.
It was pretty cool though, however they came up with that.
- Yeah.
- (gasps) "Harry Potter."
- Let the feast begin.
- [Rishon And Melissa] Oh!
- Okay that was cool.
- Magic.
This giant overhead view
and all the food just like appears on the tables.
It is like replicated.
So, I definitely think that that's like CGI.
They may have had one table set.
And so, then they were able to copy that image.
And looking at it like from the camera angle,
like you can't, you're not just goin' about it
where you're just puttin' food down and guessing
where the camera might see it.
Like, you're literally going about it
like you know the camera's gonna be at that angle.
You want to fill it so it looks
as full and immaculate as possible.
But a lot of that may just be like
the way the food is staged in front
of the camera angle to make it look more full.
That probably was a day.
I don't think that they would have
extended that over two days.
You know, like, there's that consistency thing.
Like, if you were to break filming a segment like that
into multiple days at different times,
the food changes, at that point.
So, you really have to do something like that
at one time, in one day.
So, I honestly really don't think we can talk about,
like iconic food scenes,
especially like in this present time,
without talking about the movie "Chef."
- [Carl] There are chefs
that cook food that they believe in.
- I think it, like, transcended a whole lot of
the way we see food in movies.
- The shooting of a grilled cheese,
just on a still photography set,
is incredibly fun.
- It is fun.
- And incredibly laborious.
- And it's super challenging.
Super challenging. - Super challenging.
Getting, like, gooey cheese, to stay and hold
and look beautiful and like goo
where you want it to go and like.
- Cheese pools.
Like, it's hard. - The whole thing.
It is very hard.
- [Melissa] That right there.
The turning it.
- That bubbly cheese.
And then it gets crispy.
Oh, my God!
(Melissa gasping)
- That, that right there.
- And they may have had to make that
a few times to have gotten that cheese pooled enough,
'cause sometimes you put so much cheese
on that grilled cheese,
it probably was fine. - Right, probably, yeah.
Keeping that goo like camera-ready at all times,
like that takes multiple, multiple,
multiple grilled cheeses.
- I'm dying.
Okay, I've never seen this movie either.
- I have not either.
(shuffling) (Asian music)
- Oh, this is cool as bananas. - Oh.
- So, he cleans the fish, fileted the fish,
prepared the fish, fried the whole fish filets.
Okay, this guy
knows what he's doing. - Now, he's got, yeah.
- This is like-- - I don't think that's him.
- You don't think that's him?
- No.
- The knife skills that it takes to do that,
that's a professional.
This is not an American movie, I'll tell you that right now.
Like, people will not be okay
seeing food prepared like this.
- No.
- I think it's super cool because like this is real.
- Very authentic.
(both gasping)
- Ya'll, this is cool.
I feel like I should go home and watch this movie, though.
- What is he doing?
- He blew air into the duck
so that the skin would bulge out.
It's really cool to see it
from a different cultural perspective.
- That you have to take into consideration
as food stylist of like, it's not just about
what would look pretty, but like what is appropriate?
- What is appropriate?
Totally.
"Ratatouille."
(soft music) - Ratatouille?
- This is true like French cooking,
which is really beautiful.
- [Melissa] The copper pan
with like the parchment - The copper pan.
The parchment on top. - cartouche in.
- It's beautiful.
I mean, the detail in the food animation is great.
With that sort of thing,
they probably could have had someone
prepare a dish like that in real life.
And so then the animators were able to replicate it.
- [Melissa] Yeah, that would be a hard thing as an animator,
just to like...
- [Rishon] Pick out of your brain.
- [Melissa] Yeah, of like where
that would exactly fold over.
- Totally.
How precious. - And here you have, like,
a totally different style of kitchen.
Like, now you're in like someone's like
farmhouse. - Home.
- And like.
- And it's the same dish,
but just like presented differently.
- Yeah.
- Oh, is that it?
(both cheering)
That was good.
- That was fun.
- That was really fun.
- I'm salivating
like nobody's business. - I'm so hungry.
I think there were some really, really great scenes
picked out, some really great movies.
- Like the movie I probably wanna
go watch right now is "Ratatouille."
- Really?
- Either that or "No Reservations."
- I think, I'm "Chef."
- No, I wanna eat what's in "Chef" (laughs).
- You wanna eat what's in "Chef."
Make sure to like, comment, and subscribe,
follow "Well Done" on YouTube.
And let us know in the comments below,
what kind of food scenes in movies
and TV shows that stick out to you.
If you have any comments related to the food scenes
that we saw today, we'd love to know
your thoughts and perspectives.
And yeah, it was really fun.
- Yeah, it was a good time.
- Yeah, thanks guys.