Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Making Fake French Fries
Props: "The Book of Grace had a moment where Grace, a diner waitress, carried a tray of food across the stage. She started out with a hamburger we had in stock. The director wanted us to add some french fries. To the French Fry Machine!"
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16 comments:
I think this is really interesting. I helped make some fake food for Richard III, and I discovered that a lot of things require surprisingly simple processes. There is also some bread for sandwiches, which I believe is being made using yellow upholstery foam, just as in this article. I think this reminded me more of the fake chocolates, which were made from clay, then simply hand painted with some acrylic paint and glue to give each one an individualand realistic look.
What is funny, is that as realistic as those fries look, that burger is not. They spent so much time on making sure that french fries were each imperfect, that they made a perfect hamburger. I realize I'm being nit picky. It was just an observation.
Otherwise, a really cool inside look on fake french fries. Now I wonder if that's how they make them for those McDonald photo shoots.....
This is really interesting, I would have never thought of using foam.
I'd be curious to know if they had any problems with actors trying to eat the fake fries. That would be a hilarious prank, to tell you actors not to eat the prop food and then make all these fake french fries and set them out......then watch and see if any actors try and eat them hehe
Hah, the comments are more amusing than the article itself. This seems relatively tame as far as prop food goes. I agree with Ariel that although the fries look unique and imperfect to the point of reality, the burger looks too perfect to be real. @Ariel, though, according to advertising law, if you are taking a picture or video of a food item, you must photograph the real food product, not a stand-in. It takes a lot of work, actually, to put together a food photo shoot (check out the Food Network special on it) :P
Awesome. I've always wanted to work on one of those professional food displays that they put in fancy pastry shops and in airport restaurants, especially in Asian countries, they have so many elaborate displays in restaurants and I've always wondered how they got the food to look so authentic. This summer while I was interning at a theater, one of the props interns taught me how to make fake cupcakes with a combination of this product called Great Stuff and fake fruit and toppings, because they had to make Gold desserts and it was so cool.
My favouirte part of props last semester was learning about how Jon Ward really enjoyed making fake food. We never got a chance to do this in class, but I've always been curious what materials go into the process of creating realistic food props. Initially, I wouldn't think that foam would be good for this sort of a project, since I'm betting its quite apt to bending in undesirable ways, or soaking in too much of the paint treatment she gave them.
Regardless, this is a neat trick, and definitely shows a versatility of materials and ideas. I also have to agree with Ariel about the burger, it looks like a toy in comparison!
Man am I jealous of the freshman who have gotten to work on similar projects. I barely had props last year as it was when Norm was ill and Ben had not yet stepped in, which meant it became a carpentry assistance local. Hopefully, Jon will create some sort of props construction class, or I can work in an independent study with him.
Regardless, the fries in this article look fantastic. It seems like a relatively simple process to create such a staple food. I agree with others though that the burger looks to real.
I think thattis process is extremely fascinating. I love the idea of using a simple process to create a prop that otherwize wuld have to be prepared and reused over and over if the take took a while. I agree with CBrekka. I think it would be immensely ammusing to see i the actors tried to eat them. I know I would....
This is a great article. I always wonder how people make fake food. Having the need for something to go with the burger prop, the director requesting fries posed a dilemma. I have not seen fake food ever look realistic it never looks that good. The ideas to cut, paint, highlight and even gloss to give realistic look to these fries was not something I have ever thought of before. These articles that talk about fake food and props are great. It is funny that they used old foam that had some discoloration to it to give the fires some more depth to them. It is also interesting how she put the acrylic paint on them to give them the sense that they where cooked. I am looking forward to any new articles that pertain to props and especially fake food.
This concept seems surprisingly simple, but still requires a large attention to detail, which can be said of many aspects of technical theater. It seems like a difficult concept to grasp that sometimes the best way to go about accomplishing something is the most simple way. A lot of people tend to think that if what they are doing isn't complicated, it will not be successful, and this article proves that in several cases that is not true.
I like projects like this where people put real energy into the detail and feel of props. Even when the detail isn't visible for the audience, it can help actors stay in the show and make their jobs easier. It's too easy, in theater, to fall into the idea the things that aren't directly obvious don't matter, but it's nice to do projects as well as possible and make them contribute to the show.
When I saw the title of this article, I was convinced that this was going to be some long, involved process to create the fries. This was so cleverly simple! I love that they used old upholstery foam--which was perfect--instead of buying something new or individually sculpting the each fry. Using the paint sparingly and with artistic intent also really added a level of realism I haven't seen before with fake food. Like Brian and Ariel, I also wish they had been more attentive to detail when it came with the burger, but the fries more than make up for it. I'd love to try making these now!
I think it's really interesting how props masters make fake food. I would think that fake food can be one of the most challenging things to make, because everyone knows what it's supposed to look like. When I was working on the chocolates for Richard III, I know that we were trying a lot of different little things with painting the chocolates to make sure that they actually looked real.
I am always amazed by the realism that can be achieved by prop departments. While, only very certain productions require that kind of intense realism, it always adds an element that brings the visual image onstage to a new level.
In addition processes like this, that are both simple and repeatable that create realistic results is a must in the theatre world. In the world of art, where the final product is the art itself, there is that ability to perfect the look of something in place. However, in the theatre, a prop is another important piece of the puzzle that must be integrated and able to be adjusted based on other elements.
One of the things I enjoy most about theater is making the unreal seem real. I love projects like this, making everyday objects out of things that would never be considered to recreate that item. The creativity and skill that goes into these projects are remarkable. The layers upon layers of detail is really fascinating, and to imagine something so realistic can be made from foam and paint is mind boggling. When we see projects like this, it really makes me so grateful that we have incredibly talented people working on these projects. Without their skill we may not achieve the final products seen in these examples.
Wow, this is pretty neat. My first attempt would be to probably try to mold some but, this is so much easier. Foam has so many uses. The fries in the picture look pretty real -- and that's from close up. From twenty feet away, they definitely look real. If the run wasn't too long, then a bag of fries might be alright but, if you have a longer run, then this is definitely a better bet.
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