My personal favorite cooking show happens to be either Top Chef, on Bravo, or Alton Brown on the Food Network. Top Chef is a competition cooking show that challenges chefs to create dishes based upon a theme and in a timed scenario in order to discern who is the best chef. It's exciting to see the way that the chef's think of a dish concept and then bring it into reality. In addition the food they present looks delicious! The close up camera angles on the food catch the glistening steam off of a freshly seared scallop ect... it makes the food look very appetizing with bright vivid colors.
Alton Brown's show Good Eats, is also very interesting as it talks about the scientific aspects of food and why certain types of food work together and it what way. His program is no for its quirky camera angles and placement, such as the fridge camera and the oven camera, both of which are place behind the kitchen euicpment and shine through the open end of the device into the kitchen in order to give a different perspective (as well as make the food look very appetizing). For example am interwting episode is how he makes a cheese soufle and why it works (whipped egg whites), and in said episode, he has a camera pointing at the soufle through the backside of the oven to show it cooking.
I definitely agree with you that the wacky camera angles in Good Eats help make the show really interesting (and fun!). The camera angles also augment Alton Brown's quirky personality.
I have to admit, for me it's not so much the food itself that makes the Food Network enjoyable to watch, but rather the interesting and varied personalities of the chefs, which it seems the people in charge of the Food Network clearly took into consideration. If you think about it, it is incredible how much consideration of "subliminal" appeal there must be in running the Food Network: the chefs come from all the main cultural/regional backgrounds so as to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. The chefs also all have their own distinct--yet all very infectious--personalities/stereotypes associated with them: Rachael Ray is the "girl next door", Paula Deen is the "Southern belle", Emril Lagasse is the "classy" one, Alton Brown the "mad scientist" type, etc. That make me wonder--do most people [Chefs excluded ;) ]watch the Food Network because of the food or to soak in the personalities of the people who cook the food?
My favorite is Paula Deen's show, b/c she has an anwsome Southern accent and uses 3 cups of sugar in everything!!
I do not watch a lot of cooking shows but my personal favorite would have to be Hell's Kitchen on Fox. It is like mixing cooking with reality TV and the one-two punch combination is riveting. It basically consist of mediocre chefs who try to impress the head chef with a very bad temper and it ends with the chefs miserably failing and the head chef calling them idiots (and worse).
Obviously the camera angles for this show are used to emphasize the certain emotions that the producers want you to feel. For example if one of the chefs burned a piece of food then the show would zoom in on it and probably use high angle to make it look even worse so that we will understand when the main chef flips out on them. When the food actually is cooked well then the producers will probably zoom out and show the entire plate in the shot to show that the chef made a complete plate and that it all looks great. By using different camera angles and zoom effects the producers of the show can manipulate what they want us to see and not see and therefore manipulate how they want us to react.
I've been a fan of the Food Network for quite a while so I could choose from an array of shows. One of my favorites on the Food Network would have to be Chopped. Chopped is a competition show that is episodic. Because of this, we have a new winner at the end of each show. It begins with four qualified chefs and ends with one victor after three rounds of cooking. Each chef is given their own cooking station directly in front of the judging table. The premise seems simple, however, at the beginning of each round each chef is given a basket of four secret ingredients they must use in the dish. The ingredients usually do not link together and real creativity is required to tie them together. For me, it's interesting to watch the dishes come together with the added element of creativity. Watching the chefs act spontaneously and with innovation always entertains me.
The camera angles in the show are meant to heighten suspense. The camera often moves to a close-up on the chefs as they vigorously work on their food within the time constraints. From these close-ups the viewer understands the emotion pumping through each contestant. The close-up is also used in the judging portion of the show. The chefs are shown with a close-up after they have received harsh criticism to show their reactions. In addition to close-ups a birds-eye-view is often used over the food to highlight the technique by which the food was made. Overall, the use of different camera angles heightens suspense and highlights the food.
My personal favorite cooking show happens to be either Top Chef, on Bravo, or Alton Brown on the Food Network. Top Chef is a competition cooking show that challenges chefs to create dishes based upon a theme and in a timed scenario in order to discern who is the best chef. It's exciting to see the way that the chef's think of a dish concept and then bring it into reality. In addition the food they present looks delicious! The close up camera angles on the food catch the glistening steam off of a freshly seared scallop ect... it makes the food look very appetizing with bright vivid colors.
ReplyDeleteAlton Brown's show Good Eats, is also very interesting as it talks about the scientific aspects of food and why certain types of food work together and it what way. His program is no for its quirky camera angles and placement, such as the fridge camera and the oven camera, both of which are place behind the kitchen euicpment and shine through the open end of the device into the kitchen in order to give a different perspective (as well as make the food look very appetizing). For example am interwting episode is how he makes a cheese soufle and why it works (whipped egg whites), and in said episode, he has a camera pointing at the soufle through the backside of the oven to show it cooking.
I definitely agree with you that the wacky camera angles in Good Eats help make the show really interesting (and fun!). The camera angles also augment Alton Brown's quirky personality.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit, for me it's not so much the food itself that makes the Food Network enjoyable to watch, but rather the interesting and varied personalities of the chefs, which it seems the people in charge of the Food Network clearly took into consideration. If you think about it, it is incredible how much consideration of "subliminal" appeal there must be in running the Food Network: the chefs come from all the main cultural/regional backgrounds so as to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. The chefs also all have their own distinct--yet all very infectious--personalities/stereotypes associated with them: Rachael Ray is the "girl next door", Paula Deen is the "Southern belle", Emril Lagasse is the "classy" one, Alton Brown the "mad scientist" type, etc. That make me wonder--do most people [Chefs excluded ;) ]watch the Food Network because of the food or to soak in the personalities of the people who cook the food?
My favorite is Paula Deen's show, b/c she has an anwsome Southern accent and uses 3 cups of sugar in everything!!
ReplyDeleteI do not watch a lot of cooking shows but my personal favorite would have to be Hell's Kitchen on Fox. It is like mixing cooking with reality TV and the one-two punch combination is riveting. It basically consist of mediocre chefs who try to impress the head chef with a very bad temper and it ends with the chefs miserably failing and the head chef calling them idiots (and worse).
ReplyDeleteObviously the camera angles for this show are used to emphasize the certain emotions that the producers want you to feel. For example if one of the chefs burned a piece of food then the show would zoom in on it and probably use high angle to make it look even worse so that we will understand when the main chef flips out on them. When the food actually is cooked well then the producers will probably zoom out and show the entire plate in the shot to show that the chef made a complete plate and that it all looks great. By using different camera angles and zoom effects the producers of the show can manipulate what they want us to see and not see and therefore manipulate how they want us to react.
I've been a fan of the Food Network for quite a while so I could choose from an array of shows. One of my favorites on the Food Network would have to be Chopped. Chopped is a competition show that is episodic. Because of this, we have a new winner at the end of each show. It begins with four qualified chefs and ends with one victor after three rounds of cooking. Each chef is given their own cooking station directly in front of the judging table. The premise seems simple, however, at the beginning of each round each chef is given a basket of four secret ingredients they must use in the dish. The ingredients usually do not link together and real creativity is required to tie them together. For me, it's interesting to watch the dishes come together with the added element of creativity. Watching the chefs act spontaneously and with innovation always entertains me.
ReplyDeleteThe camera angles in the show are meant to heighten suspense. The camera often moves to a close-up on the chefs as they vigorously work on their food within the time constraints. From these close-ups the viewer understands the emotion pumping through each contestant. The close-up is also used in the judging portion of the show. The chefs are shown with a close-up after they have received harsh criticism to show their reactions. In addition to close-ups a birds-eye-view is often used over the food to highlight the technique by which the food was made. Overall, the use of different camera angles heightens suspense and highlights the food.