Movie stills 1

Lately, I've begun to notice food in movies and television series. I've only yet scratched the surface but based on my recollection, unless the theme of the film or series is featuring food in some way, there isn't much focus on the meals themselves or food being intrinsic to the story line. However, I feel I'll have to re-visit a few to make sure that that's true and will be paying much more attention from now on.

In contrast, I have always noticed that in Asian films in particular, when a scene includes eating or food in some form, it seems like their intention is to make us feel as though we are there, enjoying it too. While the characters exchange their dialogues, you hear the sizzle, the crunch and see closeups of soup bubbling and steam impending the space around them. Due to these incredibly salivating scenes, I've been making it a habit to capture stills of them.

The ones captured here are from films and series that have other central themes to their plot lines but when food became part of the visual stimuli, it was as though their intention was to make me feel as though it was meant for me and I could relish in my imagination of smell and taste and visual opulence.

(a really lovely shot of noodles in different colours being dried)

Existing plates old and new

The other night, I went to Village des Valeurs to look for some ceramic plates and cups to create a 3 tier serving plate at a low cost. Thrift stores and vintage shops are some of my most favourite places to be, despite a time when I was embarrassed of my second hand clothing at a young age, I soon grew to appreciate objects from the past and saw them as direct connections to history, small time travelling machines of sorts.

While looking for a matching set of plates, I found a few from a Japanese company called "Mikasa", I was drawn to the type used and simple quaint aesthetic of the plate. I'm assuming it is from the 70s due to the colours and graphic elements. Although tacky, it was exactly to my taste, tackiness done right!

Before glueing everything together I thought this would be a good opportunity to observe not only the difference between our slo plates and the standard plate but also the difference between the standard plate of today and that of another time.

The first thing I noticed was that the rim was larger and the space dedicated in the center was smaller. Both plates were framed by a floral decoration but the one I have at home was more subtle. Also, the weights of the plates were slightly different where the mikasa plate was a bit heavier.

Once I prepared my lunch, I arranged it onto the mikasa plate first. I centered the food, making sure it didn't go over onto the rim. The arrangement was quite appetizing and the aesthetics of the plate went well with the meal. It appeared to be very full and I looked forward to eating my pierogies and sauerkraut!

In order to see the difference a plate can make to the appearance of a meal, I transferred it onto the plate I have at home. I instantly felt the difference of space allowed in the center. In comparison to the mikasa plate, it looked slightly less appetizing and empty. Also, in contrast to the decorative rim in the mikasa plate which brought the attention to the center, the subtle decorative rim on the newer plate wasn't framing the food at all and in fact made the plate appear emptier than it was.

The differences are quite remarkable considering that at first glance both plates appear to be quite similar in size and function.

As a result of this experiment, I believe the decorative element in the mikasa plate was meant to make the center appear more abundant whereas in the newer plate the decorative element seems to be an afterthought and the focus is put on the abundance that can be placed onto the surface.

NEW rendered plate!!!!!

So much nicer!

Slo video!

Finally! Here is the long-awaited Slo video, which documents the inspiration, research and development of the project from idea to conception and from wood to porcelain.

Low quality and minimal editing skills/software were used to create this short film of about 16 minutes, hopefully it is entertaining and informative!

Part 1




Part 2

http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=241&template=PDGCommTemplates/HTN/Item_Preview.html

Just something I found on eating... at the 20th minute, it's a true statement and I forgot to write this in my research.

Chefs and parents plot a lunch revolution at one D.C. public school

by : Ed Bruske

for: Grist.org

Bringing the home back into school cafeterias which are currently full of unhealthy, quick, processed food choices for children. At a time when parents have a decisive influence over their children's eating habits and behaviours, their influence is being obstructed by the cafeteria food system in schools.

http://www.grist.org/article/food-chefs-and-parents-plot-lunch-revolution-at-D.C.-public-school/

Tactility and influence of cups and bottles

This is a very rough prototype on an idea of how to design cups. What seemed interesting to me was the effect of drinking from different heights and thicknesses.

These were all coke glass products. If I can enjoy coke in this container, then what's stopping me from being able to drink any other liquid from it. It was marketed to be attractive to the touch in the first place!

I found that at the same time, I was enjoying the glass cup and that my idea of enjoying coke for the taste was disappearing.