Saturday, February 6, 2010

Welcome to the Fake 'n Bake Kitchen

Welcome to the wonderful world of culinary fakery!

My friend Eric Hart has a lovely props blog where he expounds on all things props. Since I saw his blog, I've been wondering about how I, too, can contribute to the general knowledge of prop artistry flying about the internets. So, I've decided to do a blog of my own, specifically related to fake food craftsmanship and casting and molding - the two things I specialize in here at the good ole MKE Rep. I am by no means the leading authority these topics, but I have a few years of propping under my belt now, and ever-mounting experience in the dimly lit props kitchen. I think it's time to share some of my successes (and some of my hilarious failures) with you lovely people.

The first step was choosing a name, and I have to say that my friends were full of helpful suggestions. As promised, Sarah Heck (a propster extraordinaire herself) will be rewarded with a plate of (actual, edible) chocolate chip walnut cookies for her suggestion of Fake 'n Bake. Special mention should also go out to Linn Elliott for her hilarious, if cumbersome, Pate de Faux Gras. Other contenders included Sham Cast Bakery, Inedibles, Easy Fake Oven, Fresh Faked Goods, and Kitchen of Lies. Thanks to all.

I hope you'll find this blog to be helpful and amusing. Please send comments and questions, I'll do my best to answer you or to point you in the direction of an answer. So, let the fakery begin.

8 comments:

  1. Hi Anna, really like your blog. I was wondering if you could give me a couple of tips for a film i am doing at university. I've been tasked with creating food for a still shot and i have to make it look like someone has just thrown food in the characters face. I was wondering how would you go about say creating something like spaghetti in mid-impact with someone's face? i would love to create something looking like for example an egg breaking over a characters face. What sort of glues, plastic, resins would i need to achieve this?? I'm really stumped so would be great to hear from you. You can contact me at
    luke_judlin@yahoo.co.uk

    Look forward to hearing your advise.
    Luke

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ooh, good questions, what a fun project! I've sent you some more questions, so check your e-mail. I hope I can help you out.

    ReplyDelete
  3. thanks for the reply, i haven't received your email though could you re-send it?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Luke, it seems like I may have an incorrect address for you, the e-mail was bounced back. Can you check that the one above is typed correctly and let me know? Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  5. hi sorry i realised i put 'co.uk' its luke_judlin@yahoo.com. thanks

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anna,
    I am a friend of Brandon Kirkham, who gave me your name. I am currently working on a production of Big Love (Charles Mee) and in it the actors are supposed to smash wedding cake in each other's faces. It needs to crumble realistically and I would, of course, not like cake or icing to get on the formalwear (wedding dresses and tuxedos). I've looked at your blog and gotten some great ideas but wondered if there was anything else you might suggest that might help with the specifics. The caulk is a great idea and I had already suggested that but the crumbling? Please email me at markngma@appstate.edu

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for thinking of me and checking out the blog. I don't know if I have the perfect solution for your question, but I have a few ideas.

      Is this supposed to be edible at all, or just smashed? If they're eating it, it's tricky to mix edible and non edible materials into one prop, so I don't recommend putting caulk onto real cake, or anything like that. In fact, I can't think of any non-edible materials that crumble like cake. (Upholstery foam is a good one if the cake doesn't have to crumble.) What I think I would do is to use edible, but costume friendly foods. The problem with cake crumbs is that they are oily, and can stain formal wear. Bread crumbs, on the other hand, just brush right off. I'd consider using soft bread instead of cake. You could bake the bread in a cake pan, with a bit of food coloring, and it might be just right. You could probably make a lot and freeze it. (How long is your run, by the way?) As for frosting.....well, if it isn't going to be eaten at all, maybe caulk is the way to go. If any of it is eaten, the trick would be to find icing that won't stain. I'd experiment with royal icing, or other boiled icings with no oil in them.

      Delete

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