DELISH VIDEO STYLING CLASS
February 24, 2025

Part 1: Principles
Part 2: Techniques / Equipment
Part 3: Hands-on Practice

  1. PRINCIPLES

YOU ARE ALWAYS TELLING A STORY

What’s your performance persona? How can you convey confidence on camera? How can you persuade without words? 

Let’s look at some lessons from three eras of food in motion and how they relate to storytelling.

Remember: Recipes are scripts, not rules. As in all forms of edutainment, it IS important to convey accurate information, but our primary purpose is to win attention.

There’s more than one way to interpret a script.

OLD SCHOOL BROADCAST TV

Core appeal: Access 

  • Keep your motions sharp and snappy. Express your personality with your actions and let the camera keep up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_gXQvmHL3I

(The Naked Chef / Jamie Oliver, “Chefs’ Night Off” [S1E1], Food Network, 1999)

SOCIAL MEDIA (1st gen, phone + browser: Facebook/IG/YouTube)

Core appeal: Aspiration, status

  • You’re not illustrating a recipe; you’re making an ad for a recipe. Find the compelling patterns, shapes, rhythms:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRU7d0WjC3A

(Tasty, “Sliders 4 Ways,” Facebook/Instagram, 2016)

https://www.instagram.com/p/C3-yiVcp2M1/

(from Delish video guide)

  • ASMR – note the change in visual pace when VO is in play:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DEk7cI9Pmrq/

(from Delish video guide)

  • Side note on ASMR: “crunch relieves stress,” but in the same way that “the color orange makes you hungry” – there are many, many nuances to rules like this.


SOCIAL MEDIA (2nd gen, phone only: TikTok)

Core appeal: Communicability, reflection

  • Reactions, relationships and authenticity are key:

https://www.tiktok.com/@littleremyfood/video/7339292280441851179?_r=1&_t=ZT-8uAc6Tkeq3X

  • Hauls serve the same purpose as a 1st-gen still life, to demonstrate wealth and taste (but they’re a lot harder to fake, and that’s what makes them “authentic”).

Takeaway: there is no “correct” way to shoot food in motion. It evolves with the platform and human desire, as it responds to changes in society and external forces.

HOW THIS RELATES TO ART DIRECTION

  • When to pull from a prop and when to pull from the universe? What conveys abbondanza?

  • Know the Content Triangle: platform - payments - persona. How do they relate and drive each other?

    • platform: what kind of audience is this?

    • payments: how is the creator rewarded?

    • persona: how does the creator behave in order to get the audience to reward them?

  • Know the challenge you are trying to meet, the problem you are trying to solve. You may have an idea, but it’s even better to seek feedback and build consensus.

  • Move musically. Know your walkout. Who’s your fighter? What’s your hook? Where’s the dance?

Think about it like a pop song; notice how hooks are always getting lifted and transformed:

https://open.spotify.com/track/7arXmmOSx3cbeQ6A5SgIkT?si=aec9b80880794c8a
(Black Pumas, Oct 33, hook starts at 1:13, appears again at 2:30)

https://open.spotify.com/track/52nxKZY1nWQoBQxuO9uISM?si=303b73950a9c436c
(Neko Case, Curse of the I-5 Corridor, hook starts at 1:46, appears again [modified] at 2:35, reappears at 4:57 et al)


2. TECHNIQUES / EQUIPMENT

Ice techniques:

  • When to use real ice

  • When to use fake ice

  • what drinks work best: hazy, colorful

  • what drinks to avoid: dairy, purees, clear/warm tones (adding an opacifier helps)

  • How to make your own fake ice
    - Encapso-K
    - Rubber Glass
    - Isomalt
    - Diapers

Dollops, flows and pulls:

Check the texture before you commit to the motion

  • Sour cream, yogurt, peanut butter, etc: stir beforehand, make sure it’s smooth. Check your spoon

  • Sugar, powdered sugar, cocoa: sift first

  • Honey, maple syrup: is it thick or thin enough?

Cheese/creamy sauces on swaps

  • Keep the pan warm and covered

  • For creaminess: jarred alfredo sauce or Velveeta

  • For cheese pulls: layer in American cheese or provolone/mozz slices (but not Kraft singles). For shredded, mix cheeses (i.e. 70% fresh mozz, 30% LMM). Always grate fresh; packaged shredded cheese can contain caking agents and the shape looks like worms

Prep & delegation

  • Keys to delegation:

    • Know what needs to be done

    • Know when it needs to be done by

    • Communicate the needs in advance

    • Check in to make sure project is on track

    • Educate and course-correct with kindness and empathy. Where did the disconnect occur?

  • Note: delegation requires investment. Do you have the time and resources to teach and manage?

ART DIRECTION DEEP DIVE

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lGRVP2IHeWVVH5JQkrHMvVJQ263DouET/view

Final thought: know your chicken.

You are the puppeteer to a living thing. How can you interact in a fun, mesmerizing way?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLwML2PagbY

[Lunch break]

HANDS-ON PRACTICE

Making fake ice

  • Hands-on demo with Encapso-K + diaper methods


Physicality: think like an archer

  • Plant your feet (shoe choice matters)

  • Exhale on the action

  • Engage your core

  • Mind your caffeine 


Interacting with the camera (practicing with fixed mount)

  • Dolloping to a song

  • Sifting (choose your sieve)

  • Sliding onto a mark with hands (plate, pan): note the difference in surface types

  • Sliding onto a mark with toss (bean bag, lemons/fruit)


Final exercise (if time allows): TAKE IT TO THE ISLAND

  • Group hands-on storyboard brainstorm