HAMSTER IN MY HEAD - Short Film
Prop Fabrication & Food Styling by Sophia Finley
Written & Directed by Jerry Gonzalez
For this project, I created over 15 different food props- mostly fake, but some real or hybrid. This food needed to stay out under hot lights for multiple days of filming, and most of it was cheese based required by the plot, so anything cheese related was fake.
There was a fight scene, so some of the food was thrown around and even stomped. I had extras of the mini slider burgers for each take.
Additionally, there was some food that was eaten and both lead actors had food allergies to take into account. The lead had to "stuff his cheeks" with mozzarella sticks, so I bought a bulk amount and handled all of the food safety to make sure they weren't sitting out too long and that we had enough for each take.
A fun aspect of the project was creating a chocolate volcano cake with real sparklers! I formed the base out of foam then coated it with heat resistant caulking in red and brown shades. Then, I added spackle to the base tray to create ice cream scoops. To add to the parody Rainforest Cafe vibe, I found some jungle animals and added them all around!
Some methods used for this project:
- hand soap from the dollar store and white paint as ranch for dipping the clay wings!
- uncooked rice painted orange with clay peas, red peppers, and shrimp for paella
- created nacho cheese with yellow paint and lotion
- rolled clay mozzarella sticks in layers of paint and sugar for a crisp exterior
JERRY'S GOTHIC 30TH BIRTHDAY
Worked as the Party Planner, Day of Coordinator, and Food Stylist
Setup Crew: Jerry Gonzalez, Ziva
Photography: Stone Waters
I was tasked with planning a themed event for over 50 guests at a rented location with minimal furniture. This meant I had to plan for specific decor to transform the space, food and drink, and work on a timeline for setup and tear-down.
I enjoy hosting themed events at home and have used these parties as a baking opportunity!
Worms made from gelatin & heavy cream, set in bendy straws
Cinnamon roll "intestines"
Rice krispie brains
Christmas cookies
Gingham sugar cookies
Christmas tree cheese with pomegranate seeds ornaments
HOLIDAY TREATS
I wanted to try out some classic food styling techniques at home and bought some Thick-It (methyl cellulose) to experiment on different liquids.
I tried adding different amounts of the thick-it to water to see the different outcomes. The water started out still being clear and gel-like, and got more white tinted and fluffy as I added more.
I also tried multiple different liquids such as juice, energy drinks, sodas, milk, and alcohol to see how much I needed to add to each to achieve a similar consistency. Pure alcohol must burn off the active ingredient because it took a lot to thicken, but milk and wine were at a similar level.
End result: not very tasty, but cool textures!
THICKENER EXPERIMENTS
EGGPLANT LASAGNA - Short Film
Prop Fabrication & Food Styling by Sophia Finley
Written & Directed by Jerry Gonzalez
This production in 2022 is when I discovered my love for food styling and fake food. It was my first on set experience outside of class and with the art department, and it led me to change the trajectory of my career path.
For this project I created some fake flowers that looked dead and would lose flowers when the table shook. Additionally, I created fake ricotta cheese with a mixture of glue and styrofoam as well as a partially fake/partially real eggplant lasagna. While these lasagna slices were not very delicious, they were made to look good on the camera. On set, I was in charge of resetting the sliced eggplants for the actor to maintain continuity.