Cooking With Peppe feedback thread at DVinfo.net

Henry Williams · December 21st, 2011, 12:09 PM

I shot this with head chef Peppe Fontana and sound engineer Graham C Williams. They were an absolute pleasure to work with and, just in case anyone's wondering, the pizza tasted amazing! I could get used to doubling up the talent and the catering department.

We were going for something that felt fast paced and upbeat like a lot of contemporary cookery shows.

All done in one take with a couple of brief pauses to reposition equipment. Shot with an NEX-5 w/ e-mount 16mm pancake lens, Sony VG10 w/ Helios 58mm lens, three HD Sony Handycams, one with wide angle lens and an XH-A1. We used a head mic and a few different shotgun/omni mics run into a mixing desk for the sound.

Edited in FCP 6 and graded w/Magic Bullet. Music taken from Soundtrack Pro library and used as per purchase agreement.

Chris Barcellos · December 21st, 2011, 06:33 PM

I'm hungry now.......that looked to good...

Dick Mays · December 21st, 2011, 09:25 PM

Nice camera work. You really could follow all the steps as the pizza gets made. The mussels were alive? Didn't know that. Reminds me of the first time I saw lobsters boiling. I couldn't eat any.
Very well shot, educational video. I'm like Chris, it made me hungry.

Jeremy Doyle · December 21st, 2011, 10:04 PM

Count me in as hungry too! I liked all the camera angles. Especially the high wide one. It was cut at a brisk pace which really helped it move along. There were a few edits that moved a little too quick for me actually.

This is good, strong piece.

Simon Wood · December 22nd, 2011, 03:14 AM

Nice solid entry Henry; probably this one could be made into a genuine web series the easiest of all the entries we have seen so far.

Interesting to note that you filmed it all in one go using multiple cameras; if I had tried to do a cooking show I'm sure I would have tried to set up each scene separately (at the expense of increasing the workload and antagonizing the chef)!

As it is you capture the spontaneity of the chef in his element, and working at his own pace. Nice one!

Trond Saetre · December 22nd, 2011, 03:50 AM

Henry, now I'm hungry!
I agree with Simon, this one could easily be turned into a series. Go for it!

Henry Williams · December 22nd, 2011, 08:10 AM

Thanks so much everyone for taking the time to watch and leave feedback. It's much appreciated and I'm really glad you liked the video.

Chris, Dick, Jeremy, Trond - you have no idea how hungry I was making this video. It was a rather early morning shoot as it was a working kitchen and we had a couple of hours to set up, shoot the vid and break everything down again before their day started - I'd foolishly missed breakfast and only got more famished as we went through each stage of the pizza's preparation. It had been completely consumed within five seconds of the final shot going in the can!

Simon, Jeremy, Dick, we were actually running all six cameras throughout - I did a best guess estimate of where they'd need to be in the various different areas before we started, set them up, pressed record and then adjusted on the fly. The ceiling wide was my little NEX-5 mounted on an SLR gorillapod hanging off the ceiling with a 16mm lens. It's a nice backup and also helps add context to the action - use it a lot for the same purpose when undertaking paid work, although it never stops being odd setting focus on an upside down image!

The biggest challenge with this project was in post where I had to shorten down a 10 minute sequence whilst preserving all the information. Took a couple of days but I think it worked okay in the end. We came in a whole frame under the time limit!

Trond and Simon, It'd be a lot of fun to do a series of webisodes in the same vein but I'm not sure my waistline would stand it! Definitely food for thought though. Will have to give this some consideration...

Henry

Finn-Erik Faale · December 22nd, 2011, 03:35 PM

This was a good solution of the task. It is nearly impossible to understand how you managed operating all the cameras alone. I like the result.

Henry Williams · December 23rd, 2011, 07:25 AM

Thanks Finn-Erik!

I'm kind of used to juggling cameras as I film a lot of one time events this way - for me at least it's mostly about making sure you have decent overlapping coverage so if one camera needs repositioning/adjusting mid shot a couple of others will pick up the slack. It still gives me a headache sometimes though!

Henry

Marj Atkins · December 23rd, 2011, 11:22 AM

Hi Henry

I will definitely try this out - your chef Peppe explains the process of making a genuine Italian pizza very clearly and is quite inspiring. The props and process are well organized and the instructions are easy to follow.

I must say your cooking show has an interesting and rather different style and ambiance to most with its deep shadows and de-saturated colour due to the minimal spot lighting and creative camera angles. The flames bursting out of the gas cooker seem to accentuate this rather dark, shadowy look. While it is interesting, I experienced a little difficulty with this as there is not enough light to see exactly what the chef is doing and I must confess I found the cast shadows a little distracting.

Good, clear sound here is a big plus. I think this was well done.

Henry Williams · December 23rd, 2011, 12:02 PM

Hi Marj,

Many thanks for your comments. I'm so glad you enjoyed the video. Peppe (the chef) and Graham (sound) really did both do an excellent job, especially considering it was Peppe's first time on camera.

RE: the look of the piece I don't think the grade was particularly dark - I'll have to check it on a couple of different monitors to see if there's any variation. Good to know for next time.

Henry

Lorinda Norton · December 24th, 2011, 10:55 AM

Very nice, Henry! You've proven what I've been thinking for some time now, that cooking shows don't all have to be lit the same and don't have to be in the same kitchen! I've considered doing a "for fun" series featuring local cooks in their own home kitchens. This is inspiration. Of course, not many people I know have cooking areas like that. :) Great camera placement. And with the panning I noticed on at least one shot it made it feel like you had a large crew.

Henry Williams · December 24th, 2011, 11:41 AM

Thanks, Lorinda! You should so do one yourself - they're great fun to shoot and edit, plus you get to eat the lovely food afterwards :)

It's a shame I don't have the reverse angle of me and Graham (the sound engineer) running round like madmen on tiptoes between cameras/mics as we were filming. Would make for quite entertaining viewing!

Henry

Don Parrish · December 25th, 2011, 08:32 AM

Great job, thanks for sharing.

Me personally, I would prefer the better lighting, it would highlight the foods better and keep shadows from destracting. A brighter work area would highlight the food and give greater clarity and meaning and provide cleaner video. I would also add some very close shots and maybe a few stills, but that is just my opinion. I would also prefer a LAV mic over the facial mic, I just always have, I feel the mic near the face to be distracting even for sports announcers.

but that is just my opinion, and I am nothing special.

Henry Williams · December 25th, 2011, 09:12 AM

Thanks for watching and taking the time to provide feedback, Don. Really glad you liked it.

Unfortunately the kind of shooting scenario you're talking about would have been incompatible with the one take, multiple camera format we wanted to use unless we had a much larger crew and a lot more prep time.

We didn't use a lav mic because we would have got audio interference when Peppe (the chef) was kneading dough etc...

December 21st, 2011, 12:09 PM	#1
Henry Williams Major Player Join Date: May 2010 Location: Lewisham, London, United Kingdom Posts: 408	Cooking With Peppe feedback thread I shot this with head chef Peppe Fontana and sound engineer Graham C Williams. They were an absolute pleasure to work with and, just in case anyone's wondering, the pizza tasted amazing! I could get used to doubling up the talent and the catering department. cooking with Peppe DVC/UWOL 2011 on Vimeo We were going for something that felt fast paced and upbeat like a lot of contemporary cookery shows. All done in one take with a couple of brief pauses to reposition equipment. Shot with an NEX-5 w/ e-mount 16mm pancake lens, Sony VG10 w/ Helios 58mm lens, three HD Sony Handycams, one with wide angle lens and an XH-A1. We used a head mic and a few different shotgun/omni mics run into a mixing desk for the sound. Edited in FCP 6 and graded w/Magic Bullet. Music taken from Soundtrack Pro library and used as per purchase agreement. Last edited by Henry Williams; December 22nd, 2011 at 03:24 AM. Reason: forgot a link!

December 21st, 2011, 06:33 PM	#2
Chris Barcellos Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Elk Grove CA Posts: 6,838	Re: Cooking With Peppe feedback thread I'm hungry now.......that looked to good... __________________ Chris J. Barcellos

December 21st, 2011, 09:25 PM	#3
Dick Mays Major Player Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 690	Re: Cooking With Peppe feedback thread Nice camera work. You really could follow all the steps as the pizza gets made. The mussels were alive? Didn't know that. Reminds me of the first time I saw lobsters boiling. I couldn't eat any. Very well shot, educational video. I'm like Chris, it made me hungry.

December 21st, 2011, 10:04 PM	#4
Jeremy Doyle Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Brainerd, MN Posts: 287	Re: Cooking With Peppe feedback thread Count me in as hungry too! I liked all the camera angles. Especially the high wide one. It was cut at a brisk pace which really helped it move along. There were a few edits that moved a little too quick for me actually. This is good, strong piece.

December 22nd, 2011, 03:14 AM	#5
Simon Wood Major Player Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Entebbe Uganda Posts: 768	Re: Cooking With Peppe feedback thread Nice solid entry Henry; probably this one could be made into a genuine web series the easiest of all the entries we have seen so far. Interesting to note that you filmed it all in one go using multiple cameras; if I had tried to do a cooking show I'm sure I would have tried to set up each scene separately (at the expense of increasing the workload and antagonizing the chef)! As it is you capture the spontaneity of the chef in his element, and working at his own pace. Nice one! __________________ http://vimeo.com/channels/guerrillafilms

December 22nd, 2011, 03:50 AM	#6
Trond Saetre Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Bergen, Norway Posts: 3,375	Re: Cooking With Peppe feedback thread Henry, now I'm hungry! I agree with Simon, this one could easily be turned into a series. Go for it!

December 22nd, 2011, 08:10 AM	#7
Henry Williams Major Player Join Date: May 2010 Location: Lewisham, London, United Kingdom Posts: 408	Re: Cooking With Peppe feedback thread Thanks so much everyone for taking the time to watch and leave feedback. It's much appreciated and I'm really glad you liked the video. Chris, Dick, Jeremy, Trond - you have no idea how hungry I was making this video. It was a rather early morning shoot as it was a working kitchen and we had a couple of hours to set up, shoot the vid and break everything down again before their day started - I'd foolishly missed breakfast and only got more famished as we went through each stage of the pizza's preparation. It had been completely consumed within five seconds of the final shot going in the can! Simon, Jeremy, Dick, we were actually running all six cameras throughout - I did a best guess estimate of where they'd need to be in the various different areas before we started, set them up, pressed record and then adjusted on the fly. The ceiling wide was my little NEX-5 mounted on an SLR gorillapod hanging off the ceiling with a 16mm lens. It's a nice backup and also helps add context to the action - use it a lot for the same purpose when undertaking paid work, although it never stops being odd setting focus on an upside down image! The biggest challenge with this project was in post where I had to shorten down a 10 minute sequence whilst preserving all the information. Took a couple of days but I think it worked okay in the end. We came in a whole frame under the time limit! Trond and Simon, It'd be a lot of fun to do a series of webisodes in the same vein but I'm not sure my waistline would stand it! Definitely food for thought though. Will have to give this some consideration... Henry Last edited by Henry Williams; December 22nd, 2011 at 08:12 AM. Reason: spelling

December 22nd, 2011, 03:35 PM	#8
Finn-Erik Faale Major Player Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Porsgrunn Norway Posts: 280	Re: Cooking With Peppe feedback thread This was a good solution of the task. It is nearly impossible to understand how you managed operating all the cameras alone. I like the result.

December 23rd, 2011, 07:25 AM	#9
Henry Williams Major Player Join Date: May 2010 Location: Lewisham, London, United Kingdom Posts: 408	Re: Cooking With Peppe feedback thread Thanks Finn-Erik! I'm kind of used to juggling cameras as I film a lot of one time events this way - for me at least it's mostly about making sure you have decent overlapping coverage so if one camera needs repositioning/adjusting mid shot a couple of others will pick up the slack. It still gives me a headache sometimes though! Henry

December 23rd, 2011, 11:22 AM	#10
Marj Atkins Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Johannesburg South Africa Posts: 768	Re: Cooking With Peppe feedback thread Hi Henry I will definitely try this out - your chef Peppe explains the process of making a genuine Italian pizza very clearly and is quite inspiring. The props and process are well organized and the instructions are easy to follow. I must say your cooking show has an interesting and rather different style and ambiance to most with its deep shadows and de-saturated colour due to the minimal spot lighting and creative camera angles. The flames bursting out of the gas cooker seem to accentuate this rather dark, shadowy look. While it is interesting, I experienced a little difficulty with this as there is not enough light to see exactly what the chef is doing and I must confess I found the cast shadows a little distracting. Good, clear sound here is a big plus. I think this was well done.

December 23rd, 2011, 12:02 PM	#11
Henry Williams Major Player Join Date: May 2010 Location: Lewisham, London, United Kingdom Posts: 408	Re: Cooking With Peppe feedback thread Hi Marj, Many thanks for your comments. I'm so glad you enjoyed the video. Peppe (the chef) and Graham (sound) really did both do an excellent job, especially considering it was Peppe's first time on camera. RE: the look of the piece I don't think the grade was particularly dark - I'll have to check it on a couple of different monitors to see if there's any variation. Good to know for next time. Henry

December 24th, 2011, 10:55 AM	#12
Lorinda Norton Wrangler Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Southwest Idaho, USA Posts: 3,066	Re: Cooking With Peppe feedback thread Very nice, Henry! You've proven what I've been thinking for some time now, that cooking shows don't all have to be lit the same and don't have to be in the same kitchen! I've considered doing a "for fun" series featuring local cooks in their own home kitchens. This is inspiration. Of course, not many people I know have cooking areas like that. :) Great camera placement. And with the panning I noticed on at least one shot it made it feel like you had a large crew. __________________ Lorinda

December 24th, 2011, 11:41 AM	#13
Henry Williams Major Player Join Date: May 2010 Location: Lewisham, London, United Kingdom Posts: 408	Re: Cooking With Peppe feedback thread Thanks, Lorinda! You should so do one yourself - they're great fun to shoot and edit, plus you get to eat the lovely food afterwards :) It's a shame I don't have the reverse angle of me and Graham (the sound engineer) running round like madmen on tiptoes between cameras/mics as we were filming. Would make for quite entertaining viewing! Henry

December 25th, 2011, 08:32 AM	#14
Don Parrish Major Player Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Tavares Fla Posts: 541	Re: Cooking With Peppe feedback thread Great job, thanks for sharing. Me personally, I would prefer the better lighting, it would highlight the foods better and keep shadows from destracting. A brighter work area would highlight the food and give greater clarity and meaning and provide cleaner video. I would also add some very close shots and maybe a few stills, but that is just my opinion. I would also prefer a LAV mic over the facial mic, I just always have, I feel the mic near the face to be distracting even for sports announcers. but that is just my opinion, and I am nothing special.

December 25th, 2011, 09:12 AM	#15
Henry Williams Major Player Join Date: May 2010 Location: Lewisham, London, United Kingdom Posts: 408	Re: Cooking With Peppe feedback thread Thanks for watching and taking the time to provide feedback, Don. Really glad you liked it. Unfortunately the kind of shooting scenario you're talking about would have been incompatible with the one take, multiple camera format we wanted to use unless we had a much larger crew and a lot more prep time. We didn't use a lav mic because we would have got audio interference when Peppe (the chef) was kneading dough etc...