After looking at how food is
visually represented in different kinds of literature. I decided to end this
blog with the most popular way food is represented today. Televisions have been
popular in homes since colour broadcasting was introduced in the mid-1960s.
Since then we have been obsessed with everything visual.
Before my visit to the British Library, I posed the question 'How do films and TV differ in representing the visual aspects of food as an important component?' Today I am going to show you how television representations of food differ from film representations, and how both representations are equally important. My experience at the British Library helped me to understand the different representations of food, more in the way of art and still life but nonetheless, the secondary sources I did find pointed out how food decorates, feeds and produces itself as the 'star' of TV and film.
In their essay "Food on the Silver Screen", Susan Wolk and Marie-Jose Sevilla state a cookery programme's main purpose is to “teach you how to feed your body, the makers of foodie films are more intent on feeding your mind" (qtd.Walker:218) After wanting to find out how literary representations feed the mind, this is exactly what I wanted to hear. This suggests that the literary, magical and fantastical world of a film create descriptions which feed us metaphorically. This is illustrated by the film adaptation of Roald Dahl's Charlie in the Chocolate Factory (2005).
Before my visit to the British Library, I posed the question 'How do films and TV differ in representing the visual aspects of food as an important component?' Today I am going to show you how television representations of food differ from film representations, and how both representations are equally important. My experience at the British Library helped me to understand the different representations of food, more in the way of art and still life but nonetheless, the secondary sources I did find pointed out how food decorates, feeds and produces itself as the 'star' of TV and film.
In their essay "Food on the Silver Screen", Susan Wolk and Marie-Jose Sevilla state a cookery programme's main purpose is to “teach you how to feed your body, the makers of foodie films are more intent on feeding your mind" (qtd.Walker:218) After wanting to find out how literary representations feed the mind, this is exactly what I wanted to hear. This suggests that the literary, magical and fantastical world of a film create descriptions which feed us metaphorically. This is illustrated by the film adaptation of Roald Dahl's Charlie in the Chocolate Factory (2005).
In this clip
above, the 'world' of food in the factory is filled with colours and gives us a
place that we can never imagine visiting. This form of escapism lets our mind
wander into a world of feeding and sweet delights. Wolk and Sevilla suggest
that "food can become ‘the star of the show’, the centre of a
‘cinematographic plate’" (qtd.Walker:219) Food is clearly the 'star' of the show in
this clip. The sizing of the food compared to the characters illustrates how
this aspect is more important than the characters' journeys at this time.
Furthermore the food descriptions such as the chocolate being
"frothy" and "chocolatey" illustrates a light and fluffy
texture in our mouths which shows the producers intent on 'feeding our mind'.
The poetry of the tongue with regards to the 'y' sound establishes an excited
and delicious sound because of the long vowel sound 'ee'.
Food is not only
the centre of the show in films, it is the centre of the show in cooking
programmes. When watching cooking shows you expect to see some form of food. In
Heston Blumenthal cooks Treacle Tart (above), the descriptions here are less
fantastical, however food is still the 'centre of the plate' on the screen.
This food is realistic and the colours are less fantastical as we previously
saw because this concentrates on instruction and teaching rather than feeding
the imagination as Wolk and Sevilla suggest.
In conclusion,
the main difference between TV and Film is that film uses imagination and cook
shows concentrate on teaching the audience about food. However, both are
connected in the belief that food is an important component in visual aids.
Work Cited
Walker, H (ed.). Food in the Arts.
Devon, England: Prospect Books (1999)
BBC Food. “Heston Blumenthal cooks
Treacle Tart - Full Recipe - In Search of Perfection – BBC”. YouTube. YouTube LLC. 3 July 2009. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48lDzD6JNJc>
Accessed 20/03/2015
Don’tBeCheeki “Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory - 'Land of Candy' Scene” YouTube.
YouTube LLC. 3 June 2011. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S_AYZGBxkQ>
Accessed 20/03/2015
No comments:
Post a Comment