Transforming Breakfast Foods Into Works of Art

Pancakes aren’t the only breakfast staples stacking up these days. Precariously posed servings of yogurt, fruit, coffee and other A.M. yummies morph into “morning masterpieces” via Periscope’s artful effort for Nielsen-Massey Vanillas.

“One of the reasons we were so excited about this idea is the way it takes advantage of the vertical video format, and that’s why the sculptures needed to embrace verticality yet look like they defied gravity without toppling over before the first drip of vanilla paste drizzled on top,” Periscope associate creative director Thom Kordonowy tells Muse.

“It needed to look impossible, and it needed to be practical,” with zero camera trickery, Kordonowy says,

That led Periscope to hire directors Adam Voorhes and Robin Finlay (aka The Voorhes, repped by Apostrophe), famed for foodie frames that look good enough to eat.

“Despite all the planning and preparation—testing the product, building food sculptures ahead of time—a lot of it had to come together during the shoot,” Kordonowy recalls.

For example, the smoothie sculpture “couldn’t be made in advance, and needed to be replaced or reset because it didn’t do great under the lights.”

What’s more, “The vanilla paste pouring was tricky to deal with,” he says. “Even though we tested it a bunch ahead of time, there’s only so much you can control. We tried heating it up and cooling it down to adjust the speed. But sometimes it had a mind of its own on how it would pour over fruit and granola. So there was a little luck involved, too.”

Luck. But no AI. How scrumptiously 201i9 of them!

In the video village, as filming progressed, “I’d never seen more people inches from the screen waiting on pins and needles to see which direction the vanilla paste would travel,” Kordonowy says. “And this was one of the best-smelling shoots we’ve ever been on!”

He adds: “If you ever want to make cool geometric shapes out of granola, the key is isomalt—the primary ingredient in suckers.”

There, we learned something new. Sweet way to start the day.

Periscope sibling Rise Interactive is handling media placement, with the work appearing across digital video, paid social and influencer channels.