See How Those Appetizing Burger Commercials Get Made

Food commercials can show the most mundane menu items in a flattering light. Through expert styling, lighting, and preparation, videographers can make even the soggiest McDonald’s burger look amazing—and without using CGI.

Photographer Steve Giralt reveals just how detailed a process this kind of food advertising requires in a behind-the-scenes video (spotted by DesignTAXI) for a shoot he did of a burger’s ingredients flying together to land perfectly composed. What looks effortless in slow motion gets a lot more impressive when you see it in real-time:

Deconstructed Burger Behind The Scenes from Steve Giralt on Vimeo.

To create the deconstructed burger shot, Giralt 3D-printed a catapult to throw the ketchup and mustard together in front of the camera. The burger ingredients were arranged on a rig he created to hold items like buns, cheese, onions, and lettuce at a set distance apart. When the two arms of the rig came apart, the rubber bands holding the ingredients slipped away, allowing everything to fall vertically in a pile. After just four takes, all the ingredients landed perfectly, one on top of another, to form a burger that looks like it could have been carefully composed by a master chef.

Now, admire how all that careful engineering turns into a ready-for-TV clip:

Burger Deconstructed in Slow Motion from Steve Giralt on Vimeo.

It's hard not to be impressed with those sleek fast-food commercials after seeing this.

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