A small electric motor rocks a
knife up and down roughly 350
times a minute—just enough
to keep pace with the director’s
high-speed camera. Meanwhile
air cylinders shoot presliced
veggies upward at the knife, to
make it seem as if they’re being
speed-chopped.“It’s a real mayhem shot,” Fountain says. “But
it’s good because the veggies
are so pretty, and there’s water
flying, and the [slow-motion
playback] makes everything
look luxurious.”
PAS T CLIEN T Dunkin’ Donuts (for
a breakfast omelet)
TAKES TO GE T THE MONE Y SHO T 2 to 3
CHALLENGE
Drop a stack of cheese
SOLUTION Tabletop rig
First, Fountain stretches rubber
bands across an upside-down,
U-shaped frame; then, he layers
slices of cheese on top of them.
When the bands are cut, the
food flops down “in perfect
sequence,” he says. “I’ve used
[the device] for tortillas, pancakes, bread, meat—anything
flat, really. It’s one of the oldest
tricks I know.”
PAST CLIENTS Assorted regional
restaurants
TAKES TO GE T THE MONE Y SHO T 2 to 3
CHALLENGE
Bounce chicken nuggets
SOLUTION Trampoline
By stretching a piece of latex sheeting across a wood frame and then
dropping the nuggets from a conveyor belt, Fountain creates what he
calls a “happy action. . . . The movement is random, playful, and unpredictable.” And the food, in turn, “seems fun and appealing.”
PAS T CLIEN T T.G. I. Friday’s TAKES TO GE T THE MONE Y SHO T 2 to 3
“A HAND IS
A NUANCED
THING. I T’S
NOT ALWAYS
EASY TO
TRANSLATE
SOMEONE’S
FLICKING
MOTION INTO
A MOTOR OR
MACHINE
THAT CAN
REPEAT IT.”
—Ed Fountain
