Oven Timelapse?

[David Carstens]

I'm looking to figure out a way to shoot a tray of muffins rising as they bake inside an oven, a la Pillsbury commercials. How is this done- a specially built oven, or just through a very clear oven door?

[Jamie Metzger]

I knew you were talking about that pilsbury commercial. i saw that the other day and I thought it was sweet.

 

Timing, Motion control dolly and length of shot should be able to get you most of the way, considering those rolls take 15 minutes to rise.

 

There are many ways that they could have done that shot, but it didn't look like glass.

[Tom Lowe]

You might find a large specialty oven (perhaps a pizza oven) that could cook those babies with the front open. I think they only need like 375f.

[Justin Hayward]

You might find a large specialty oven (perhaps a pizza oven) that could cook those babies with the front open. I think they only need like 375f.

 

Just be sure not to cook the camera too. ;)

[Tom Lowe]

haha, yeah, don't use a macro lens. ;)

[Jamie Metzger]

I should have said WORM GEARS and not MOTION CONTROL. Although I'm sure motion control would work just fine, worm gears would be a lot cheaper.

[Ira Ratner]

Tom nailed it:

 

The front door can be open, and you can max out the temp to make them bake faster. You're not eating then--just filming them.

 

If you want some real versatility and latitude on the sequence, consider using a propane barbecue with the lid removed--real easy to temporarily remove the lid. You can hang your pan above the grill grate, and use your choice of backdrop.

 

But if you want it to look like an oven, you gotta use a real oven.

[K Borowski]

Just be sure not to cook the camera too. ;)

 

If you do want to cook the film, the recipe calls for 10-20 min. at 200°F (~90C) ;-)

[Jonathan Bowerbank]

Saw it today, pretty awesome, I'll say.

 

I like this one:

[Liam Hall]

We used to do shots like these with purpose built ovens, shooting short bursts or using timelapse. Sometimes we used models and did stop-frame.

 

I wouldn't advise shooting with an open oven door, that's a recipe for disaster.