Filming food preparation requires quick and precise control of cameras, lenses, and lighting. Berlin-based cinematographer Winnie Heun took on the task with a commercial for Knorr, shot in Istanbul. He spoke with ARRI about his experience on the shoot.
What were some of the main challenges associated with this project?
It was quite a job. We had to accommodate a large studio set, two well-known Turkish celebrities, a child, cooking pots and stoves, high-speed photography, motion control, and time-lapse sets. And we only had three days to film it all.
What kind of set was needed for this shoot?
Designer Zeki Sarayoglu and his team built a beautiful large scale set at the Orion studios in Istanbul. The team had to create an entire apartment, with a fully equipped open kitchen, a moveable kitchen island, beautiful columns, and wall break-throughs to create various angles and depth for my shots. We decided to use a rather muted, darker wall color.
The food stylists had to supply gorgeous food for all setups, mostly at the same time.
Tell us about the general lighting requirements?
We had to light the set in a late evening/night-time style. My gaffer Giray Gergin is a true artist. We rigged a large amount of tungsten units on an above hanging truss grid system. Various softboxes were applied as well. They were equipped with SkyPanels and they were managed with a control board. We were able to change the height and angle and the length of the curtains of each softbox independently. The outside of our set was pre-rigged with large, open face tungsten units to light the backdrop evenly. For the night scene, we used cooler soft sky bounce through the windows, and Giray even applied small LED punctual fixtures to replicate urban street lights.
This commercial used a number of different setups. Could you explain a bit about them?
We used the same studio for our motion-control, time-lapse, and high-speed setups because we wanted to shoot constantly all 4 main areas of action. The grips pulled up large curtains to divide the studio space. One setup was a glass oven which we could light from outside. There we shot moving time-lapse of the process of baking various dishes. Due to the single frame exposure, the units were very small, a bunch of 300W Fresnels and a SkyPanel S60-C for a soft backlight did the job.
Lighting the high-speed setup was a completely different number. We used various M90's and M40's with the ARRI high speed ballasts and their AutoScan Mode. Because of the heat sources, we, of course, had to use metal flags, otherwise they would have been burned. Director Ali Taner Baltaci and I were constantly switching from one setup to another, shooting, tweaking shots, or lighting new setups. Ali Taner was missing some reaction shots, so we called in a second camera unit to continuously concentrate on the celebrities' reactions.
The glass oven-lit with SkyPanel and Fresnels
What was the major challenge with shooting food?
I've worked with the food stylist Mesud Erdogun on many projects. He had to supply gorgeous food for all setups mostly at the same time. That kept him and his assistants constantly busy.
Shooting food is a real challenge. You have to be very, very fast with lighting or adjusting the cues. Being on a dimmer board helps a lot. The high-speed cameras are more and more light sensitive, but you end up using large-scale HMI's just the get the desired t-Stop. Lighting a set the size of a match box with these massive units is great fun. There was a lot of improvisation: we used all kinds of reflectors, mirrors, little grip stands, heat shields, clamps, and cobbled together rigs, slides with Fisher Technic motors and gear, and other stuff we grabbed from the hardware store. But we also used the SkyPanels. They were not only inserted in the softboxes but were also used here and in different sizes during the whole shoot. They are so wonderfully universal.
What features of the ARRI lights have proven to be important?
I love using the full range of SkyPanels. Ever since they first came out, they've been a big part of my lighting package. Matching the color to existing lights on location, the power of the output and the high-speed capability of the SkyPanels are game changers. The actors we lit mostly with soft bounce from unbleached muslin. I collected a variation of all kinds of fabrics which we could bounce from. The sunlight came from a bunch of 20K ARRI Tungsten Fresnels through the windows. These are great lights, I love their softness because of the large lens.
The family comes together at the end of the TVC to enjoy the meal in the living room.
Finally, tell us about the cameras you used and why.
We filmed on two ALEXA Minis - the Mini has become the go-to camera for television commercials and I like their small size, look library and high frame rate. In the end, it all worked really well. I love collaborating with Ali Taner Baltaci. We've shot many, many commercials together and he knows how to tell a story, is very open to suggestions and works very closely with all departments. And with ARRI's lights and cameras, we had the right tools for the job.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
Filming food preparation requires quick and precise control of cameras, lenses, and lighting. Berlin-based cinematographer Winnie Heun took on the task with a commercial for Knorr, shot in Istanbul. He spoke with ARRI about his experience on the shoot.
