Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/798465
52 DGA QUARTERLY PHOTOS: (TOP TO BOTTOM) EVERETT (2); FOOD NETWORK; PHOTOFEST (2); (OPPOSITE) COURTESY EYTAN KELLER If You Can't Stand the Heat… O N C O O K I N G C O M P ET I T I O N S H OWS, T H E ACT I O N I S F R A N T I C A N D T H E D I R ECT I N G I S FA R F R O M C O O K I E C U TT E R BY MARGY ROCHLIN N T H E H I G H - S T A K E S R E A L M O F C O O K I N G competition shows, the majority of the action doesn't always take place in the crampted confines of a kitchen, and the vogue for rigor- ously composed beauty shots (think Chef 's Table) isn't a given. For example, during a field challenge on an episode of MasterChef, director Brian Smith needed to shoot six military helicopters swooping in from one direction, two Army trans- port trucks kicking up clouds of sand, exploding puffs of scarlet smoke, a chow line of hungry soldiers, and a handful of ama- teur cooks frantically trying to put out a winning meal from grills plunked into the middle of the Mojave Desert. In the end, Smith aced the segment using a combination of drones, camera ops embedded with aerial units, and a ground unit shooting the challenge as well as the dusty surroundings. Amidst all this ac- tivity, Smith found time for a stunning bird's-eye shot with a 5D camera mounted on an octocopter drone, looking down on 500 soldiers scurrying like ants as they broke formation to run toward the team they thought cooked the best food. What Smith recalls is less about the actual day than the hours he put in before- hand meticulously planning out every detail—from his 3:30 a.m. on-site meet- ing with the aerial crew to pinpointing the exact moment the camera operators should pop into "hides," so their presence remains invisible to home viewers. "In non-scripted, you only have one take," says Smith, whose credits also include MasterChef, MasterChef Junior and Food Revolution. "So when you have so many I