Level: Grades 5 - 7

Author: MediaSmarts

This lesson is part of USE, UNDERSTAND & ENGAGE: A Digital Media Literacy Framework for Canadian Schools.

Overview

This lesson looks at food photography and the different techniques used by food stylists to make foods look appealing in advertisements. The lesson begins with a discussion about the challenges involved in food photography and how traditional elements of photography may be combined with “food tricks” to achieve the desired effects. After reviewing some food photography “tricks of the trade,” students find their own food advertisements, identifying how they have been made to look unrealistic and then reshoot the advertisement on their own with real food without the tricks, comparing the differences.

Learning Outcomes

Students demonstrate:

• an awareness of the different techniques or “tricks of the trade” used to enhance the appearance of foods in ads.
• an awareness of the format and structure of food ads.
• an understanding of their own reactions, as consumers, to these advertisements.

Click here to download the Ad or Reality? slideshow (PPT)

This lesson and all associated documents (handouts, overheads, backgrounders) is available in an easy-print, pdf kit version.