Trouso said: Quite frankly, I agree. I would go for Mr MG. There are some good pie-ers out there but I think he's in a league of his own. Speed, accuracy - and discretion - you hardly know he's been there - except for the explosion of pie hitting its target.
I can personally attest to his pie throwing ability. When we did my 40th birthday 40 pies video, I made the mistake of breathing in on some of his pie throws. It literally took my breath away, with the combination of the cool whip and the air being pushed back into my mouth and nose.
Is there any way to buy that video? I don't see it in the store.
This is kinda wrong but I like it when someone is almost choking or drowning in mess.
Trouso said: Quite frankly, I agree. I would go for Mr MG. There are some good pie-ers out there but I think he's in a league of his own. Speed, accuracy - and discretion - you hardly know he's been there - except for the explosion of pie hitting its target.
I can personally attest to his pie throwing ability. When we did my 40th birthday 40 pies video, I made the mistake of breathing in on some of his pie throws. It literally took my breath away, with the combination of the cool whip and the air being pushed back into my mouth and nose.
Is there any way to buy that video? I don't see it in the store.
This is kinda wrong but I like it when someone is almost choking or drowning in mess.
One way to avoid the potential cut from the lip of a thrown pie tin is to fold back (fold down) the lip of the tin (and one might even tape over it if one is that concerned).
An alternative is to do what Neil did and bake the crusts and remove the tins afterwards (note these types usually can only hold Kool Whip -- no pudding, as it becomes too heavy and will likely break the crust).
The pie 'flinging" (while holding on to the tin with both hands) is neither 'classic' nor fully satisfying (and it requires the 'thrower' to get close enough to the target to work, well) -- interfering with the visual gag in many cases that I've seen.
But, honestly, if a model asks "Does it hurt?' you might want to question their grasp on reality (sorry) or their understanding of cinematic history/culture (lots of thrown pies over the early decades) and reconsider hiring them.
My one experience with a model who asked me this (and which I still hired) turned out to be the most non-cooperative (and Diva-esque) model/actress I've ever worked with. I should have heeded my intuition when I interviewed her!
wamajama said: An alternative is to do what Neil did and bake the crusts and remove the tins afterwards (note these types usually can only hold Kool Whip -- no pudding, as it becomes too heavy and will likely break the crust).
Nah, if a crust is solid it can hold Cool Whip, pudding, whatever. If a crust is in the process of falling apart, you can fill it with SC and it'll still break. At this point I can usually tell if a crust is "unstable" and those are the ones that stay in the tin. The "keepers" are the tin-free ones that explode on impact like good lil' pies!
Well, from MY experience, that was not the case, I suppose if one minimizes the amount of pudding, sure...also: this 'break up' factor may be the result of the brand of pie crust used...the local store near me has two brands of frozen crusts (one 'generic' type food giant brand) and I've used both and both have a tendency (not 100%) to crack if overloaded with anything heavy and moist. To salvage these, I slid paper plates underneath them.
wamajama said: Well, from MY experience, that was not the case, I suppose if one minimizes the amount of pudding, sure...also: this 'break up' factor may be the result of the brand of pie crust used...the local store near me has two brands of frozen crusts (one 'generic' type food giant brand) and I've used both and both have a tendency (not 100%) to crack if overloaded with anything heavy and moist. To salvage these, I slid paper plates underneath them.
Yeah, we're getting into inside baseball, BUT in my own experience: --The Mrs. Smith's crusts were the best for not breaking, but these days I can't find them for under $4 for a 2-pack, which gets a bit pricey. --Pet Ritz does crusts that don't "break," not even on impact. Which is interesting, but I don't like the effect of the crust hitting and then falling immediately, so I stopped using them. --I've had good recent success with Wal-Mart's Deep Dish crusts at half the price ($2 for a 2-pack). The key is inspecting first to make sure the crusts don't have breaks or cracks. And then I "mend" breaks while the dough is soft. I still sometimes get a crust that I can't take out of a tin, but the other day for instance I went 8-for-8! And ALL these crusts were filled with my new whipped cream formula (which is heavy and REALLY sticks) along with some pudding.
I've always had a love/hate relationship with real crusts over the years. If they were super consistent and easy, I'd use 'em constantly. But back in the days when I was doing 4 scenes totaling 50 pies (!!) per shoot, the crusts were just a pain so I rarely used more than 8 at a time (compared to 40 graham cracker crusts). Now that I shoot less scenes at a time (and often with less pies), I like the "personal" feel of crust pies and the baking beforehand is way more manageable.
It's still a toss-up as to whether you're gonna get breaking tho!
Man, every other time Rich makes a post about his WAM process/logistics, I'm just over here furiously taking notes like a madman. Well, at least I'm not the only one who sometimes struggles to get good pies for throwing. Note that in my gifs/pics I'm standing a good deal closer to Bambi while I'm tossing tinned pies at her, as opposed to the de-tinned one (which was launched as hard as the gif implies, much to her pleasure). Once I get the hang of getting solid crusts, hopefully I can remove the tin from the throwing equation entirely...that's the main reason I personally haven't done more in the throwing department.
Well, that and there's something intimately satisfying about simply smushing a pie right into her face... :x
Haha, happy to pass along the years of hard-learned advice! (One tip that Neil E taught me early on: "Over-bake" your crusts.... Usually 12 min at 400 degrees for me. Sometimes longer. He would also put them in the freezer before transporting. I don't do transport.)
Beyond that, here's my tips for your best chance at non-broken crusts: --Bake them hours before (maybe even the day before). --Let them cool separately. After that, gently take them from the tins. They should come out easily. Put them back unless you're using them immediately. --Don't "stack" them if you can help it. --When ready to use, take the crust from the tin FIRST, put it on your table/rack/etc, then add the filling into it. If you add filling while it's still in the tin, it's gonna be hard/impossible to take out without breaking.
The moment of reckoning is when I take the crusts out of the tin before adding filling. If any of them look fragile, I'll usually play it safe and put them back in the tin. Sometimes a "fragile" crust will be OK once you fill it, but I've also had more than a few pies fall apart in my hands over the years.....
Yes, the over baked crusts do work best. Mrs Smith is the go to brand. We never use anything but Mrs Smith for our thrown pies. Rich was correct on how to handle them once cooked. We usually fill them no more than 30 minutes before we use them. Now, when it comes to throwing, it's best to not short arm and aim the pies. I've seen this in many producers pie videos, and it results in weak pie hits. It's best to follow through with the throw. You get the best pie explosions that way. The key is to not over throw, and because I was a pitcher in high school, it took me a few times to adjust my arm speed for pies. Leah, Sara and Lexi paid the price for those early day pie throws.
Also: the type of filling used may cause crust breakage...I noticed that canned fruit pie filling tends to be heavier and wetter than the pudding cup sources...but yes, over-baking the crust was one thing I forgot to mention.
That said, there is something classic and satisfying about the "reveal" (the pied face), post hit, as the tin or plate falls away.
jessica25.umd.net said: Ariel and Jayce's pie throwing actually scares me!
Yes maybe Mr MG is the master of throwing by the look of those pies Leah!
Girl, I honestly believe that you would hold your own in a pie fight with us! We would definitely need at least 100 pies for the 3 of us to feel satisfied though, I know that! It would be great fun, I so hope that someday we are able to come visit the UK or you are able to pay a visit over here! The fun times we could have! and I would want to add so many other umd ladies too, I don't want to name them all because I don't want to leave anyone out, but especially my twitter wam ladies, you know who you are! You are ALL amazing!!! Can we get a rich benefactor to buy hundreds of dollars in wam supplies and thousands in plane tickets pleassssseeeeee?1?
It's got to happen! My bones may be a bit weak but I'll fight back like a lioness!
jessica25.umd.net said: I so hope this will happen one day? Sponsors speak up now!!
The good news is that you can book a direct flight from the U.K. to Houston. I'm sure your fans would love to see you get a full Messygirl treatment and also team up with Amy, Vika and Penelope for an all out epic pie fight.
jessica25.umd.net said: Ariel and Jayce's pie throwing actually scares me!
Yes maybe Mr MG is the master of throwing by the look of those pies Leah!
it totally should, jessie. its so fantastic. lol. we make sure to not hurt the newbies. we fling the whole pie out of the tin at them at full force, we dont throw the tin...thats how we treat our "guests" typically. lol XD we need to have that in a model search as well "we wont throw the tin, we will just fling the pie at you at full force, its cool, the cool whip will be a soft blow" lolololol XD TAKING a pie is just as much an artform as GIVING one! if you cant take a fantastic pie hit, blech. you gotta get tough and you gotta love that anticipation and the sounds, smells, feelings all around you. take it all in! i have come out of vids with cuts on my lip or cheeks from forgetting to put the sides of the pie tin back down but the adrenaline, i dont notice it. just like little paper cuts. we have since, been extremely careful. that was years ago but our aim is so quality! its pretty rad. but jessie, you have every right to be scared...be afraid....be very afraid... if we got you here or if we came over there, we would let you hit us with some with your best shot and give you some back. battle of blonde vs. brunettes! hhaa!! your newer pies do look lovely, btw.
Scared but excited! Having said that I have taken some amazingly hard hits over the years. I'm just trying to avoid them a bit more esp since my back and neck problems which don't seem to be improving. Either way though I can't wait to meet up with you American girls though!
wamajama said: The pie 'flinging" (while holding on to the tin with both hands) is neither 'classic' nor fully satisfying (and it requires the 'thrower' to get close enough to the target to work, well) -- interfering with the visual gag in many cases that I've seen.
I agree wholly with this and would go one step further. I want to see accurately thrown pies that come from Completely off camera. This means No More Hairy Hands swinging in from the sides to smash or toss a pie only a couple feet, but rather pies thrown accurately about 5-10 feet away. While this is certainly more difficult, it is far from impossible if performed by someone who practices. I would suggest a thrower practice with a pie tin filled with foam rubber, or just foam rubber shaped in a pie tin if they're going to throw crusts without a tin.
We all expect a lot from the models on camera (I, for one, expect actresses instead of models), so we ought to expect at least as much effort and artistry from directors and throwers.