New Year dinner effect

The laying travels the length of a long table like a wave. a wide shot down a long bare trestle table in a stone barn, the laying travelling away from camera as a wave: cloth unrolling, plates landing in pairs, cutlery sliding in and glasses arriving, the wave reaching the far end and the last plate settling, the near end fully laid while the far end is still bare in the middle of the move, high windows throwing long shafts of light, locked wide camera

An empty courtyard table goes to a full feast in a single beat. a wide shot of an empty long table in a walled courtyard, and in one beat the entire spread appears across it: platters, bowls, bread boards, jugs and greenery filling every space at the same instant, steam lifting off all of the hot dishes together a moment later, the empty stone and the bare wood clearly visible in the frames before it lands, strings of bulbs overhead, camera holding wide and steady

A row of cold wicks lights one after another with no hand near them. a row of five unlit candles down the centre of a narrow apartment dining nook, the nearest wick catching first with a small flare and then each one lighting in turn along the row with nothing touching them, the flames settling and leaning together, warm light climbing the walls and the window glass reflecting the row, everything else in the nook already laid and still, locked camera down the axis of the row

A small terrace table goes from bare stone to a set dinner for two. a small bare stone table on a hotel terrace at dusk, a runner unrolling across it, two plates settling either side, glasses and cutlery arriving in place and a low bowl of greenery landing in the middle, a small lantern appearing last and catching light, the sea dark behind and the sky holding the last blue, the arrival of each item paced evenly, camera drifting in at table height

Cloth, plates and cutlery arrive in order on an empty table. a bare wooden dining table with nothing on it at all, a white linen cloth unfurling over the surface and settling flat, then plates landing in place one after another with a soft knock, cutlery sliding in beside each plate and folded napkins dropping on top, every item arriving in the order a person would lay them and stopping square to the edge of the table, even overhead room light, camera easing along the length of the table

Every lid rises at once and the steam comes up together. four covered dishes on a round table in a glass conservatory, all of the lids rising at the same moment and hovering clear of the rims, thick steam climbing straight up out of every dish and bending toward the cold glass above, the food beneath coming into view as the cloud thins, the lids holding in the air then setting down to one side, cool grey daylight through the roof, slow tilt up with the steam

A garden marquee goes from empty seats to a full sitting. a wide shot inside a garden marquee with a long laid table, full plates already at every place and every chair empty, people appearing in the chairs from the far end toward camera until the whole length is seated, each arrival leaning in toward a neighbour and reaching for a dish, the plates and the table untouched by the sequence, canvas diffused daylight overhead, slow push in down the aisle

An empty serving platter fills from the centre outward. an empty white serving platter on a kitchen island, roast vegetables and sliced meat appearing on it from the centre outward in soft heaps until the platter is full, herbs scattering across the top last, a faint gloss and heat shimmer coming up off the food once it is all there, a second empty platter beside it staying empty for comparison, hard window light from the left, slow push in over the rim

Candles and lamps catch one after another until the room is warm. a wide shot of a dark wood panelled dining room with a table already laid but no light on it, a single candle catching at the near end, then candles and table lamps lighting one after another down the room with nothing touching them, each flame adding its own pool of warm light until the whole table reads, the panelling and glassware picking up the glow, slow dolly in from the doorway

Empty chairs around a laid table are taken in sequence. a laid table in a plain hall with eight empty chairs around it, a seated person appearing in the nearest chair and then in each chair around the table in turn, each one settling and turning toward a neighbour as they arrive, the table itself never changing through the sequence, the room sound building as the seats fill, warm overhead pendants, camera arcing slowly around the outside of the table