Im not sure what made me focus my project around the happy meal idea, other than the idea springing to mind when i was looking at other videos on youtube. I love the style of the bold colours that are used in the childs box meal, and the whole feeling of fun around it. I had remmebered an advert i saw for a japaneese mcdonalds, which showed stylish clowns in a very ‘high fashion’ way, eating a burger. This look inspired me to do the videos in the studio setting, i loved how the white background made you focus on what the clowns were wearing. im going to try and make as little shadows as i can on the white background, because i dont want the viewer to be distracted.
i decided that my videos would be similar to these stylisticaly, however my subjects would be contrasting these videos, as they will be childlike and sadistic.
the male role will be played by my friend luke, i have purchaced on a budget a yellow teeshirt and lots of fake blood.
the contrast of yellow and red worked well, and i got him to smear the blood around his mouth at the end and smile sadistically into the lens. he looks very clown like.
the female role was played by my friend ruby, and i dressed her in a yellow oversized teeshirt and red tights. i also found a red and yellow bow and a nose and also fake blood.
i enquired in my local mcdonalds and got some empty happymeal box’s so i used them as props.
there was no real structure to the female role, i just got her to play with the box’s as a child would, and then to spit up some blood.
i later edited the videos into short films, with individual sound tracks.
the gorier of the two is the male one, and this is much creepier than the female one, so i will use this to represent the burger meal, as it has more calories and fat in it.
The traditional connotations of a happy meal, is in the title, ”happy” food, children get ”surprises” and the whole culture surrounding the happy meal, such as the resteraunts having play areas, and clowns for partys drew me in because although most of us have grown up to accept something that is so bad for us to be such a treat, it is bad for us.
I wonder if we had salad bars with play area’s, if we would grow up with the idea that salad is fun, and if we were given toys when we got our salads if we would grow up thinking it was a treat to have them.
Or is it just because mcdonalds are amazingly good tasting?
