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Week 1: This week I have brainstormed 80 different ideas and put them on the Padlet. These range from many different ideas but initially I have considered something around advertising and McDonalds as they are very influential in advertising. I am thinking of doing a cause rather than a promotion as I feel it’s more difficult to promote things in the current climate, due to how intrusive and annoying advertisements are now.

Week 2: This week I have chosen my specific message and cause, which is how downsizing is effecting customers, namely edible products such as McDonalds burgers. In the advertisements they are seen as enticing and large, but in reality they are hardly filling, leaving the customer hungry and they never look quite like they are supposed to. I got inspiration from this specific scene from a film called Falling Down. I have researched different videos and promotions along with academic sources around downsizing, which is proving difficult as most academic articles do not consider the customer’s perspective. I have chosen to have the target audience young adults, as they are the most impacted by advertising and most able to make a change in society, therefore having my cause targeted to them will cause a larger impact. I have added some other sources and images in the Padlet and will continue to over the following weeks.

Week 3: This week the HTML has been changed, with modifications to the text in the webpage title and removed some placeholder text regarding my chosen message. I have written the reflection, considering complications and things I would have changed over the process of the assignment.

I have added 2 images which may be considered for the final film production.

Week 4: This week I focused on camera framing for the short film. To understand how I could frame my film I watched a short information video interview with Martin Scorsese where he discusses his thoughts as well as how he storyboards and frames his films and potential films. This leads onto colour theory and how I could present the film, where I brainstormed different ideas, such as the overall tone and atmosphere of the film. I chose to have a dark and sad tone, shown with blues and muted colours, but only when the product is revealed, and instead when the character drives towards the McDonalds, I considered naturalistic lighting and colours, consisting of browns and oranges. This would also exemplify the heat of the sun, showing the desperate need for food and a break during a hard working day for a young adult.

Week 5: This week I have mainly focused on why McDonalds was chosen as the targeted company and other potential companies I could use in the short film. I have considered Dominos and Apple as they have histories of downsizing or, in Apple’s case, selling the same product each year. I decide to stay with McDonalds as they have downsized the most and are the most universally known due to their campaigns and advertisements as well as their overall size as a company. This week I also wrote about tone, typefaces and the colour palette of the film.

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(Week 2)
This scene from the film Falling Down has inspired me to do a unique and powerful comparison between advertisement and what the customer recieves.

Snapchipz 2007, Falling Down - Breakfast at Whammyburger, YouTube, viewed 7 March 2023, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkwQ6EjLdMQ&ab_channel=Cookiemon>.

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Falling Down - Breakfast at Whammyburger

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80 Possibilites

1 a drum company targeting specifically farm animals
2 a car that can only drive backwards
3 a service where a criminal breaks into your house to give you stuff rather than take - irs taxes
4 food that makes you vomit purposely
5 food that you can pull out of a gravity bag, which can store infinite amount of items, only can put gravity items in
6 cause-toxic masculinity
7 tiktok ruins our brains and attention span
8 cause-rainforest fire amazon
9 cause-our world is becoming a dystopia
10 cause-making csgo better MM
11 cause-cheaper computer parts
12 organization-cheapest GPUs on market
13 something cowboy themed - western -short film comedic
14 selling computer software premiere pro but it does it for you
15 AI creates our own youtube videos for us, no skill necessary
16 Social issue is the lack of acceptance overall for things, not specific, keep vague as
17 the portrayal of violence and sex in films and its glorification
18 how has film actually linked to violence
19 how has video games linked to violence - postal 1
20 a torch that makes a room darker rather than brighter - special technology
21 dead space
22 comic books but cheaper, made from a different resource
23 easier way to get diplomas, scam video, get a doctor certificate today now, just sign this form!
24 rockstar and valve more transparency
25 more transparency among gamers from companies
26 in soviet russia, you dont eat food, food eats you
27 random objects can be used as phones - experimental
28 literally me
29 lego stopmotion makes real life stopmotion
30 black mirror bug
31 a stick that keeps growing back - political commentary on how we exploit stuff, show it like being abused and then not growing back but we still keep using - allegory
32 gman smokes a fat doob
33 women are held more accountable for actions than men
34 eyedrops change eye colour
35 gta in real life for haircut (can get afro from being bold)
36 sound mixing but every sound is a lady scream arg then everything becomes the scream
37 beautiful truman show world etc, guy realises lamp - he is schizophrenic and imaging everything nice like the voices
38 use mouse for stirring soup - spoon
39 can use mouse as drumstick
40 mental hospital for the sane
41 use electrical outlet as a water source- water comes out instead and electricity from tap and shower
42 blackout blinds - fake window screen
43 fast fashion and environment
44 how to keep shoes clean, dont wear them
45 stopping time with a remote - click
46 mousepad that doubles as a plate for hot food not to stain table
47 power port also take USB port
48 pocket diagnoser - psychologist
49 New MTV, LPTV - only play crappy covers
50 teleporter but it only works 1/5 of the time, so you might be ripped in half or might be taken back to far or to like another reality for example Middle Earth
51 MP3 player but its more accessible so basically just spotify but free no ads
52 near death experiences make it possible for you to switch bodies for a small fee (what is fee, soul?)
53 clubs but they are on the second internet - black mirror ish
54 the second internet is like the internet now but double invasive and more addicting to young people - so they become vegetables on average and nobody cares
55 as my toe always hurts, a big bubble wrap / foam carry case but for my toe - my toe can detach/ just a big foam pad when I walk around
56 a energy drink type - not energy drink, but its called motivation and its literally just farmed motivation from other humans - its a physical entity - every human has this entity in them like a liquid
57 similar to above but other things like desire, 7 deadly sins
58 a pill that makes it easier to understand other people and things around you for a limited time (like motives etc)
59 ^ same with procrastination
60 how to explain emotions from songs - a way to represent easier than film
61 how to stay focused - how the world nowdays is a catalyst against focus and streamlined work due to distractions - cause
62 cause against internet and why you should take time off it
63 an easier way to experience an ideal life - living in desert, cowboy etc than flying saving money etc - NOT VR- black mirror spin off turns out it was VR?
64 VR inception
65 AI is going to destroy us all - why does AI do the things humans were made for - creativity, rather than for what it should be doing - all the menial jobs that get people killed etc - we are now the disposable race not robots, we are dooming ourselves
66 story idea - man is stuck in the past (mock documentary but take seriously) (make audience believe its real), man lives in 1940s (maybe earlier, maybe set in future and dressed now living in house now?) house and wears old clothes speaks old english formal etc - reporter mentions how weird he and it is
67 good times bad times? what are the good and bad times, we will never know
68 overanalyse song lyrics to the point of destruction - the future of stupid english classes where you overanalyse Macbeth etc
69 english classes but we overanalyse modern literature - the stupid sex book about lady and dinosaur - how smart that is woaoahh
70 is the death penalty fair? - analyse
71 product - guitar that plays for you, you dont have to know or do anything, it works telepathically using brainwaves etc (turns out it uses too much and can sap your creativity and then IQ)
72 noir old time aesthetic - product and cause, does this appeal to you more than today's fashion etc? wanna go back? build up to like a cool time travel product, then cuts - no you cant, stop daydreaming you cant go back in time thats impossible - turns out to be like an awareness video raising awareness alzheimers or like daydreaming or something similar
73 play multiple instruments in one way - similar of a midi for keyboard but maybe for drums or something else another instrument or something else-weird machine
74 a way for time to go slower - as you get older time goes quicker. Awareness video too? don't make them all like drinks or pills make it something different entirely
75 how to be good but also bad - be good johnny
76 awareness of deafness in musicians - also goes back to toxic masculinity
77 how america now uses film and music and how they may have always done so to promote their country, almost as a commercial - breakfast in america
78 advertising where a person is new to class and they are actually paid by the company to act - think undercover cop but for advertising coca cola for example
79 batman is real and he kills people. he doesnt knock them out, he causes them to break bones, be left in a cold street unconcious for hours and if they survive they have brain damage and also hefty medical bills (america) - arkham city imagine being left there - issues is the representation
80 age old question, is batman actually as bad as everyone he fights, is he the real insane one? is this justified? does he have the right

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Product statement

My product is the Small Mac, a parody of the Big Mac and how McDonalds and big companies have been downsizing their products. It is meant to criticize and raise awareness around downsizing.

Product target audience

My target audience is customers of McDonalds over the age of 18 who go to University, school or works fulltime and is familiar and uses McDonalds products moderately to frequently. I am aiming for patrons that are not underage as they are able to notice more of a change over time, as when they were younger they believed the portion sizes were larger. My aims for geographic location is only in Europe, America, New Zealand and Australia as these are the locations that the message resonates strongly with and which has the most open and easiest way to reach out to raise awareness through advertisement. This is as the Western world uses advertisement frequently whilst other locations, like Russia not as much.

My target audience's personal interests include and is not limited to music and music making, film, gaming and memes, with a large focus on the advertising being around film and abstract memes, catering to the audience of 18 year olds and older. There will be use of old memes and ‘Boomer jokes’ to reach a wider audience whilst also being understandable for the target audiece.

The target audience frequently uses social media, which will allow for easier sharing and wider spread audience. My aim is to make the overall message be relatable and understandable to all but also to have the limited audience until it is wider spread.

The concept of the promotional video will enrich the target audience’s life by giving them a thought-provoking outlook towards downsizing and its effects along with making them have an easier time remembering it due to memes and jokes. It will have light themes but not gloss over facts and thought-provoking statements.

My content will be similar to awareness raising advertisements and will also show overtime how things have changed and will use nostalgia as a tool to influence the audience.

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Annotated bibliography

This source helped me recognise colour and its importance and colour theory for my short film, with “Its diverse cultural connotations, its lack of existence in the first 50 years or so of film production and… [the] belief that colour is not controlled by the cinematographer” being useful in understanding an overall history of colour. Knowing the history around colour in film allows for me to make a more informed decision that allows for a stronger usage of colour which is more impactful. This influenced colour and its usage in the short film.

Cowan P, 2015, The Democracy of colour, Journal of Media Practice, Vol 16, Issue 2, pp. 139-154.

This article discusses how marketing is affected by the font choice, whether that is “italic style… typeface [or] colour grey or black”. Although this source discusses tourism and focuses mainly on that subject with font impacts, it can still be understood globally for different subjects, not just tourism. According to the source, when a tour offers adventure/excitement, a difficult to read font increases preference for it over an easy to read, impact font. This can be taken away and applied to my short film development regarding the font choice at the beginning and end, marking the purpose of the film and the outlining the cause. The source mentions ‘feelings of information’, which certain fonts can influence if they look intelligent, which was useful when deciding what type of font, whether it was Sans Serif or not I wanted for the film.

Huang, Y, Wu, J & Shi, W 2018, ‘The impact of font choice on web pages: Relationship with willingness to pay and tourism motivation’, Tourism Management (1982), vol. 66, pp. 191–199.

This source further strengthened my choice of choosing downsizing and McDonalds as a concept, with many references to how happiness and health are affected, although in a scenario that is differing to my choice (this focuses on downsizing in office jobs), it can still be applied and used as a useful source.

Cooper, CL, Pandey, A & Quick, JC 2012, Downsizing : is less still more? / edited by Cary L. Cooper, Alankrita Pandey, and James Campbell Quick., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Videos and advertisements used as inspiration

As/Is 2014, McDonald’s Ads vs The Real Thing, YouTube, viewed 31 March 2023, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx1IvvLuuEI&ab_channel=As%2FIs>.

This video about awareness of advertisement vs product I have used as inspiration. This covers my goal of showing the issue with downsizing and the negative effects of it. My film will be unique as it has a cohesive narrative but also shows both sides of the product; the advertisement and what is seen by the consumer.

McDonald's Australia 2020, Macca’s® Special Delivery, YouTube, viewed 31 March 2023, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbo9I6FZls4&ab_channel=McDonald%27sAustralia>.

This advertisement by the official McDonalds I have used as inspiration as it has a narrative and the lighting and mis en scene of each shot is what I will be utilising in a similar fashion in my film. My film will follow a narrative but have a twist ending, similar to this advertisement, but instead it is against the company, not promoting it, which is unique.

News, W 2020, Burger King features moldy Whopper in new ad, YouTube, viewed 31 March 2023, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ef7xw2J500&ab_channel=WKMGNews6ClickOrlando>.

This advertisement by McDonalds competitor, Burger King shows how their famous Whopper gets mouldy overtime, unlike McDonalds’ burgers due their preservatives. I used this as a reference on how to shape the image of the burger and the final product in the film. This is used as a guide on how to present the burger in the faux advertisements in the film.

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The target audience would be young adults who frequently purchase products from McDonalds, meaning they would know the products well and would feel disappointed with the constant downsizing of such products.

I want my target audience to be aware of downsizing and to recognise the real effects of it and to relate with the character in the film personally.

I want the audience to be excited, and then shocked, disappointed and also surprised, after the long build-up towards seeing the product, for it to be in an unsatisfactory quality when the character finally reaches McDonalds.

Natural colours of the outback will be utilized, along with naturalistic lighting. Oranges, browns and yellows will be seen prior to reaching McDonalds, and once the twist of the film occurs; finding the product (burger) is undersized and disgusting, the warm lighting and colour palette will change to a realistic, cold, dark palette to signify the end of the idealised product and to show disappointment.

At the end of the film I want to use a Sans Serif font to explicitly explain my cause, stating something similar to ‘Downsizing effects many young adults each year, only you can do something about it’. The use of the Sans Serif font would make it seem casual but also remain professional, without seeming too classy and extravagant. The text would be white and slowly fade onto the screen.

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Mindmap statement

The aim of my topic is to focus on younger adults and to raise awareness on downsizing. I considered having older people from previous generations be the new target audience, but instead, I reverted to the original consideration of younger adults makes the raising of awareness more impactful. It can coincide with the current generations role of helping with climate change and other important movements. Using the Mindmap I was able to create different topic ideas and potential perspective pathways for the commercial.
My message will be distinct as it caters to an audience of younger adults and it will show the changes overtime in size and quality of products and how downsizing is effecting customers, with heavy reference and parody to companies like McDonalds. The audience’s attention is grabbed by the visuals and elements of the editing in the video. The editing will be the standout part of the promotional video which will strongly influence and stand out from other advertisements, reaching peak interest from the target audience. Comedy and a light-hearted nature is going to be used so it caters to more people from my aimed target audience, with use of memes and a casual atmosphere to relate to the target audience better.

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(Week 3)
This frame I have considered as a potential shot in the final film.

Rare Gallery wallpaper 2017, Rare-gallery.com, viewed 31 March 2023, <https://rare-gallery.com/923830-artwork-digital-night-retrowave-cyberpunk-car-stores-.html>.

‌Artist unknown

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(Week 3)
This image found in an article is the comparison I am aiming for in the film. Potentially an advertisement showing the expectation VS the reality would be powerful due the juxtaposition for the protagonist of the short film.

Hidrėlėy 2021, Customers Share Their Worst McDonald’s Orders On This Instagram Account (30 Pics), Bored Panda, Bored Panda, viewed 31 March 2023, <https://www.boredpanda.com/worst-mcdonalds-burgers-mcsenget/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic>.

Original photo unknown artist

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Attention

I will use snappy and unique editing along with memes to make the audience feel joy and feel relaxed, once they are relaxed I will show how downsizing is effecting products, by showing the actual product, not the fake advertisement one. This juxtaposition will cause anger and disgust for the audience.

Interest

As many young people use McDonalds products, I will use this to my advantage by manipulating their emotions with the product looking unappealing and a disappointment compared to what is advertised. A realistic emotion of actors will be portrayed, and the tone will shift to show how the price of a product has remained stagnant whilst the product has become worse in quality. The audience’s values are that of being frugal and wanting to make a positive impact on the world.

Desire

The promotional video will start as a funny and light-hearted advertisement but then shift to a dark and rather depressing hyperrealism where the product is not as advertised, causing the audience to relate to the characters’ emotions, but not entirely on the dystopian view of the downsized product. Memes are used in the first portion of the video to sell the original product before it shifts to the ‘real world’.

Action

The goal is to make them join the rebellion against downsizing and big corporation greed, whilst also making it better for the current man. This is achieved either by dropping prices or the opposite of downsizing, upscaling the product to its former glory. The audience will relate and feel personally attacked by the message of how items are now getting smaller and not satisfying enough anymore as they would have related personally with this when they purchased from locations such as McDonalds.

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2023, Adobe.com, viewed 1 April 2023, <https://color.adobe.com/create/color-wheel>.

I made the colour palette include browns and oranges, whilst also keeping a pink and blue hue which will be seen at the end of the film. I kept the colour palette largely realistic and naturalistic, but also keeping a warm hue globally. These colours are muted and will cause the audience to feel a quick disappointment when the product is shown, but it will still not paint it in a bad light due to the colours being muted versions of the harsh ones below.

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This is an alternate colour palette I will also use throughout the film, with this representing the idealistic world prior to the twist. Overall, these colours will make the audience more exciting leading up to reaching McDonalds due to the harsher and more confident colours, rather than simply muted colours.

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Department of Social Services, Australian Government 2022, Stop it at the Start – Jack and Ava – 60 second television commercial, YouTube, viewed 29 March 2023, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaMCnoy2tBU&t=57s&ab_channel=DepartmentofSocialServices%2CAustralianGovernment>.

‌This advertisement by the Australia Government raising awareness of respect and stopping violence towards women uses a sans serif font at the end, which something I will take inspiration from in my short film, as it is impactful but also feels important and powerful.

Whitney 2019, Advertising Fonts: How To Choose A Style That Will Have Impact, IGW, viewed 1 April 2023, <https://infographicworld.com/fonts-matter-how-to-use-them/>.

‌This article in The Visual Marketing Agency discusses how advertising matters and shows how fonts can shape audiences’ attention and attitude towards the product or cause. It also shares how to use them effectively and to gauge attention quickly. From this I have chosen to choose a modern Sans Serif font, as it projects my cause the best.

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The short film will cover how downsizing is affecting the everyday young adult and will show a young man returning from a hard day’s work to be advertised through social media a McDonalds product, only for the realisation that its worse in quality and size than what its marketed as.

The film begins with a wide shot of the hot Australian sun. The camera will pan to a young tradie working hard on building a fence in the outback where he then checks his watch. The man’s stomach rumbles, and the audience understands from this that it is lunchtime, as he pulls out his keys and gets into his Ute. As he gets in his car an Instagram notification is heard and a closeup of a McDonalds advertisement is seen on his phone. From this he turns to his lunchbox to see it is empty, so he is influenced by the advertisement and starts his car. He drives down a dusty road for what the audience understands is a long period of time – potentially hours. As this occurs memes appear on screen from faux advertisements, parodying social media accounts such as Wendy’s, who often banters about their product. This represents the man’s thinking and how his excitement for finally being able to have lunch is. These memes fade once he finally reaches his destination. The sun is now setting, and the man pulls up to the carpark at a McDonalds and then walks in, covered in dust from working. A low angle camera shot is used to show how he feels out of place, being dirty contrasted to the clean, white, of the McDonalds interior, as he tracks dirt inside. The friendly cashier gives a friendly smile and the young man smiles back then points at the advertisement seen on his phone.

A paper bag is then handed to the man containing the products as he walks outside to his car. He stops by the side of the car and opens the bag containing his burger. He slowly opens the burger box, smiling with his stomach rumbling audibly still. A hard cut is seen of the burger in the box, it is small, measly and almost looks like you could contract some sort of disease from it. Another hard cut to the mans face with the box still in hand, he looks shattered as his expectations got the better of him. He goes to take a bite when the screen cuts to black, with a small white text appearing on screen, notifying the audience about downsizing and to join the rebellion against it.

Warm lighting is used throughout up until the ending where the colour grading will fade to a dark, realistic lighting from the light source of the interior car light and the light from the McDonalds sign, shining a big yellow ‘M’ on the man.

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Blank on Blank 2016, Martin Scorsese on Framing, YouTube, viewed 1 April 2023, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGyYOQbKDIQ&ab_channel=BlankonBlank>.

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Initial thoughts
Small Mac, parody of Maccas and downsizing. We're back and we've downsized even more! (parody)

Small Mac - research McDonalds and downsizing in general

My product is the Small Mac, a parody of the Big Mac and how McDonalds and big companies have been downsizing. It is meant to criticize and raise awareness around downsizing.

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Fonts, 1001 2023, 828 Free Bold, Sans Serif Fonts · 1001 Fonts, 1001 Fonts, viewed 1 April 2023, <https://www.1001fonts.com/bold+sans-serif-fonts.html>.