Meals On Wheels
So, we get the call to do a series of McDonald’s ads with a “city” background. Perfect! We live in the third largest city in the country! But Chicago just wasn’t right for this job. It’s too cold and unpredictable in March. (That postman outside the window wouldn’t have been very comfortable.)
Road trip! The art director and I, along with my entire crew, piled into a motor home and headed to St. Louis where the weather is milder. Right behind us was our large cube truck full of photo equipment and props, including two McDonald’s table/chair assemblies and a 6’ x 8’ Plexiglas sheet with a huge “M” painted on it.
If you think this ad looks like we shot it from inside a McDonald’s, thanks for the compliment. Our models at the table are actually seated inside the aforementioned truck, sealed in by the Plexiglas window along with me, the client and an assistant! Our postman was standing on the truck’s lift gate, which was adjustable so we could make him the exact height we wanted. We mixed the natural sunlight with our own outside lighting, and we used fill light inside the truck to help open our shadow areas. I had complete control over the interior and exterior light, just like in a studio. As they say, “I’m lovin’ it!”
This slice-of-life idea and the process of bringing it to life was great fun. The models and crew were tremendous, the weather perfect. (And everything was delicious, of course!) The trip was pure magic in our very own custom McDonald’s hamburger truck.
