This Eats Different
A Director’s Treatment by Michael Martin
Howdy
Before we start, I gotta tell ya—I need to make this spot.
It has everything I love. Food… Music… A come-up… At its core, it's good advertising that tells a great story. That's undefeated.
Checkers was one of the first fast food joints I visited. For my family, it was the " treat-after-my-basketball-game,” kind of meal. I was on the court trying to sink a bucket for a burger. I owe this spot my best work. My game face was on then, and it is on now.
I'm very blessed to have worked with many great celebrities and musicians. I know how these sets and productions need to run. We have a schedule and a budget to manage. I will explain how we sink some buckets together in this treatment. So let’s make this commercial a banger.
APPROACH
This is a look behind the curtain. Gloria is sharing her come-up story. I want to mimic our visual storytelling with the realness she gives on-screen and in the voiceover. We are selling the ultimate fantasy story, and reality is playing out like a story set for the stage. We should embrace that aesthetic but also serve the glam the story deserves.
The drive-through window can feel like a theater prop—it floats away when she moves past it. The background is flat and graphic, reinforcing that she tells us about her wildest dreams coming true, just like a play. The burger comes into frame on a pedestal and punctuates the moment with a perfectly timed cue.
This aesthetic also keeps our production lightweight and within budget. The set feels surreal because her story is surreal. Everyone dreams of ditching their job and donning the mic. The focus is solely on GloRilla, her story, and the food.
Story Beats
15 SEc
GloRilla stands holding her burger and hits us with a confident pose
Gloria, in her work clothes, walks toward the camera
She rips off her name tag and tosses it next to her, and it lands on a pedestal holding the meal.
She picks up a fry and has fully transformed to GloRilla, staring down the camera, she says, “This Eats Different”
End on food/art card
30 SEc
Gloria stares down the camera throughout the beginning of the spot, locking focus directly on the viewer. Her voice chimes in as a voiceover—her inner monologue for the audience to hear
We see her name tag, "GLORIA," as she defiantly pulls it off
Her outfit begins to change, and she lets her hair down
The Announcer chimes in as we see her namesake burger slide into frame. She slides a fry out of the box to invite us in
We see close-ups of the meals and then cut back to a glorious portrait of her on her stage. For the first time, she speaks aloud, her voice no longer only in our minds: "This Eats Different"
The Food
I love shooting foot-in situations. The burger, fries, drink, etc., should be filmed in the same stage set-up that GloRilla is in. It should look as glammed out as she does, with gorgeous lighting and great styling. I picture the main "hero" shot taking place on top of the table/pedestal that slides into frame, resting on the iconic checkerboard pattern.
We will have GloRilla interact and hold the burger and the fries. I will have her take a bite if she feels comfortable, but I definitely want her to snack on a fry for a close-up. Plus, we will shoot enough coverage that you will have plenty of options in the edit to place food where it fits best—right at the top, in the middle, at the end, or all of the above.
I want the food to feel real and authentic yet glamorous, just like GloRilla.
The Wardrobe
We are telling a transformation story, and her wardrobe is doing much of the work. She starts in a work uniform and ends up ready for the stage. The wardrobe change should feel natural and not like a rehearsed move. This is Gloria's real story, and she achieved her dream.
In the beginning, you should wear an apron and a name tag. Over that is something that can easily be unzipped and thrown off, like a black zip-up hoodie. A drive-thru headset could also echo the video everyone is now familiar with.
As she pulls the apron and hoodie off, she also lets down her work hair into a glammed-up style. She could throw on a fancy fur coat (see: related gif) and pop some fresh shades to complete the transformation.
the Stage
The backdrop for Gloria's story is a digital LED stage. You are probably familiar with virtual production environments, but I want to one as a backdrop rather than an illusion. The flat backdrop screen will give us a brand-specific color that can change as our story evolves = to the glitz and glam of the big stage as Gloria becomes GloRilla. The stage itself transforms with her.
Our stage is a fantastical background for our main props: a drive-thru window, a table for the food, and the burger itself. These props visually support the surreal world we have built for her unbelievable story.
Art Dept.
We have a whole LED stage to dream up, a transition story, and a before-and-after. "Before," Gloria was working her job at Checkers Rally's. After, GloRilla is on stage, lights flashing, and a crowd cheers.
The before can look like a minimal and idealized version of her job. This kitchen can feel familiar but be imagined so everyone can relate to it in their jobs. Red brand colors decorate everything and give the backdrop a slick style. The after has paparazzi lights flashing, crows cheering, and stage bumping. This setting is darker and feels colorful and alive.
The drive-thru window and the pedestal mirror some of the same stage-set aesthetic and surreal feeling. The floor is—obviously—perfect for a checkerboard pattern. Lastly, the food adds the finishing touch to bring us back to the heart of the story—GloRilla's new namesake meal.
Execution
We are filming a small stage play with wardrobe changes, set cues, and choreography. This dance has GloRilla at the center of the stage. With the script being in a voiceover, we can focus on nailing the timing and getting everything perfect.
The voiceover will ensure that the messaging is perfect. We will have wiggle room to get some alts and other brand messaging, if needed. I'm a fan of this approach because it maximizes our time with GloRilla and gives us a direct path to success.
One aspect that works in our favorite is that we are filming vertically for social content. At the core a vertical format is meant for portraiture and that’s exactly what we are doing. It gives us flexibility in the frame to “hide” things left and right of the camera while giving GloRilla and the food centerstage.
PRE-Pro
Previs
Before shooting anything, I wanted to visualize things because we have marks to hit and cues to follow. Below, you can see a rough preview of the main shot for our spot and a breakdown of how the set will be organized on the day. Rihanna is a stand-in for Glorilla. They are both badasses in their own right.
Remember that we aren't trying to make the backdrop look like an illusionistic 3D space. I want it to feel like she's on a stage with an LED wall behind her. It feels big, like a show, like a glamorous production. For now, the backdrops are simply placeholders and test screen patterns. We can decide what goes on them in pre-production.
The Result
Behind the Scenes
Our DP
Sadé Ndya
Sadé's work is exactly what we are looking for our spot: strong and bold portraiture against graphic backgrounds that help tell relatable human stories.
Sadé also has experience working with LED screens in the studio. This type of expertise is vital for our approach.
You can find more of Sadé's work below, however, I want to highlight her work for Crocs and American Express specifically.
Thank You
I bid on a lot of food work and a lot of celebrity work. What I don't get a lot of are stories with some realness at the center. I'm stoked to submit for this work and'd be humbled to do so with you. Coming to set is always much more fun when I love the stories we tell. This story is one I want to be part of, and I'm looking forward to working with you all.
