Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/765720
Several different modular wall and pilaster configurations were created that could be quickly swapped out, and Art Director D.G. Moody developed a method of reconfiguring the parking lot using strips of swimming pool liner, to define many different arrangements of picture cars. Using these techniques, it required only minimal post-production digital effects to create the illusion of different franchises, as Kroc was growing the business into a coast-to-coast enterprise. The palette of these variations was modulated to go from cooler to warmer as the franchises spread geographically from east to west. This visual metaphor reflected the shift from the McDonald brothers' individually operated carhop culture to Kroc's development of a mass-marketed clone, serving as a force multiplier and ultimately giving him leverage over the entire operation. As the conflict between Kroc and the McDonald brothers escalates, the action moves to Kroc's office in Chicago, and the brothers' office in the back room of their restaurant. This gave me an opportunity to further contrast their geographies: Kroc's office employed a vertical line language, with tall windows and clerestory partitions; the brother's office used the same octagonal geometries and horizontal window forms that were established in the building's exterior. These two sets Michael Corenblith, Production Designer Taylor Mosbey, Graphic Designer Yolande Thame, Johnny Thigpen, Set Designers Thomas V. Johnson, Lead Scenic Artist Brett McGinnis, Scenic Artist Mark Lambert Bristol, Storyboard Artist Susan Benjamin, Set Decorator were built on the same soundstage at Screen Gems Studio in Atlanta, enabling these scenes between Kroc and the brothers' to be performed and shot simultaneously, which enhanced the actors' process and economized the limited shooting days. The octagonal building form seen in San Bernardino was originally built as a carhop drive-in restaurant, while the Golden Arches reference a space age vocabulary. The parabolic arches with their tense spring lines give the same dynamism as the Theme Building at LAX, while the windows are canted upward and outward like those of an airport control tower. All of this served to capture the spirit of post- war America, and the moment of optimism and opportunity that was really Kroc's religion. As John Lee Hancock stated it, "America had come through World War II, and we felt like we deserved everything, and we wanted it now." ADG Above, left and right: Ray Kroc's office in Chicago, used a vertical line language, tall windows and interior partition with clerestory windows to evoke the Chicago skyline. The McDonald brothers' office at the rear of their San Bernardino restaurant, on the other hand, used the same octagonal geometries and a warmer desert palette to evoke the Western states and landscape. Below, center: An archival photograph of the San Bernardino restaurant, before being converted to the SpeeDee concept, depicts the brothers' roots in pre-War carhop restaurants. Below, right: A matching production still with the McDonald brothers.