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Consumerism! The Musical
(
2 votes)
In this lively satire of American materialism, 23-year-old Atlanta-based filmmaker Brandon McCormick sends up our gluttonous ways via an exuberant song-and-dance, somewhere between Busby Berkeley and Saturday Night Live. With funny original lyrics ("I'm the king of excess, the sultan of sales"), high production values, impressive choreographed dances across various strip malls and department stores and a gleeful performance by one large consumer (Atlanta-based casting agent Justine Carter, who has Will-Ferrell-like energy), "Consumerism! The Musical" is a smart and catchy video that's making waves across the net.
Shot over three days in a coffee shop, a mall and a soundstage, using a Sony CineAlta 24p camera, Whitestone says he was inspired to make the film, "when he heard that Americans make up 6% of the world's population but eat up about 60% of the world's resources," he says. "Although it's a commentary on consumerism in America," he admits, "it's just as much about myself and the stupid wasteful things I do. So in that sense its not so much preachy as it is myself projected into a farcical world.
McCormick, who has produced several videos for his company Whitestone Motion Pictures (whitestonemotionpictures.com), including "Smiling Addiction" and "Alabaster," made up a visual storyboard for "Consumerism!" first; then he encoded the material onto his iPhone to watch it for reference while he was shooting.
While McCormick received a scholarship to attend Atlanta's Art Institute, he only attended for a year before dropping out to start his own company. "I figured I could either sit there for a few years, or just go and do what it is I thought I should do," he says. Here's hoping McCormick continues to do just that. As his lead consumer sings, "We want more, we want more, we need more."
Brandon McCormick
Comedy
5:00
$10,000
Atlanta, Georgia
Consumer/Lead Singer : Justin Carter
Voice : Billy Wilkerson
Lyrics: Billy Wilkerson
Brandon McCormick, Dan Marrero
Music : Nick Kirk
Production Design : Dana Konick
