English muffins and tea, please. Where could I possibly be from?

I chose this audio assignment because I think it taps in to the notion that McDonald’s, although they may appear to be universal, can be quite different from country to country. I have been inside McDonald’s in Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, Shanghai, Melbourne, London, etc. Every single location develops its own unique way to blend in their culture without straying too far from what you would regularly expect from a McDonald’s. For example, they had soup options at the McDonald’s in China! In France and Australia, they had sandwiches I had never even heard of before. Some of them sounded delicious, while others sounded utterly repulsive. It was still so bizarre.

Also, the atmosphere varies as well. The McDonald’s I stepped into while I was visiting Rome felt like a modern nightclub, equipped with neon-esqe lights, upbeat music, and way trendier uniforms that the basic ones we see in McDonald’s around here. The seating area also reflected that of an actual modernized restaurant, instead of an American based fast food chain!

I find these differences to be very interesting, especially because I love traveling. And as someone who has been blessed with a variety of exotic traveling experiences, I can say with certainty that each McDonald’s location gets culturalized a little bit itself. Abroad, we hear all about the American influence and how it has effected the world, but just knowing that these countries manage to maintain a bit of their own creativity is refreshing to hear. I also just find it plain exciting to see what differences I can spot out!

See more of what I’m talking about here: http://www.foodnetwork.co.uk/article/crazy-meals-mcdonalds-menus-around-world.html

My process: SoundCloud proved to be an excellent resource for this assignment. It allowed me to easily embed my audio straight into my blog post.

I have to say once again this week is definitely pushing me outside of my comfort zone, but that’s a good thing. It’s about time I break away from the visual and focus more on the audio. This assignment is all about using an accent, but also using it while ordering food at McDonald’s.

When I was a teenager my friends and I would always put on Scottish accents while playing video games. Don’t ask me why, we just did it. Maybe it was because it was fun to have others online believe we were from a different country, just to have our own secret. Of course I realized that I was a little bit rusty with the accent so I needed some Sean Connery inspiration to bring it back. I have to say it did not work out that well considering how good I used to be with putting on a Scottish accent.

Nonetheless, I just imagined some old Scotsman going to America and trying to order some food from McDonald’s. I don’t know why, but I could only imagine the Scot getting angry really fast while trying to order. Believing he was in America the land of the entitled that he could order whatever the hell he wanted, but was completely denied. Well here is my attempt at that a story. One pissed off Scot trying to order at a McDonald’s:

The process was rather simple because it did not call for much equipment, but it did like I said before, pushed me outside my comfort zone. I used QuickTime Player to do an audio recording of myself without any form of editing. I then simply uploaded the material to SoundCloud and there you have it one pissed off Scot.

I selected this week’s assignment because it has to do with food and because it sounded funny. The assignment I selected was pretend i’m ordering food at McDonalds in an accent that is different than mine. I’m not great at accents so I slightly changed the assignment and did not select an accept per say but instead attempted to sound like an airhead sorority girl ordering food. Folks, in case anyone is offended I was once in a sorority and like to poke fun at myself. Thought I try not to speak this way, I’m sure I slipped into “character” a few times in my younger days : ). To listen to my clip, press play or I may break out into one of my sorority’s cheers :).

I wanted to get this in one take so I spent a few minute brainstorming what I should say. It’s a little ironic that I had to brainstorm about what an airhead would say but I did :). I decided I wanted my character to be picky and indecisive. A good sorority girl wants salad and doesn’t want any of the ingredients that come on the salad. Additionally I wanted her to be concerned about her weight and order diet coke, but then go for the fries that she really wants. And of course, no trip to a drive through would be complete without a little giggling in the background from friend in the backseat.

I also liked the idea of having the employee interact with the girl so I spoke in a slightly different voice then my own and muffled my voice.

When I was ready to record I practiced my voice a little to get into character then press record on adobe audition. I got in in one take and the little imperfections where I was thinking about what to say next added to the authenticity.