Toast The Tofu: Eat What
With Who
EAT WHAT WITH WHO was produced as a Final Year Project at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
It received 5 awards, 1 official selection & 8 nominations.
Mukbang
It is a digital dining table and everyone is invited to join in. This film dives into the colourful, bizarre world of gastronomic voyeurism – following a social phenomenon that takes root from food porn, modernity and new online behaviours. Along with the rest of the world, Mukbang is now part of the Singaporean youth online diet and it is characteristic of our relationship with food, culture and technology.
Director: Stella Seetoh
Producer: Nana Tan
Director of Photography / Animator: Sheryl Chua
Sound Designer / Editor: Wee Xuan Yi
Accolades
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Producer
Sound Design
Art Direction
Editing
Screenplay
Cinematography
Original Music -
Official Selection
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Best Student Short Film
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Top 10 Viddsee Juree Award 2021 Audience’s Choice
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Documentary Films: Critics’ ChoiceEducational Films: Outstanding Achievement Student Film: Outstanding Achievement
Art & Stylistic Direction
Mukbang is often consumed in the comfort of our own homes, rooms, or simply a space where we feel most comfortable. The sets have been designed to reflect these familiar spaces - a study table, a dining table and a living room.
Yet Mukbang creates a parasocial relationship through a screen. The host never interacts with the audience, but we still feel as if the host is there with us in real time. Are they really being themselves or are they acting for the audience? To reflect that “fake interaction”, the sets aimed to look familiar, but carefully crafted.
Animation & Motion Graphics
To take this to the next level, we combined real sets with animation and other forms of motion graphics. The use of excessive animation and motion graphics is intended to constantly remind the audience that what they are seeing is the result of video editing, a reflection of the constant discourse about whether the hosts are really eating or editing parts out.
But at the end of the day, Mukbang is about having fun. Our animations and squiggly lines convey a sense of lightheartedness - it's not really a serious topic after all.
In the film we introduced a character, Blobby, who takes us on a journey to understand why people like Mukbang. He represents us, the audience, navigating the digital sphere, the link between digital space and reality.
Food Styling
Every dish in the film has been styled to look as delicious as possible. This is because part of the Mukbang experience is the fantasy of being able to taste the food on screen.
This wild imagination is possible because the food in Mukbang is often placed close to the camera to enhance the size and portion. The films convey how Mukbang is typically shot, taking the liberty of exaggerating some features for visual effect.
360° VR
Coming back to the whole idea of Mukbang being a social activity, we made the decision to turn the whole film into a 360° production to showcase immersion and interactivity. We purposely broke the 4th wall to show that Mukbang is a production that is meant to create this “false” sense of connection.
Brand Marketing
The scope for this project extends beyond the film. To raise funds for for the project, we created a personality from our team name, Toast the Tofu. Tofu from Toast the Tofu made several appearances
on our socials @ToastTheTofu and merchandise.
A fundraiser website was also created in-house, selling Tofu merch (shirt, socks, stickers & gelato). After the film, it became home to our laurels.