supersize me essay

1. JamesLeatham
‘Super Size Me’ essay
What are the main codesand conventionsof the documentarygenre usedin ‘SuperSize Me?’How
is modernAmerican societyrepresentedinthe documentary?
I will be lookingat anAmericandocumentary,releasedin2004 knownas SuperSize Me.The
documentaryisdirectedby Morgan Spurlock whilsthe alsostarsinhisowndocumentary.The
independentfilmmaker’sdocumentary follows hisjourneyandexperimentover a30-dayperiod
fromFebruary1 to March 2, 2003, where he onlyeatsthe fastfoodof McDonalds. Thisfocuseson
the effectsof Spurlock'sphysical andpsychological state,whilehe investigatesfastfoodindustries,
and the knockon effectithason otherpeople.Iwill be lookingatthe typical codesandconventions
inthe documentaryandfinallythe representationof Americansocietyinthisdocumentary.
The cinematographyvariesthroughoutforcertainsituationsandinterviews.Forexample whenhe is
seeneachtime by hiscardiologist(StevenSiegel),
gastroenterologist(LisaGanjhu) andgeneral
practitioner(Daryl.MIsaacs) there are a lotof close
upsand midclose ups toshowa personal view of the
experttalkingortoshowMorgan’s repliesto the
expert.The cameraisalso positionedveryspecifically
so itshowsthe mise enscene surroundingthe experts;
as we can see here,the general practionerhasall of
hisfilesaroundhiminhisworkplace givingthe interview averyformal approachandmakingthe
topictheydiscussevenmore seriousdue tothe factyou can clearlysee he knowswhathe istalking
aboutwiththe mise enscene linkingtohisprofession.Thiscertainshotisalsoverykeybecause it
showsthe expertwritingsomethingdownposssiblyrelatedtoMorgan,whichmakeshimlookmore
professional.
What isthe overall purpose of expertinterviewsina
documentary?
There are twotypesof titlesusedinthe documentaryand
theybothhave the differentpurposes;there are titlesfor
the expertsandtheirprofessionstogive aclearindication
of whoMorgan Spurlock istalkingtoand gainingadvice
from.The othertitlescome fromwhenitmovesonto the
nexttopicand ittitlesthe overall theme of the next
section.Thisdividesthe documentaryupintoorganisedsectionswhere MorganSpurlockhascertain
topicbasedthingsto talkabout,whichmakesitmuch easierforthe audience toreadintoand take
inthe information.Overallitcomposesthe documentarywellandprovideseasierviewingformedia
consumers.

2. Vox popsare interviewstakenfrom the publicbasedontheircommentsandopinions. The main
purposesof themare to eithergainpublicopinionsonthingstoback up research/maybe oppose it
or to pose questionstothe publicwhichwill helpinthe explorationof
whatyou are lookingat.Inthiscase Morgan Spurlockisexploringthe
topicof fastfood,specificallyMcDonaldsandhe asksthe publichow
manytimes theywouldnormallyeat fastfoodina week. The resultof
vox popsmeansthat it makesitinterestingto hearwhat the public
are doinginrelationtowhatyou maybe doing.Alsoitgivesmore
evidence andopinionstothe documentary.However youneedto bare inmindthatit isnot a
general opinionof the publicbecause onlyafew peopleare interviewed,soyoushouldnotbe
influencedorbelieve the fewamountof people thatare interviewed.Normally the subjectisfilmed
ina vox pop informallyasthey have beenaskedonthe street(Whilecarryingouttheirdailylives)
whethertheywouldlike tobe interviewedonhow muchfastfoodtheyeat.In SuperSize Me,there
are twospecificshotsusedduringthe vox pops,twoshotsanda mid-close ups.The twoshotsgives
the audience anup close andpersonal view of bothMorgan Spurlockandhisintervieweeandthe
chemistryandfluidconversationbetweenthe two.The mid-closeupsof the interviewee are sued
because the publicare the mainfocus.The main difference betweenformal andinformalinterviews
isthat titlesare usedinformal onesbecause MorganSpurlockprobablyfeelstheyare more
importantanddeserve tobe named.Howeverhe maynothave askedfor the namesof the people in
hisvox pops.
There are twochoicesavailable toadocumentarybasedontheir
presenterandIwill outline someof the differences of each;the two
typesof presenterare onscreenand off screen.The advantagesof an
on screenpresenterare thatitis more personal forthe audience to
see someone take themthroughthe topictheyare lookingat. Foran
off screenpresenteritisbeneficialbecause theydonothave tobe a
great publicspeakerandstandinfrontof the camera.
In SuperSize Me we get an on screenpresenterinthe formof Morgan Spurlock.The mainreasonfor
thisisbecause he is documentinghisfindingsonfastfood,andit
graduallyshowsthe effectsithasonhisbodyand hismental state
of mind.
He isdressed informallybecauseeventhoughhe isdocumenting
hisunhealthyeatingitisalmostlike adocumentaryaboutapart of
hislife ina month.Therefore he isnotlikelytobe wearingasuit
and beingformal forthe whole of the documentary. Atsome point
duringthe documentary he isnot wearingatop, whichshowshow
he is comfortable withshowinghimself ashe isto the worldwithoutthe fearof beingjudged.Also
as he showsus hishome and the wayhe dresses,we cangainthe connotationthathe isworking
classas he leadsa veryaverage life eventhoughhe isanindependentfilmmaker.

3. The backgroundfootage usedinthe documentaryisusedtospecificallyshow obesity;Morgan
Spurlockvoice oversalot of the footage of overweightpeople walkingaroundpublicplaces.This
affectsthe audience inaway thattheyknow specificallywhatMorganSpurlockistalkingaboutand
they can relate whathe is sayingtothe images.Lateronin the documentaryhe usesa lotof
animations,chartsandstatisticswhichshowsthe audience he knowswhathe istalkingaboutandhe
has clearlydone hisresearch.The animationscanattractthe attentionof ayoungeraudience,which
meanstheyare involvingotherpeople intotheirdocumentary.Alsoanimationsare aneasywayof
givinginformationtomediaconsumersratherthansomeone explainingit.
For all of the interviewsyoucan clearlyhere the talkingbothcomingfromMorganSpurlockand the
people he isinterviewing.Inthe vox popsa lotof backgroundsound can be heard, whichisgood to
showtheyare amongstothermembersof the public. Howevernobackgroundmusicorsoundsare
usedforthe expertinterviewsbecausetheyare specificallyprivateandothernoise otherthan their
voiceswouldtake awayfromthe seriousnessandexpertknowledge theyare giving; itwouldalmost
seemlike ajoke tothe audience. Nodiegeticsongssuchas ‘Yummyyummyyummy’‘Fatbottomed
girls’and‘Rock and roll McDonalds’were chosenfora certainpurpose andthat isseta joyousand
excitingandhappymood.The musiccouldbe classedas contrapuntal soundbecause of the some of
the situationstheywere usedin.Obesityisaseriousthingandnotto be takenthe mick outof which
isshownin thisdocumentary.Atone pointaman ishavinghisstomach reducedanda-synchronous
soundisusedhere whichcontraststhe mood andmakesit seemveryweird.The none diegetic voice
oversof Morgan Spurlockwhenhe cannotbe seenoncamera isalso veryeffective providinggood
and clearlisteningforthe audience. Overallthere is anextremely goodquality of soundused.
The editingusedinthe documentaryisalsoverywell puttogether. Montagesare usedtogive quick
piecesof imagesbutalsomeansthere are more fittedintoone scene.The maincharacterinthe
documentary,MorganSpurlock,isshownmostof the time inthe scenesbecause itishis
documentarysotherefore he willgetalot of screentime.A commoneditingtechnique usedwould
alsobe continuityeditingwhichcreatesaverysmoothandfluidpiece of video.Howeverselective
editingwasusedonsome of the interviewswhich makespeople soundstupidandeditsoutpartof
theirconversation whichdoesn’tmake itasfluid asitcould be if youhad the whole conversation.
Smallereditingconventionssuchasfades,dissolvesandcrossfadeswere includedtoshow the
passingof time withinthe monthof Morgan SpurlockeatingMcDonalds.
ThroughthisdocumentaryAmericansocietyisrepresentedbothpositivelyandnegatively.
Americansatthe start of the videoare shownto be spendingalotof theirmoneyonfastfood
makingthemeasyto attract and howbad theireatinghabitswere.The documentaryfocusseson
overweightpeopleandthatiswhytheyare onlyusedinmostof the interviewsandbackground
footage.Throughthistheyare alsoto be shownasdumb andfat like the typical stereotype going
aroundin the modernday.A numberof opinionswere givensuchasthe P.E. teacherwhosaidthat
kidswere notgettingnearlyenoughexercise (Onlyonce aweektobe precise) whichbringsupthe
question,are Americansreallylazy,unfitandunwillingtodoexercise? Educationwasfavouredmore
inAmericansocietysomaybe theypreferintelligence overhealth…

4. The documentaryshowshowAmericanschoose toeatat fast foodrestaurantsbecause theyare
cheaperwhichgivesthe impressionthattheyare more worriedabouttheirmoneythantheirhealth.
Thisis clearevidence andproveswhyAmericansare the numberone sufferersof heartattacks,
cancer and cardiovasculardisease.Biggerproblemsfortheirhealthmeanshospitalswill getmore
moneyandprofitforthe governmentislookeduponasmore importantandtheirsociety.The
governmentcouldbe corruptandtheydo not care aboutlookingaftertheirpeople.
On the otherhand itis the public’schoice toeatunhealthyandthis iswhytheycouldbe blamedfor
all the problemstheyare sufferingatthe moment.The documentarydoesnotgointodetail onhow
the Americanpeople have theirowndecisionstomake andhow in factit couldbe theirfault.
Americanscouldhave noself-controloverwhattheyeatmeaningthe blame lieswiththemandthe
documentaryshouldfocusonthismore.
In conclusionIbelieve thatthe documentaryisverysuccessful andshouldbe showntoevery
country.It isabout fastfoodand howunhealthyitisbut also the fact that Americaisfalsely
represented.A combinationof mainconventionssuchascinematographyandbackgroundfootage
make thisdocumentary.AlsoMorganSpurlockdida goodjob of describingthe issuesandputtinghis
life onthe line foran experimenttoshow the world.