2. TYPE OF DOCUMENTARY
Supersize Me was a documentary written and directed by Morgan
Spurlock which follows his life for 30 days as he only eats
McDonalds food to see how it will affect his health. This was a mixed
documentary as they did interviews with experts and other people
who ate at McDonalds frequently. It was also part self- inflexive as
Spurlock also filmed himself almost like a video diary. It was also in
chronological order as it follows a day to day order.
3. THEMES
There are many themes that are explored throughout this documentary.
The main theme during this documentary is the 30 day challenge
Spurlock puts himself up to. There are links between obesity and food,
mainly fast food companies such as, McDonalds and KFC. Also, the
themes including corporate greed VS personal choice as it is argued
whether the marketing of fast food companies is the problem with
obesity in America, especially children. There was also the theme of
addiction as it is possible to become addicted to junk food.
4. NARRATIVE STRUCTURE
Morgan Spurlock handles the narration of the documentary
where he talks quickly to get his point across. This
documentary is linear as it has an order in which it goes in.
Throughout, it has sections where they talk about different
topics such as, health. Also, the narrative is both open and
closed as Spurlock’s personal story is closed but the
McDonald’s story isn’t over as they continue to advertise their
meals to children like it’s a good thing, which allows the
audience to understand the narrative.
5. CAMERAWORK
Shots used:
Steady Cam
Handheld
Cuts
Mid Shot
Medium Close up
Morgan Spurlock used many different camera shots such as, mid
shots and medium close ups to keep the audience’s attention. This also
captures both the interviewer and the interviewee’s reaction to
what is getting said and it helps the audience to establish the
opinions of the general public. When the interviews are being
conducted the rule of thirds is used as no one looks directly at
the camera, but at the interviewer instead.
A Mid Shot is being used here.
Rule of thirds- they are looking at
each other not the camera.
6. MIS-EN-SCENE
This documentary includes a lot of mis-en-scene features. For
example, they use experts and doctors to show the medical side
of the documentary which helps the audience understand the
health element and risks of this challenge. This is shown through
the clothes and props used as the experts are talking such as,
doctors are wearing white coats, gloves and stethoscopes and
lawyers look smart as they are wearing a suit and tie. This helps
the audience establish that these people are professional and
know what they are talking about. Also, we see different age
groups being interviewed throughout which suggests that the
McDonalds is trying to reach different social groups in America.
7. SOUND
‘Supersize Me’ is narrated by Morgan Spurlock as it follows his
journey through his 30 day challenge. He narrates from behind
and in front of the camera. There is also a lot music over the top of
clips in order to relate to the scene for example, music about
obesity plays when obesity is the topic of the clip. Also, there is
classical music playing when the man is having an operation
which juxtaposes to the event as operations are supposed to be
scary not calming, however it could relate to the fact that doctors
are so used to performing the surgery that they are calm about it.
Furthermore, there are voiceovers included that may suggest that
McDonalds see themselves as superior in America.
8. EDITING
During this documentary there were many different
editing techniques used for example, cuts when the
experts are getting interviewed. Montages are also used,
as well as elliptical editing, freeze frames and cut outs so
the narrative is what they want the audience to see. The
lighting is used to show the audience the positive and
negative parts of the documentary. For example, when
the lighting is bright then it is positive and the lighting is
dark when it is negative e.g. when Spurlock feels sick as
he has eaten too much.
9. ARCHIVE MATERIAL
The archive material included throughout this
documentary is beneficial as this backs up the points that
Spurlock is making with evidence such as, photos,
statistics and facts. Old newspapers and interviews were
used to create evidence and were shown alongside
animations and still photos to relate back to the
audience.
10. GRAPHICS
Graphics are used throughout the whole duration of this
documentary to make it more appealing and friendlier to
the audience so it doesn’t get boring and the screen is just
permanently filled with facts and statistics. Illustrations
and animations are used to represent each topic that is
discussed; these make it more enjoyable to watch. For
example, there was a map of America that highlighted the
states that had the highest percentage of obese people
living there.
Animations
