Morgan Spurlock's 2004 documentary 'Supersize Me' follows his health as he eats only McDonald's for 30 days. He consumes an average of 5,000 calories per day, significantly more than the recommended 2,500. As a result, Spurlock gains 11.1 kilograms and his cholesterol increases dramatically. The film aims to demonstrate the health problems caused by regular fast food consumption and bring awareness to the obesity epidemic in America. It also examines the fast food industry's marketing tactics and influence. 'Supersize Me' was made for $65,000 and went on to make over $22 million at the box office.

1. An outline of the
documentary
‘Supersize Me’ is a documentary
made by Morgan Spurlock in 2004.
He sets the challenge to eat
McDonalds every day for a month
for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It
was informative in regards to the
way fast foods target their
audience; such as always targeting
a family audience like Ronald
McDonald, Happy meal and soft play
attached to McDonalds to attract
children and the dangers of eating
the food regularly.

2. Production details
Some production details are:
• The documentary was written, produced and directed by
Morgan Spurlock, the man starring in the documentary.
• The production company are called ‘The Con’.
• The documentary was distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films
and Roadside Attractions.
• It was released on May 7th, 2004 in America.
• The documentary had a budget of $65,000 and made a Box
Office of $22,233,808.

3. Type of documentary
and the features it
employs‘Supersize Me’ is a investigative documentary aimed
at the American audience. The film documents
Spurlock’s physical and psychological well-being,
and explores the fast food industry’s influences.
Spurlock consumed on average 5000 kcal per day
during this experiment. The average intake for an
average man is 2500 kcal, resulting in some major
health issues for Spurlock. For example, his
cholesterol went from 165 to 225 in a matter of
weeks. Spurlock also gained 11.1 kilograms filming
this documentary.

4. The message and
purpose of the
documentary
The message of this documentary was to raise awareness of
obesity in America and demonstrate the problems with fast
foods. For example, at one point he went to a school and
around public places and asked if they know what a calorie
was, whilst cutting in-between a professional interview asking a
professional the same question, making the public look
uninformed. Therefore inflating the issue of obesity to the
viewer.

5. Narration
Spurlock is a very humours narrator, easily grabbing the
attention of his audience through comic remarks. The
types of shots and the content of the footage is always
grabbing the audience as it switches between his life.
Random interviews of peoples views on fast food and
what professionals think.
It also informs audiences on how fast foods use schemes
to make more money. For example, increasing the size of
their products above the recommended size to make
them seem more desirable.

6. Script/Structure
The script of Super Size Me is the exposition, the
argument behind the documentary. The script
provides a structure to the documentary. Spurlock
divides his film into sections, in each one, he
addresses different factors of his argument.

7. Stereotyping/Simplification
Spurlock simplifies his argument to a
certain extent, however, he stresses the
fact that McDonalds is not the only issue
with obesity in America.
His argument is simplified from the
outset. He knows the consequences of his
McDonalds diet before committing to it.
He hopes to answer these questions: Are
the food companies solely to blame for
obesity in America? Where is the personal
responsibility to stop?

8. Reconstructions
‘Supersize Me’ tends to reconstruct the
identity of large people, pointing out
their addictive problems. One example is
McDonalds apparently labelling their
customers. The people who would go to
McDonalds once a week were called
‘Heavy users’ and the people who would
go up to 3,4 even 5 times a week were
called ‘Super heavy users’ making it
seem also like a drug.

9. Interviews
Interviews in ‘Supersize Me’ are very formal and the
Mise-en-scene of the interviews are usual of formal
backgrounds such as an office or business
environment. The language used is very elaborate and
scientific with ambient background noise to emphasis
the interviewees voice. The way they are presented
(In between clips about the general public) give the
professionals’ voices more meaning as they tend to
prove the public wrong.

10. Impact/Influence
The fallout of this documentary was major
not only did McDonald’s super size get taken
of the menu, with Spurlock even asked for
during the documentary. The company also
introduced ‘go active’ adult happy meal
which was introduced just one day before
release.