Date post: | 20-Jun-2015 |
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Education |
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Documentary Analysis
Themes
Obesity Diet/Health Shifting of blame
Advertising power
A theme of addiction runs throughout the whole of the documentary, “Don Gorske” eats at least two big macs a day . McDonalds even have
names for their more devotedcustomers that eat in McDonalds three times a week, they call them “heavy users”. Spurlock found that after feeling down all day he could eat a McDonalds and feel significantly better.
Camera
Medium Close up
Establishing shot
Close up
Supersize me could be considered both open and closed ended. The documentary is closed in the sense that we find out the
ending of Spurlock’s investigation being that McDonalds has a severely negative impact on Spurlock’s health. However it may be considered open because we don’t find out how
McDonalds intend to do something or if in fact they do intend to change their menu/health implications. The documentary
is single stranded as it follows round one man’s journey of eating nothing but McDonalds for a month. Finally the
documentary is linear as it begins from day one right up until the end of the month documenting the days with on screen
text.
Narrative Structure
Graphics
Graphics are used heavily throughout the documentary to help the audience understand what they are seeing. By illustrating the day it helps the audience to identify what kind of changes are occurring
within the process as time does by. The importance of the time shown illustrates that the diet is doing bad things to him even in the night.Names appearing on screen are to help the audience
understand who is on screen without wasting film time .explaining/
Archive Material
The archive material used in this documentary is mostly used to the set the scene or illustrate the narrators voice. It acts as visual aid so
the audience remain interested and occupied. The news report shown above illustrates the 2003 blizzard, this shows that despite there was a
blizzard outside Spurlock still ventured out to get his McDonalds.
Mise-en-sceneMedical Centre
We understand this is a medical centre through the mise-en-scene. In clothing we see that one doctor is wearing a typical lab coat which we
stereotypically associate with doctors. Furthermore we see Spurlock wearing a
medical gown something we further associate with patients at a hospital. Also the use of
equipment further illustrates the setting, we see a machine being used to take blood
pressure and we can see Spurlock hooked up to medical equipment/machines.
McDonalds Restaurant
Through a variety of different shots we understand that Spurlock is in a fast food
restaurant. For example the menu’s on the wall combined with the food leaflets and neon
lighting all suggest he is not in a home or work area. Furthermore the branded wrappers and containers show the symbol of the fast food restaurant he is in. Typical items such as little sauce pots help create a sense of a fast food
restaurant. Also, we expect to see advertisements such as “go large” in order to
make the customer buy more food.
The editing in Supersize Me is significant in order to show the journey. An example of things is a particular series of
scenes illustrating how ill Spurlock becomes off his first supersize meal. The use of fade ins and fade outs allow the
story to be sped up be still have the desired effect of showing time was passing. Jumpcuts are used in the
documentary, to make this less harsh and difficult to follow for the audience the scene will often jumpcut to an image
with voice over narrative to make the transition less noticeable. If this didn’t happen the audience may feel as
though the documentary is jumping around too much.
Editing
Appropriate music is used as non dietetic sound to help set the scene, for example “rock and roll
McDonalds” is played when children are shown playing on a McDonalds play area. The
documentary opens with a group of children singing the “Fast food song”, this was used to
illustrate the fast food culture and how early its onset into children is. The documentary is fully narrated, using voiceovers to talk through any
images shown during the documentary.
Sound