Super size me

Super Size Me

Type Of Documentary Super Size Me can be considered to be a mixed documentary as it

uses a 'mix' of observation, interviews, and narration to continue the story/argument of the documentary. The Narrator often comes into the frame and it not just an omnipresent voice. This style is often used in new reporting as well, as it allows the creators to give a variety of thoughts and facts on whatever they are discussing. This would also be considered a self reflective documentary as the narrator often looks at the camera and understands that it is an documentary. This is used to ground his documentary in reality and ensure the documentary's audience understand the documentary is 'real' and not just a dramatization.  For example, in the screen grabs below we can see that Spurlock both directly addresses his audience (self reflective) and shows footage of his talking with a doctor outside of an interview style.

Themes and IdeasSome central themes presented in the Documentary are the ideas of being

health conscious in an country, or world, surrounded by a culture of fast foods that are cheap, easy to get and hugely calorie dense. It also explores how these very same industries manipulate the schooling system and even the government to ensure they are always popular. On the other hand, it also looked into how people purposely ignore health warnings in favor of short term enjoyment (The narrator would even point out that he later developed an addiction to the food, experiencing highs and lows depending on how long ago he had eaten) Finally, it develops ideas on the obesity crisis and how dieting corporations do not even care about the truth as long as they turn a profit.   

For example, here they discuss how much sugar he consumed on the 30 day diet and how much more he had vs a cleaner diet.

Narrative StructureThe Documentary presents itself in chronological order; it jumps between

Spurlock eating through the days and interview with various people involved in the industry, such as Doctors, Fast Food Representatives and people on the street. It’s a mutlistranded documentary as it doesn’t only cover it’s central topic of fast food, but also obesity, the laws surrounding it, and peoples knowledge of what they consume, among other things. Furthermore, it could be argued as to whether the documentary is open or closed stranded – On one hand, it could be open and Spurlock never got to interview a representative from McDonalds, but on the other hand one could argue that the documentary achieved what it set out to do, and answered whether or not fast food was unhealthy, whilst providing facts about the state of not only America’s relationship with companies like McDonalds but also the worlds.

Having the Documentary end without contact with McDonalds furthers the agenda of the documentary as it makes it look as if they have something to hide and do not want to talk to Spurlock to avoid admitting anything. Moreover, presenting the film in chronological order is the obvious choice as it allows the audience to ‘meet’ Sprulock before he started the experiment and allows them to feel empathy for him as he effects of eating McDonalds so much starts to take a toll on him. It also allows them to quickly show his worsening condition by only showing particular days instead of all 30 days, cutting the in-betweens with interviews to make it flow naturally.

Camera WorkMost of the footage the documentary uses is direct cinema – there are not enactments present in the film. This was purposely done to make the documentary, again, seem more grounded on facts and real, current events rather then something to worry about in the future, or something that is old or outdated. It also ensures the audience all the data they are presented with in new and not taken from information about a past event.

Many documentaries used B-Roll during the interview in order to keep things fresh and interesting- people may become bored just listening/watching someone talk about a topic for a period of time, so directors will often film footage of objects relevant to the subject matter. When Spurlock is doing a direct interview with the lunch lady at a middle school, for example, it will often cut from the two talking to footage of the students receiving/ordering food from the cafeteria. This is done to anchor the information learned from the interview to the impact of it – in this case we learn that the food it not freshly made and is instead just reheated. By then showing footage of students receiving the food it ensures the audience understands/makes the personal connection that these children are not eating properly without having to explicitly say it, although they do earlier in the segment on children's eating in schools. Overhead, crane, closeups, ect are used to film B Roll – typically whatever the director thinks will look the most visually interesting or impactful.

Mise-En-Scene

Through out the Documentary, constructed scenes are made and shown to gain the audiences trust and hopefully receive a positive reading of the films message. For example, when talking to the many health professionals at the beginning of the documentary, one of the doctors in particular has a smart looking office and talks to Spurlock while still in her blue/green scrubs. This fits in with one of the stereotypical idea of an doctor and reinforces that this is someone the audience can trust to provide them with good information. There are also male doctors wearing the ‘proper’ white coats to ensure what they say anchors and links to the themes of the documentary.

Many shots of McDonalds are used

SoundSupersize Me uses a lot of indirect interviewing techniques, meaning that we don’t get to hear Spurlock asking the questions to the person being interview, but instead get a natural feeling discussion of the interviewee talking to the audience of the documentary. This is an effective technique as it makes the audience feel as if they are being directly addressed in the movie and makes it more likely for them to absorb the message the people creating the film are trying to tell. By interviewing a range of people they also ensure that they do not look too biased for the average viewer to pickup, furthermore it avoids the audience seeing any leading questions. Whilst Spurlock may as a his interviewee ‘Why is McDonalds bad?’ the audience may see this as too on the nose, so by cutting out the questions it make the answer, or flow of conversation more natural and unbiased. – seen by interviewing a representative of fast food companies and trying to get in touch with McDonalds. A lot of diegetic sound is used as Spurlock is ordering/eating McDonalds to allow the viewers to feel like they are going on the journey with him, again drawing them into the documentary to ensure it anchors the documentary's message with them. Furthermore, right at the beginning of the documentary it opens on a group of children singing a song with lyrics consisting of the names of popular fast food chains. This is a clever opening as it immediately tells viewers that the documentary is going to be dealing with ideas of children and how the fast food industry is having a negative impact on them. Most people also know that children should not be having fast food instinctively so right from the start it paints fast food in a negative light without being overly obvious about it. We also have more examples of sound during, for example, the hospital scene as classical, ironically used, music is used to give the documentary a lighter feel in contrast to the pretty graphic gastral surgery going on on screen. This technique is used often in the film in an attempt to make it easier to watch and less like you’re watching a depressing documentary about childhood and general obesity. It also contrasts directly to the scene the takes place afterwards as he talks to his doctor about his health in a much more serious tone, with no music present. Here, only diegetic noises play, to anchor the idea of Spurlock worrying about his health. If they had used serious, or no music for the medical surgery scene, audiences may have taken it too seriously and be worried for the man instead of absorbing the message of ‘don’t eat McDonalds or you’ll become obese and need this surgery too.

Editing

When Spurlock is trying to contact McDonalds for an interview montage editing is used to showcase how the company keeps avoiding talking to him – this anchors the message of the documentary as it shows the McDonalds do not even believe their food is good or even worth standing up for, and do not want to slip up in an interview or face any difficult to answer questions. It also displays Spurlocks frustrations with the company and encourages the audience to become frustrated too; we also want to see the pay off of the documentary, to see how McDonals explains itself to

Use of Archive Material Archive Material consists of things the film

makers may have found on the internet, in film footage from older documentaries or advertisements, and is often used to cut between interviews in order to make the film flow better for viewers – 2 interviews back to back on the same topic may become boring for an audience. Here, it could be used to anchor any images and ideas the documentary is trying to convey, such as an old McDonalds advertisement to show how things have changed into the modern era.

GraphicsGraphics are used in documentaries to convey information to the audience that may be difficult to explain concisely in just words. Furthermore, some audience members may be more likely to trust in what the narrator is saying if it’s backed up by statistics or graphs, usually displayed through graphics during the film. These have been described as ‘visually seductive’ by some filmmakers as they are an easier way to convey large amounts of information, such as the fattest countries in America without only relying on ‘boring’ narration. They can also provide exposition, without having to ‘waste’ time explaining it, or can be used to provide clarity to complicated topics.

In Supersize Me, a quote from McDonalds founder is displayed at the beginning of the film, contrasting to the footage of the kids singing the fast food song of the beginning. This also informs the audience that McDonalds has an ulterior motive of making money (although this should be common sense)