Documentary

Analysis: Supersized me

By Niamh Doherty

Type of documentary

This documentary is a mixture of all documentaries. For example, in the documentary he acknowledges the presence of the camera (Expository documentaries); he does this so that it is as if he is talking to the audience and so that they feel apart of the investigation more and also he explains what he is doing which allows the audience to not feel confused or unsure on what he is undertaking within each scene. One type of documentary supersized me is, is a social documentary because it is about how on one hand people are to blame for being obese and having health problems in addition to the consuming bad foods. Another type of documentary supersized me is, is a observational documentary

Themes Binary opposition, for example the man being on a vegan diet and then eating fast food. Initially, another way in which there is a binary opposite is due to the fact that the man who undertakes the documentary starts off very fit and healthy and by the end of the experiment doctors were informing him about lung problems in which the bad diet has caused and also have caused him to have very high cholesterol levels.

Manipulation of others in food industry because the man in the documentary reveals to the audience why too much fast food can do to the body and so brings to their attention to try and avoid having fast food.

Diabetes: one person who features in the documentary was in a hospital bed and had diabetes in addition to bad eating, and so this informs the audience about the dangers of eating unhealthily.

Obesity is also a theme in the documentary, again, to inform the audience what fast food can do and initially to persuade them to avoid fast food.

Profit is also a theme in the documentary because it talks about how the fast food places make profit off of people being unhealthy and eating their food.

Dieting and health is an obvious theme because it is informing the audience on what eating badly can cause and in one part a doctor shows how much sugar has been consumed by the man within the month by eating fast food in which reveals that eating too much of it can be extremely unhealthy.

Personal responsibility is also a theme because it was discussed in the documentary that it is the peoples fault because they are the ones that have chosen to eat the food.

Narrative structure

Multi stranded Linear because it is a

documentary that speaks about what is going on and explains things

Closed because he did what he needed to do

But also open because he was not able to interview anyone from McDonalds.

Camera work

Two shot of man two men talking about McDonalds food and so allows the audience to see both of their reactions

Mid shot of people getting interviewed

Rule of thirds with the people getting interviewed; this has been used in this documentary so that they are to most in focus thing on the screen

Wipe of a school canteen to allow the audience to see and understand whether school dinners are healthy or not

Zoom in of pictures and McDonalds logo

Long shot of him entering McDonalds to prove that he is sticking to the McDonalds diet

Extreme close up of the mans face eating McDonalds so that the audience can see his facial reaction to eating it.

Mise-En-Scene

o Work/ formal clothing for the people who are professionals e.g. Doctors. This is used so that it looks much more valid and so people will believe these people talking because they feel as though they are being truthful and accurate.

o Work uniform for the people who work in McDonalds which is another confirmation for the audience that the man is sticking to the McDonalds diet.

o The main man in the documentary is wearing very casual and everyday clothing which may be used because he fits into society so people feel as though being a victim of the fast food industry can happen to anyone.

o Shocked face when the man realises how high his cholesterol levels had gotten which informs the audience that the results are not good.

o Locations include McDonalds, a doctors office, the mans home, the streets and a boardroom, in which all fits in with what is going on in the documentary at that point.

o Props e.g. showing physically how much sugar the man has consumed throughout the experiment so that the audience can see the damage that is being done.

Sound

Voiceover is used to explain what is happening in the documentary and also to explain anything that he is doing

Diegetic speech e.g. “every time I drive past McDonalds with my kid I will punch him in the face”

Sound effects e.g. A swoosh sound when logos of fast food places come on screen

Diegetic sound of people eating food and opening packaging

Non- diegetic sound of theme tunes being played for McDonalds and other songs to do with the company.

Editing

Collage of illnesses bad eating can cause to the body to inform the audience about the dangers of eating badly and initially to persuade them to not eat fast food if possible.

Collage of advertisements that have been created about what McDonalds can do in which are used to persuade people to stop eating it.

Cartoons of McDonalds ads which can be used to reach younger audiences

Long take of the main man in the documentary eating the food.

Fading when the man is in the hospital which could reveal that in some cases eating too much fast food can be fatal

There is also slow motion being used when the man is testing his level of fitness on the treadmill which

Archive Material

One archive material that has been used in this documentary is pictures that have been found off of the internet, for example all of the fast food logos that feature in a collage. This is used to inform how many fast food places their are and how people are easily victims to eating them. Furthermore, another achieve material used is official letters from McDonalds which are used to show the audience that what is being discussed is valid and truthful. However, another archive material used is the names of people who are being interviewed in which is used so that the audience knows who they are and what their job is, in which leads to the audience believing what they are saying due to their job being stated. A final archive feature that has also been used in the documentary is cartoons of McDonalds adverts to show that they are still talking about McDonalds.

Grap

hics

In the documentary there were also graphics being used. One example of this is the names of people getting interviewed followed with their job title, which is used to inform the audience that what is being said by them is valid and truthful. Also, in the documentary there are pictures and cartoons being used which are related to McDonalds in which is used so that it is clear to the audience what is being talked about.