By Molly Littlehales

SUPERSIZE ME ANALYSIS

CODES AND CONVENTIONS

In this Documentary a variety of different codes and conventions are used, such as:

• Archival footage• Voiceover• Montage• Animation• Graphics• Dialogue• Music- ambient sound etc• Subjects/ people• Interviews with experts• Camera

angles/shots/movement• Stop motion

On the whole, the documentary represents most of America as over weight, fast food loving people who need to change the way they live. By using many facts and figures, the film maker (Morgan Spurlock) portrays American citizens as the fattest in the world, therefore a negative view of the people. He represents the people through his comical script as well as cut in footage of real l i fe Americans and footage of experts talking about the topic to further the negative view about obesity. ‘Each day, 1 in 4 Americans visit a fast food restaurant’. The overall representation shown in the film is that fast food is bad for you, however it is extremely biased. Although he was actively showing the viewers the affects of the food, the outcome was inevitable and mass consumption of an unhealthy food would be l ikely to harm the body. There are some positive factors when representing the people of America. For example the use of graphics and montages is common in the film which shows a happy side and displays many people using vox pops about their view of fast food and how they enjoy it on a regular basis.

REPRESENTATION OF AMERICANS

REPRESENTATION OF TEENAGERS

The film includes real life stories from many American teenagers and their struggle with fast food. This however represents these teenagers in a sympathetic way almost like a ‘sob story’. It shows how obesity can be linked with some psychological illnesses showing the view that the problem represented may not be down to the people themselves, but society. Using graphics and formal interviews as conventions, Spurlock creates an interesting story line to attract the audience and represent America in a different way.

REPRESENTATION OF EXPERTS

Super size me represents the experts (doctors, nutritionists, government…) as responsible, well researched people that know what they are talking about. Their predictions of weight gain, liver damage and fat increase do become reality furthering the proof that fast food is bad for the human body on regular consumption. The dialogue by the experts represents America in a negative way. Mise en scene in these clips show formal people in professional jobs meaning the information they give us is acurrate.

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE

The structure of this documentary is closed linear narrative as it shows a story in chronological order. It investigates whether fast food affects the body on mass consumption for a long period of time. As it follows the film maker for a month and leaves the audience with no questions, it is linear and closed.

The mode in this documentary is performative as Morgan Spurlock becomes a subject and the main person in the film. The crew also become part of the documentary. We follow his story as he eats fast food 3 times a day for a month almost like an autobiography. It allows us to see his true feelings and emotions and the real effect of fast food. The audience is addressed in an emotional and direct way.

MODES

The target audience for ‘supersize me’ by Morgan Spurlock is a huge range of people. The primary audience would be obese people in America, of all ages as the film represents obese people of all ages and both genders. Or just the main users of the fast food industry. Its also aimed at parents in an attempt to limit the amount of fast food their children consume in an effort to save future generations from growing rates of obesity. The secondary audience could be health experts, they can use the documentary as evidence for the health affects of fast food when persuading people to eat healthier.

TARGET AUDIENCE