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TYPES OF DOUMENTARY The documentary is a mixed documentary because it brings up the topic of different issues to the audience The documentary also acknowledges the presence of a camera. This shows that the documentary is also a self reflexive documentary
THEMES Due to the documentary being a mixed documentary there are many themes that are brought to the attention of the audience • Food- the main theme was of food due to the documentary exploring the issue of fast food chains destroying the health of Americans
Manipulation of others- Spurlock explored how the fast food giant, McDonalds, manipulated how the public look at the food that they're eating • Profit- McDonalds main priority when it comes to the selling of their high calorie products is profit, an issue that is spoken about throughout • Obesity- the issue of obesity is one of the main reasons as to why the documentary was made due to America being the fattest country in the world with Texas being the heaviest state
Personal Responsibility- the American people need to understand that they cannot put all of the blame for their health problems on fast food chains. They have the power to decide what they consume • Dieting and Health- Spurlock made a huge point about the American Government needing to educate the public about the problems in their diet
NARRATIVE STRUCTURE Multi-Stranded- The documentary offered different topics and questions throughout Linear- It speaks about what is going on in the programme Open/Closed- The ending had a resolution however the problem of McDonalds causing health problems is still on going
CAMERAWORK • Two Shot- the image on the screen shows two people next to each other to give the audience an idea on how both people respond to each other • Long Take- the audience see all of the action on the screen • Zoom- the camera would zoom in on food from McDonalds or Spurlocks face when he was eating
Camera Shake- By holding the camera rather than putting it on a tripod, the audience feel like they are there • Pan- the camera panned around Spurlock interviewing people on the street • POV Shot- This also makes the audience feel like they are with Spurlock as you see what he see’s • Close-up – the audience saw a close-up of Morgan's face to capture his emotions
Two Shot Long Take Close-up Zoom
MISE-EN-SCENE Code/Attire- The Doctors wore outfits that are typical of someone who works in a hospital with a white coat or blue scrubs. The McDonald workers would also wear the typical uniform that we address with those who work in McDonalds(McDonalds shirt, hair pulled back by a hat) Setting- The main settings were McDonalds, Specialist Offices and Morgan's House, however he also visited schools too Props- At the end of the documentary, the audience were given an insight on how much salt Morgan had consumed over the month trial. They used tubs to show how much salt he had consumed
Classroom McDonalds Uniform Office-Doctor( White Lab Coat) Props
SOUND • Voice Over- The documentary used a lot of voiceovers when explaining what was going on at the moment when they used animations or Spurlock would explain different facts about Health and Dieting • Songs- At intervals where a new topic was being mentioned a non-digetic song would be played over top. Songs were also played when Spurlock was travelling or moving on to a new scene • Sound Effects- When animations were being used to show something sound effects would be used to make it more interactive. Whenever a writing animation was used, the sound of writing also played to make it seem like someone was actually writing in that moment
Here are links to some of the songs used in the Documentary: • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0AxZwpPseY • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqnQYq3BQ0k • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODSNU0hk5h8 Non-Digetic Sound • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trgwGhAJj10
EDITING • Cut- the main type of editing that was used throughout was cut. This allowed the shots to instantly cut to a next scene of action • Background changing- Although this was only used once, in once piece of the documentary the background was quickly changing as Morgan was talking • Fade- another popular editing technique used was fade, the shots would often fade into another shot or a piece of animation
The screenshot above shows how one of the shots faded into another shot of Spurlock walking down the street talking to the camera
ARCHIVE MATERIAL • Newspaper Articles • TV Interviews • Letters from McDonalds • McDonald Pictures/Cartoons • Adverts • Government Press Conferences
GRAPHICS • The names of the people being interviewed • Number of days that Spurlock was on • Pictures placed over girl in one shot • Cartoons to demonstrate what Spurlock or Specialists were speaking about