Codes and Conventions Essay

8/10/2019 Codes and Conventions Essay

1/3

What are the main codes and conventions of the documentary

genre used in Supersize me? How is modern American society

represented in the documentary?

The documentary Supersize me is a participatory mode documentary which

explores the fast food industry, the main focus being on McDonalds, and how itis killing merica! The on screen presenter and director, Morgan Spurlock, puts

himself through an experiment to "nd out what thirty days of only eating

McDonalds can do to your body and health! t the end of the documentary and

thirty days, we disco#er that the amount of damage done to his li#er from fast

food is the same amount of damage as someone on an alcoholic binge!

Throughout, there is mostly a negati#e portrayal of the merican lifestyle$

howe#er the emphasis of the cause of the damage isnt put on mericans, but

the corporations and go#ernment!

%ne of the main con#entions used in the documentary is the on screenpresenter! Morgan spurlock, not only directs the documentary, but completes

#ideo diaries, conducts inter#iews and produces the #oice o#er! Doing this allows

the audience to see the e&ects of fast and makes him seem more relatable! The

documentary mode Supersize me uses is participatory! 'e can identify

Supersize me being this mode as the "lm makers appear in their own work,

inter#iewing and expressing #iews to the camera! (articipatory mode is often

polemical and are criticised for being too intrusi#e and hea#ily biased!

Morgan Spurlock also uses formal inter#iews to get his point across in the

documentary and show the opinion of professionals! 'ithin the formal inter#iews,

statistics and professional opinion are used to create a compelling argument

supporting the claims that fast food is killing merica! The formal inter#iews are

medium shots and show the setting around them! The chosen setting is key in

the documentary, as them sitting behind a desk, a computer and surrounded by

paperwork shows the audience that the person being inter#iewed, is important

therefore what they are saying is also important! Titles are used in order to tell

the audience who the professional is and their )ob titles! *y adding the title, it re

enforces their reliability on the sub)ect!

Throughout, Spurlock uses #ideo diary footage with a handheld camera! The use

of #ideo diaries enable the audience a +-. o#er#iew of the experiment and aninsight into Spurlocks personal experience! The #ideo diary allows Spurlock to

show the audience e#ery tough moments and updates on how he is feeling! This

enables him to build e#idence for his compelling argument and opinion on fast

food industries! The use of the handheld camera is used in order to not only

make it more personal, but also to create a sense of realism, as if you are going

on this )ourney of binge with Spurlock! This is #ery e&ecti#e in the documentary

especially when Spurlock supersizes his McDonald meal and once he "nishes

Spurlock leans o#er the window to pro)ectile #omit the whole meal onto the

pa#ement! The handheld camera leans out of the window and zooms in to show

the audience! The fact that this is a handheld camera helps to enforce the factthat it has not been staged and actually happened!


2/3

The uses of #ox pops are to get the opinion and #iews of the general public! The

people chosen to be in the inter#iew were random o& the street and asked the

same simple /uestions! (urposefully, Spurlock conducted the #ox pop inter#iews

in front of or in a McDonalds for dramatic e&ect! lso, the fact that there is no

e&ort to get rid of the background sounds also helps to show realism of the

documentary! good example of this is during an inter#iew discussing the e&ect

of McDonalds and its targeting of children, the inter#iews take place at the

McDonalds children area while children are screaming and playing in the

background! This help to further the point of the targeting of children and how

the fast food industry impacts them! Spurlock asks /uestions that arent o#erly

complicated but used for e&ecti#e e#idence! good example of this is when

Spurlock asks the simple /uestion 0do you know what a calorie is1! The fact that

it is something we are faced with on a daily basis is shocking since no body new

what a calorie was! There is a contrast in cut within editing as it then cuts to a

formal inter#iew where a professional explains what a calorie is! This is highly

e&ecti#e as it highlights the nai#ety and lack of awareness of mericans, whichthen brings humour to the documentary!

2raphics and animations are used to display statistics with the #oice o#er! They

allow the audience to gain a #isual representation of the point being made by the

#oice o#er! The e&ect of this is the statistics ha#e more of an impact on the

audience! good example where #isual representation from the graphics was

highly e&ecti#e was the map of Manhattan, where there are 3 McDonalds! The

graphic showed a map of Manhattan with McDonalds 4ags at their locations!

This #isual support puts stronger emphasis on the statistics highlighting to the

audience how shocking this is!

The use of background footage helps to back up the points being made about

mericans being o#erweight and in danger of killing themsel#es with food! 'ide

angles shots are used to show the large /uantity of o#erweight mericans in

their e#eryday li#es! 'hereas, the close up shots and medium shots are used to

put a closer focus on obesity and their body shapes! The use of music 05at

*ottomed 2irls6 by 7ueen, during these images and footage helps bring humour

to the documentary allowing the audience to see this documentary isnt a

lecture, but a light hearted discussion !The music used within the documentary is

#ery important! Music is used to create irony and humour! good example of this

is when the man was ha#ing his gastric band "tted there was non diegetic

classical music being played! This helped change the mood from serious to being

light hearted!

Many aspects of modern merican society are represented and portrayed

negati#ely in this documentary! The documentary may be an experiment using

McDonalds to pro#e a point, but the criticism doesnt lie with them completely!

8n particular, the criticism spreads to the merican go#ernment as well as other

corporations! The biggest criticism on healthy eating is with the schools as they

are not supplying children with healthier school meal! Supporting this, #ox pop

inter#iews were conducted with diner ladies who showed the lack of foodpreparation done since food gi#en is )ust heated up, which they recei#e from the


3/3

2o#ernment! The only options a#ailable were "zzy drinks, pizza, chips and deep

fried food! The argument made is that children should be taught to Make the

right decision and its a personal choice! 5uelling this is the go#ernment! 8n

fact, 2eorge *ush promoted that academics were much more important than

health with the 9o child left behind scheme! This allows children to be smart,

but o#erweight and in serious danger! The documentary highlights that the

merican go#ernment are sel"sh and are only making decisions that bene"t

them and make them more money! fter this, Spurlock inter#iews a school for

delin/uent children with beha#ioural problems, which promotes psychical

education and healthy eating! The head teacher of this school says how doing

this has impro#ed concentration and beha#iour of the students!

8n another inter#iew, Spurlock present #arious pictures of historical "gures such

as presidents! 'hen presented the image, all of the children struggled to name

the person being showed! :owe#er, the only one that all the children were able

to identify was ;onald McDonald! This helps emphasise the fact that McDonaldsis targeting its marketing towards children and it is ha#ing a negati#e impact on

them! 8n addition, Spurlock asked people to sing the nation anthem! fter se#eral

attempts and failing each time, it shows the audience the lack of patriotism!

:owe#er, this is harshly emphasised by the fact straight away they could sing

the fast food theme song!

Some positi#e portrayal of merican society is shown by the fact that Suprlock

says that 9ew

Documents

Codes and Conventions Essay