A sequence is “a series of edited shots characterized by inherent unity of theme and purpose” (Barsam and Monohan pg. 453). Whereas a scene is “a complete unit of plot action taking a place in a continuous time frame in a single location” (Barsam and Monohan pg. 453). There are many scenes within the documentary Supersize me but the two that stick out the most to me are when Spurlock begin’s his journey with excitement with his first purchase to mcdonald’s. The second scene is when he meet’s with his healthcare team and they all say he should stop the documentary as it is wreaking havoc on his body and mental health. The chunks of the film are expressed with different themes which all lead to the same plot. I would break this film into 4 chunks the first is the. Beginning of his journey to about a week in, then the second week, the third week and lastly the 4th Critics refer to the movie in significant parts.
Some of the the scenes/sequences discussed this week that are readily apparent in Super Size Me and used gratuitously throughout the documentary ate three shots and montage sequences. The documentary loves to show us a shot of the thing: usually an unhealthy McDonalds food item, the person (Morgan Spurlock the film maker and guinea pig), and then a shot of the person with the thing (Morgan chowing down on a Big Mac, Mcrib, Quarter pounder, etc.). These shots really highlight the slow creeping addiction that Spurlock experiences throughout the movie. At first we see him precariously holding up the food, like he is repulsed by it, like it is a danger to him (which it totally is). Then he starts to get addicted to the food, and we see the three shot change, with Morgan holding up the food happily like an elementary aged schoolboy who’s been begging to go to Micky D’s all week and now he’s finally got it, except Spurlock is doing it 3 times a day all month long. Then towards the end he seems truly exhausted when holding up the food, like its heavy, a weight dragging him down (again, it totally is).
The film also uses a very liberal amount of montages showing the marketing McDonalds and other foods put out, with happy smiling in shape folks chowing down on calorically dense nutritionally defunct foods. These montages are juxtaposed with Spurlock narrating about the evils of the food and the myriad of health problems that they are causing to millions around the world. That juxtaposition is where the film really succeeds as it highlights the dissonance between what we’re being told about the food (Its good, it will make you happy, it can be part of a healthy diet) and the morbid reality of its negative effects on our society.
Protagonist is defined by “the primary character who pursues the goal” (Barsam and Monoham pg 120). Whereas Antagonist is defined as “the character, creature, or force that obstructs or resists the protagonist pursuit of his or her goal” (Barsam and Monohan pg. 443). Obstacles are “Events, circumstances, and actions that impede a protagonists’ pursuit of the goal. Often originate from an antagonist and are central to a narrative conflict” (Barsam and Monohan pg. 450). The protagonist is Spurlock. The goal of the film are to observe the changes that occur when eating McDonald’s for a month straight 3 meals a day. The actions of the film are eat the mcdonald’s, visit healthcare team, and discuss with filmmakers how you are mentally doing. The obstacles are health is in a decline. The antagonist is the cashiers if they ask Spurlock to Supersize then he has to and he had to multiple times. The helpers are Spurlock’s girlfriend as she mentally supports his goal to finish but physically doesn’t want him to. The inciting incident of the film is when Spurlock purchases and begins his month-long journey only eating McDonalds. The rising action is realizing every time he visits his healthcare team, he has drastically become more and more unhealthy than the previous visit. This is incredibly shocking news as this only occurred over a month and he could has seriously gotten himself ill. The climax of the film is when Spurlock is in his hotel room and is no longer happy eating McDonalds but still has to continue on for the film. He has began to notice changes in his mental health and feels sluggish and rundown. The resolution is at the end of the 30 days he no longer has to eat McDonald’s and continue down a bad path for his health. The denouement is his last healthcare screening when his liver has pretty much become fat and has gained a lot of weight. The film does not have a 3-act structure. Critics refer to the elements using the dramatic structure.
Being a documentary that takes place a little over 30 days it is sped up and we are only seeing pieces and possibly skipping whole days where we are not even seeing what is going on. If nothing eventful had taken place that day there is no need to film Morgan just consuming McDonalds you can only have so many shots of that without the audience becoming bored. So to keep the attention of the audience they use eventful days or possibly a few different days and merge them to seem like they were one day in the film. For the most part the film in shot in consecutive order being as it needs to be since we are watching the effect this food has on his body over a period of time we need to see it from day 1 to 30 you can’t really jump around too much. I don’t think too much was restricted from this film. We were able to see Morgan go into the doctors office and the medical advise he was given, him going into the McDonalds and ordering the food, of course him also eating the food and sometimes throwing it back up. His wife also interviewed and explain what she thought was going on. I feel they were pretty transparent on what was going on. But that was also the nature of the film.
“Narrative Is a story such as fiction films as opposed to other movie modes, such as documentary or experimental” (Barsam and Monohan pg. 116). Duration is the differences in the movie that separates story and plot. For example, the duration in the film occurs within minutes when in actuality the documentary is occurring over a month, but we only are able to view scenes of different days over the period of the month. The audience does not get to see a clear 30-day representation on all the meals he ate we just take his word for it. Frequency helps to separate story and plot as there are artists portrayals of McDonald’s and the viewer sees many of the images over and over again to invoke fear over McDonald’s. The documentary restricts the viewer’s knowledge of future information until the part of the film is shown. The information is expressed chronologically at the same time Spurlock finds out the view finds out. Critics do not mention storytelling.
The film itself is an argument against fast food being an essential part of our culture and every day life. It picks apart the lies that we have been told about the fast food industry and attempts to reframe the debate about what can be considered a part of a healthy diet. A sequence that is particularly poignant is when he goes and investigates what kind of foods kids are eating in the cafeteria of local middle and high schools. Again, they are all eating calorically dense nutritionally defunct foods that are terrible for regular consumption. Even the “healthy” alternatives (salad with a ton of dressing, cheese, and croutons, lemonade with a ton of sugar akin to a coke) are pretty unhealthy themselves. I also think that the sequence about the prison that switched to a healthy plant based foods and lean meats was a very strong argument, they saw a dramatic decrease in inmate violence after a year of switching as well as increased levels of inmate satisfaction/contentment.