Supersize vs Super skinny textual analysisBY KIRSTY MITCHELL

Opening sequence

The opening sequence shows a range of different sized people. This makes the audience create an opinion of different sized bodies at first and then can adapt throughout the documentary how they cope being there size. The opening sequence shows what the program is going to be about and emphasises the contrast and the audience can see straight away that it is quite an open documentary. These frames show that this is an open documentary and let the audience create there own opinion on what looks better, being either super sized or super skinny. This opening sequence also shows a contrast of imgaes as though it’s a mirror imaging, reflecting the fat and the skinny from each other. Not only the images but also the font used represents the size as well as the supersize is bold and the super skinny is thin.

Christian Jessen is the presenter of Super size vs Super skinny. Having him to present the documentary is great because he is a professional and gives professional advice which will have a big affect on the audience and trust his opinion that is shared, also Christian Jessen is a very likeable character which interests the audience into watching the programme. Documentaries are factual so having a doctor on the programme involves the audience more and then can be interested and also shocked by the facts they are hearing. Also the people who are in the programme will feel reassured because they are being given the correct information and not just an opinion. The image on the left shows Christians power using a low angle shot and putting him right in the middle of the shot, this shows how important he is.

Eating Disorders

In the programme there is a scene about a girl who has an eating disorder. Nowadays eating disorders are a massive problem especially for teenagers. The scene is based around the girl who has suffered from an eating disorder and use flashback slips of her when she was going through her disorder. During this there are bits of texts going over the screen to show the facts of eating disorders, this makes the audience want to continue watching and entice them. Additionally this is a real issue and they aren’t just highlighting the facts of eating disorders but they are also influencing people away from it.

MISE-EN-SCENE

The mise-en-scene in this show has used this shot to make Christian Jessen the main focus of this shot. But in the background there are people eating unhealthy food. This has been done because the producer wants to show 2 polar opposites. Also this image shows the contrast of the different bodies as Christian is fit which a great looking body where as the others in the back are blurred out and a different size.

In this documentary the producer has used a swipe edit which switches between different scenes. The have used this because it swipes from a woman in America talking and then to someone in the UK, this shows that obesity is not only in the USA.

MISE-EN-SCENEA long shot has been used in part of the starting clips. This programme is called ‘Supersize VS super skinny’ so they will use this shot because it focuses on the parts of the title. Using a long shot shows what being overweight.

The producer has got the people who are involved in the documentary to wear nude coloured underwear, to emphasise the point of the programme. This shot shows the audience the extreme outcome of having an eating disorder and also reflects on the name of the programme. By using nude colour underwear this desexualizes them making them all seem the same.

MISE-EN-SCENE

A close up has been used to show the audience how the women is feeling. This means that the audience will be able to connect with her better as it is clear to see she is upset, by using this close up.

This is a focus shot. The man is faded in the background and the pizza is the main focus. This image shows what she is not used to eating and by putting him in the background shows that this is what he usually eats.

Summary

In this documentary, over all it is clear that it is a reflexive documentary. The presenter really gets involved with what people who are invited have to say as people who are in the documentary are open and honest about what they think and have to say about how they feel. This makes it more believable for the audience watching. The main focus on this programme is to promote a healthy lifestyle. Additionally using people completely different one another show the contrast between different peoples lifestyles.