Similarity/Differences in the Documentaries Cola Conquest and Supersize Me

Similarity/Differences in the Documentaries Cola Conquest and Supersize Me
There are quite a number of documentaries nowadays that have great impacts on not only developing a person but societies and establishments as well. Two of these documentaries are Supersize Me, and The Cola Conquest. These two documentaries are critical documentaries of issues persisting during their times until today.
Here, the two documentaries will be analyzed individually and then compared with each other in terms of the main concept of the documentary, biases, shooting styles, camera angles, how the budget affects the entire production, and their impacts to not just the people, but the culture, and the society in general.
Supersize Me
Supersize Me is a documentary created by Morgan Spurlock in 2004. The aim of the documentary is to explore how the fast-food industry affects the overall health of the consumers and if there could be a corporate influence behind this effect. This is also in relation to the failed attempts by third parties to sue McDonald's
For the duration of the documentary, Morgan focuses on binge eating McDonald's for an entire month, starting from February 01 until March 2, 2003. The documentary featured how eating only meals from McDonald's affected not only his physical but mental health as well.
He asks supervision from expert doctors, exercises specialist and dieticians to help monitor his progress throughout the duration of his test. Aside from the effects of food in his body, Morgan also delves into the influence of corporate decision-making into how fast foods are being marketed to the people.
The critical approach of the documentary and the real-time monitoring of the whole thing saddled the entire film with a nomination under the Documentary feature in the Academy Awards.
Biases
Now, it cannot be denied that the documentary Supersize Me takes a critical approach to the topic of fast food and how it promotes obesity in the United States populous. However, there are some aspects that can be construed as being biased such as the focus on one specific fast-food chain, McDonald's.
Although McDonald's is probably the largest dominating fast-food chain in the industry, especially in the United States, some may take it as a personal attack on the brand since it is the focus. It would have been better if other famous fast food brands were investigated as well to give the entire thing a more general approach. This is especially true since the title of the documentary itself, Supersize Me, can be taken as an allusion to the McDonald option to Supersize meals, unless it was intentional to allude the title and the meal as well as the body size of people. Plus, it is a clear fact that McDonald's is not the sole reason for the obesity crisis in the US.
Another bias that can be observed is the fact that most people who were interviewed, aside from the random customers, are people who are against fast foods in the first place. It would have been better if the crew were able to get in contact with a representative from the fast food industry, even better if someone from McDonald's higher chain of command. This will give the documentary a more solid and neutral stance on the issue since both sides are represented.
Another thing that can be taken as a bit biased is the fact that he is already aware of the side effects of what he is about to do physically, emotionally and mentally. Although the physical effects were easily supported by tests and scientific evidence, the emotional and mental effects were not.
Shooting style
The documentary Supersize Me actually combines two styles in how they approach the cinematography of the documentary. The main style employed is the employed Participatory mode wherein the host of the documentary, Morgan Spurlock, actively participated in the quest to check if eating McDonald meals actually has a significant effect on the health and body mass of the people.
Now although the main style of shooting is in the Participatory, there are traces of the Expository mode as well. This is especially evident on the first few minutes of the video where the host does not appear but there is a "narrator" discussing statistical data such as the rate of obesity, etc. There are also scenes where the focus is the interview of relevant experts which is one of the typical elements of expository shooting. The segmentation of the film into chapters with a different focus in each is also a typical characteristic of expositions.
The combination of the two styles has made the documentary not so monotonic and boring especially with the engagement of the host. This gave the video a more dynamic and real feeling although some portions may very well be scripted.
Camera angles
There are a wide variety of camera angles that can be seen all throughout the video. There are establishing shots which show the McDonald branch where Morgan will buy his meals for the day. There are also some traces of tilt shots or shots from the bottom going up. This is heavily observed on scenes where Morgan gets his weight checked. The two most common camera angles that can be observed are the medium shots and close-ups.
Throughout the entire documentary, there are segments where medium shots and close-ups are shot side by side. This is especially evident during interviews. Medium shots are immediately seen in parts where Morgan visits his doctors or dietician and the focus shifts from an eye-level shot into a medium shot to divert the main focus from the whole scene into a single person. In this shot, about ¾ of the body of the person is seen which gives it a significant angle to emphasize the focus on the person.
There are also some close-up shots but no very common. These shots usually occur when Morgan is seen interviewing random people and the camera angle shifts closer to capture their reactions.
How the budget affected the production
Cinematography wise, the budget is comparably cheaper than the more complex documentaries that need a lot of cinematography elements. What probably made the entire production expensive though is the inclusion of the doctors, experts and the motif of the documentary which is to...