Supersize vs super skinny

Conventions
Supersize vs super skinny (series 6 episode 8) documentary follow obscure conventions in
terms of their narrative. The documentary created by Channel 4 has characteristics of
reflexive conventions in that it bases its subject on real life moments/objects or in this case
the weight of people, and furthermore based on suggestions and opinions (how people feel
about their weight, experiences of anorexia, suggestions on how to change diet etc.) rather
than solid facts, however some factual knowledge can be found in the documentary such as
recommended portion sizes, information on heart and kidney problems. Supersize vs super
skinny appears to loosely follow the conventions of a reflexive storyline rather than
restricting to it completely.
Additionally, it also appears to follow the conventions of a performative documentary. This
type of convention is largely based on emotion, and very often involves the TV maker or
crew interacting with the subject; this fits with the narrative of supersize vs super skinny as
it does include the ‘crew’ or in this case Dr Christian Jessen interacting with the subjects of
the episode. The TV series is also hugely based on emotion and does attempt to amplify that
to the viewer throughout the show, for example in the extract we analysed, there is a scene
where they visit a woman called Robin who is severely over weight; it was noted that while
she was explaining the dramatic impact her weight has on her life, that close ups and
sympathetic music was used, which gives evidence of trying to create sympathy for the
subject, and almost crosses the boundary into entertainment
These types of conventions for the documentary really begin to reflect and give and
understanding of its broadcasting channel, Channel 4. We can see that due to the
documentaries entertainment side (the performative conventions) and ‘relaxed’ mode of
address, that it gives us an overall idea of what type of content that Channel 4 produce. This
is most likely due to the fact that their target audience is young adults aged between 18-30
year olds, which reflects that they have to show content that is more entertaining that
factual as they do not want to ‘bore’ their audience, as other types of documentaries may
not appeal to this target market.
Mise en Scene
Mise en scene is use very affectively in Supersize Vs Super Skinny. In the opening titles and
the first time we get to meet the subjects, their costumes is purely just underwear in a ‘skin
like’ colour. This is done by the director to be able to see their weight for what it really is,
without anything covering it up, it gives the connotation of the viewer’s being able to
analyse their bodies like a doctor with a patient.
We also notice that the presenter, Dr Christian, is
dressed in smart clothing, with a shirt and smart
jeans, it gives the appearance a stereotypical
doctor by the director. In terms of lighting (when
we are introduced to the subjects), when the
main characters, Linda and Thomas, are
introduced and brought together, their lighting on the subjects has a very clinical feel, it
doesn’t have any warm colouring or filters. This gives the connotation of a ‘hospitalised’
feel, and adds to the sense that the subjects on the screen are being analysed which is
consistent throughout the documentary as the main topic of the program is the weight of
the individuals. Another example of when lighting was affectively used is the scene where
Robin is explaining the difficulty of her life due to her
weight. This is quite an emotional scene and it is
presented in this low key lighting, this (alongside of
the close up and parallel sound) makes the viewer
feel pity and sadness for Robin as she explains how
difficult her life has become. The low key lighting
makes it visually noticeable that it is an emotional
scene, this is also accompanied by her facial expressions which give the emotion of sadness.
Another technique that is used in the epsiode is the
props. Part of programme makes Linda and Thomas
swap food, so that the other person has to eat what
they eat in a normal day. Alongside with camerawork,
the food is shown in a close up for the viewers to
analyse what Linda and Thomas normally eats.
Throughout the scene, they interchange shots from one meal to the other to lets viewers
really compare the different type of meals and portion sizes. This is affectively used to allow
the audience to judge what the subjects are eating,
to allow them to have an understanding of how
Thomas and Linda got to the weight that they are.
Another scene that uses props is when they are
interviewing Thomas and they have a stack of pizza
in the background, this again gives the impression
that not only does Thomas like pizza, but it is the
main cause of his weight, this prop techniques makes this assumption visually obvious to the
viewer.
Composition is also a powerful technique used in this documentary. In the introduction
scene where we get to see all of the subjects for the first time, we notice the positioning of
the under and overweight people. We notice that the underweight people are all along the
left side of the shot, and the overweight people
are along the right side of the shot, with Dr
Christian in the middle. This use of composition is
created by the director as it allows the viewer to
be able to easily compare the weight of the two
groups, it gives a bases of comparison of what
their weights are. We also notice that Dr Christian
is in the centre of the shot or in this case ‘the scale of weight’, this can suggest that he is at
ideal weight and adds as an additional size for the viewer to compare too.
Camerawork

Camerawork is used throughout the episode to amplify connotations or subjects. In the

introduction scene there is a part where Thomas and
Linda meet, there is a number of over the shoulder
shots, when they are talking it is noted that when
Thomas is talking it is projected as a slight low angle, and
when Linda is talking it is shown as a slight high angled
shot. This gives the feeling of dominance towards
Thomas, and makes Linda look small and weak. This is a very powerful technique in terms of
projecting the weight and size of the individuals, as by showing Thomas as dominant it gives
the impression that he is large, and with Linda it makes her look small and skinny, with this
camera technique it amplifies the weight of Linda and Thomas. Another powerful use of
camera work is the scenes where they have one
person in a white background setting. Throughout
the episode they often cut to scenes where they
have individuals (often Thomas and Linda but not
always) in just their underwear, and they have
extreme/close up shots of different body parts.
This scene gives the impression that the audience is
examining or judging the individual on screen about their weight, showing how being either
over or under weight makes different parts of your body look. Additionally, another use of
camera work is the multiple extreme to close up
shots of an anorexia victim named Aria. Through this
scene she speaks about her anorexia and how it
develops; as you can imagine this is an emotion
scene, and this is reflected through the camerawork.
Whenever Aria is speaking the often use an
extreme/close up shot of her face, this is done for
affect as it focuses your attention on the victims facial expression, and amplifies the
emotions. Another powerful camera technique used is the use of handheld camera work.
Throughout many scenes its noticeable that a handheld camera is used to record the shot,
this is created by the director to add a sense of realism to the scene, make the viewer
believe they are there themselves, which consequently adds a believability factor to the
documentary.
Sound
There is a number of different sound techniques used through Supersize vs Super Skinny. At
the beginning of the show they start with a piece non-diegetic sound of upbeat music. They
play this while showing a summary of what’s coming up on the show. I believe the reason
why the director has done this is to appeal to the younger target audience, making them
more engaged with the content that they are showing so that they will want to continue
watching the show. This upbeat music was also played over a summary of the character
Robin’s life story, where she explains the difficulty in her life due to her weight. As
previously mentioned, this scene is an emotional one, so the fact that at the beginning of
the show they have played upbeat music through it, creates this contrapuntal sound, which
we believe is done for a comical affect. Although this scene is emotional and meant to
promote the feeling of sadness, it is entertaining to the audience, the target audience would
enjoy listening to this story, which is why we believe that contrapuntal sound is used.
Additionally, through ‘Robins scene’ where she speaks about the difficulty in her life, for a
large portion of the extract a calmer, but still upbeat , music is used. It’s not until Robin
starts to cry that it all of a sudden changes to more parallel, sympathetic music. This again
amplifies the comical aspect in the scene, the fact that the director is using this emotional
seen and manipulating it into entertainment for the viewer. The sudden change in music
makes a dramatic, and noticeable change to the viewer an makes it obvious that it is a
upsetting scene.
Throughout the whole episode, nearly at every stage there is some upbeat, pop music
playing as a non-diegetic sound. For this programme it becomes apparent that they stick to
this type of music for nearly every scene and it’s rare to find any other type. This really
reflects on what type of documentary this is, if you were to compare it to a wildlife
documentary, it would be extremely rare to hear upbeat music because it doesn’t appeal to
its target audience, but for Supersize vs Super Skinny it does. Just by the genre of music
played you can establish that the younger/middle generation are the ideal target audience
for this show, which would mean that this music would appeal to them and make them
more interested in the programming. There is a scene where Dr Christian meets up with
Robin and Thomas in America where he discusses Thomas issues and shows him Robins gas
mask she has to wear at night in order to breath. We notice that in this scene there is only
diegetic sound, no music or sound effects are played at all. This is done for effect as the
absence of sound draws the attention of the viewer, they are used to listening to upbeat,
non-diegetic music, so when it stops it’s very noticeable, and makes the viewer focus on
what Dr Christian is saying.
Additionally, throughout the whole program there is also the use of a voice over. Now unlike
other documentaries where the presenter (in our case Dr Christian) is the voice over, in this
programme it’s done by another person named Liza Tarbuck. The voice over technique is
used to explain in the audience what is happening in the scene, for example of we were to
take the narrator out of the episode, it would be very difficult to understand what was going
on. Furthermore, the use of the voice over adds a sense of realism to the show in an ironic
way. If we were to have a presenter explain what was happening and give us information on
the scene, the programme would feel more like a show, rather than a documentary. It’s
crucial for documentaries to have that sense of realism to it because otherwise what they
are presenting doesn’t seem believable. So to have this voice, or narration, explain to us
what is happening rather than a presenter, it gives that sense that we are observing what is
going on (which is the same effect used in the famous David Attenborough documentaries).
In this programmes case they have a presenter as well as a narrator, but this again is done
for effect. Because of Dr Christians title in that he is a doctor, this adds an additional sense
of realism because the viewer’s trust his opinion, which is why we believe that this
programme needed an additional narrator, because Dr Christian is part of the documentary.
Editing
In the scene where they have certain subjects in just their underwear and a white
background, fast paced editing is used. We notice that in this scene, the shots are changed
very quickly showing different close ups of body parts to the viewer. This is done to create
the feeling that we as the viewer are analysing and judging the subject on the screen, we
are quickly inspecting their body and looking at what being over/under weight does to
different aspects of the body. This also amplifies the clinical or hospitalised feel to the scene
as we are believed to feel like doctors ourselves, like we are examining a patient.
Furthermore, during Robin’s scene, we notice that there is a number of long takes used
when Robin is talking about her life. Long takes are used by the director to make the viewer
feel physically awkward about what is being shown, long shots are very uncomfortable to
watch as a viewer and this is done for affect. With this uncomfortable editing technique, it
adds empathises on the emotions in the scene, and amplifies the fact that what Robin is
talking about is sad.
Furthermore, another editing technique is used during the transition of two different
scenes. The scene where Dr Christian meets up with Robin
and Thomas in America which is followed by a scene where
all three of them meet up in Robins house. During the
transition of these two scenes we notice that there is a
dissolve transition used. Dissolves are generally used to
show the passing of time from one scene to another, and in
this documentary it is used for exactly that.