Blog 3 - November 7th, 2011

Supersize Me (2004)

Supersize Me is a feature documentary by Morgan Spurlock on obesity in the United States and the consequences of a month of solely McDonalds food.  Morgan essentially attacks the original statement of McDonalds Founder Ray Kroc - “Look after the customer and the business will take care of itself.”

The documentary begins with a question.  Morgan Spurlock proposes to everyone, ‘what would happen if someone ate McDonalds for an entire month?’  ‘Let’s find out.’  A Cardiologist, Gastro Entomologist, Dietician, and a General Practitioner all tell him that the results will be low and change will be slightly moderate – how wrong they are.

Supersize Me is split into two stories – Morgan Spurlock’s personal 30 days and the titled accounts and personal stories of those that the food industry effects.  The film is clearly at a lower budget, but its story is solid and relatable for its time.  His ‘McDiet’ is documented very well from day 1 to 30 and the change in his physical and emotional appearance becomes largely evident from his first vomiting to his last.  The documentary has rules and regulations such as scorecards and charts created by Morgan that he adheres to so that the story stays factual.  There are computer graphics, stills, and narration that are standard in many documentaries.  In my opinion the cinematography is nothing special, but as I mentioned before the doc is all about his personal account.

For more info on Supersize Me, visit here.

Daily Planet - November 4th, 2011

Daily Planet, hosted by Ziya Tong and Dan Riskin, focused their episode on November 4th on not only Spain, but the architectural changes over the last century.  The episode gave a ton of information on architectural design, geometry, engineering, and physics through expert explanation and computer graphics draped with narration.  Each story has a sense of uniqueness when you watch it.  They are quick, professional cuts to the tone and mood of each individual account.  Every narrative feels like its own little documentary because it essentially is.  My favorite thing about this episode is the amount of information you gather on physics and engineering.  There is a mass amount of information on trajectory, stabilization, geometry, and the planning involved in every feat that inspires other.  The amount of B-roll and beautiful shots, such as the Metropol Parasol (Top Right), involved in each story for not only the projects, but the interviews as well is gigantic and exciting.  I enjoyed this episode and what Daily Planet continuously offers because I always expect to learn something about the world and I never knew before - this episode is no exception to their brilliance.

To watch this episode or other episodes of Daily Planet, visit here.

Planet Earth Series – Caves

From the structural ingenuity of man, to the marvels of nature and the thousands of miles of underground passages all over the world, this is the Planet Earth documentary entitled Caves.

I like to be surprised, excited, awe inspired – everything I ask for I get plus more in Caves.  There are glow worms with chemical lights, lizards drastically changed through adaptation, millions of bats and cockroaches, and eroded limestone passages that stretch for miles – all amazingly documented with excellent cinematography and through the narrative of David Attenborough.

From Deer Cave in Borneo, the subterranean water world of the Yucatán, and the Chandelier Ballroom of Lechuguilla Cave in New Mexico (Right) are just a few of the wonders in this world that are so stunningly beautiful, but lost in miles of darkness until the last recent decades.

Right off the bat (no pun intended) I insist everyone see this documentary.  It is in my opinion the best one out of all the series and maybe the best nature documentary I’ve ever seen.  There is so much about caves that we know nothing about.  They are those yet to be trekked parts of the world that people these days long to discover.  But Planet Earth goes there and you’ll learn so much about the dark and creepy side of nature.  The classical music selection is superb for the action. The ambient sound of the B-Roll helps you feel the tone of the clips.  They got cameras on mountain-sized piles of feces, the least we can do is watch.

For more information on Planet Earth visit, here.