I had the opportunity to attend Morgan Spurlock's talk last night, and I must say, I enoyed the event much more than I thought I would. Spurlock spoke dynamically for over an hour, and his incredibly humorous persona lit up the crowded room. Most of what he talked about related to his documentary Super Size Me, and it was interesting that much of his discussion related to things we have been discussing in class.In particular, Spurlock talked about how his Sundance-ready film only cost $65,000 dollars to make (half of this budget went toward travel expenses). Most (if not all) of the crew provided their respective services for free, working with a mindset of passion, rather than profit. Spurlock's example goes to show that great documentaries don't have to be made for a fortune. Rather, they merely have to be made with a strong focus and vision. This is undoubteldy a sentiment that Ellen has been expressing in class, and through her 10 under 10 program.
Spurlock also talked about test screening Super Size Me. He said he knew he had made something special, when, at one test screening Q & A session, two members of the audience started passionately arguing amongst themselves about the meaning/merits of the film. Spurlock explained that the visceral emotion elicited by the documentary was a sure-fire sign that he had succeeded in what he had set out to do (which was to get people to start talking about their eating habits). I liked what he had to say here. I think many good documentaries (especially social ones like Spurlock's) suceed by opening up a public discourse, one that is often emotionally charged. Super Size Me undoubtedly went a step further, in that it influenced that practices of the fast food industry at large.
At the end of his speech, Spurlock thanked the audience, and implored everyone to follow their passions. While i've heard this bit of advice numerous times, its never gets old. I left the talk feeling energized and excited to be studying a field I truly love. Strangely, I also felt hungry for some fast food. I satisfied my craving later that night, with a trip to my neighborhood Taco Cabana.
2 comments:
I'll be posting the short (but sweet) interview with Morgan that Sneak Peek did before his speech last week once I get it edited.
Jason pretty much summed up the night. it was without a doubt one of the most enjoyable things I've done all semester. The crowd was literally laughing for nearly an entire hour. Like Jason said he mostly talked about his film Super Size Me. He talked about how cheap it was to make, and how he came up with the idea. I believe it was on thanksgiving day while he was sitting on the couch after stuffing his face with all of the glorious foods that accompany the holiday that he came up wit the idea of the film. Of course the film got so much bigger and went so much further then anyone could have imagined. The one thing that I took away with me from this program was one of his closing remarks: "If you can make someone laugh, then you can make them listen."
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