National Geographic: Alan Barges

The documentary that I decided to watch was about a 650lb man Alan Barges.  It was aired on the National Geographic channel.  You always hear about people being overweight, and you never really think too much about it and there are always special segments on other stations that feature people overweight.  But the way this documentary opened really made me feel for Alan.

The documentary opened with Alan being in the hospital.  And you see how big he actually is.  The p factor that made me continue watching the documentary was the fact that it took 6 strong paramedics to bring Alan home.  Since the stretcher and Alan couldn’t both fit through the doorframe, the paramedics had to put him on a sheet and drag him into the house. 

The shooting of this documentary was the typical handheld, interview style.  However it did not make this documentary boring to watch.  It actually made it quite interesting and made me want to continue to watch it as the story progressed about Alan.

The only point that I didn’t really like about this story was the fact that Alan didn’t really have motivation in life.  I know that a documentary is supposed to document an individual’s life, but it just made me view Alan as someone with no perseverance in life.  It made me feel like if it didn’t get to the point where he had health problems he probably wouldn’t have went through the bypass surgery to lose weight.

Overall this documentary was enjoyable to watch, the story line could’ve used more work on it, but the camera and editing of it was well done.

Grizzly Man

The title of this documentary sounded interesting so I decided to give it a try.  The documentary focused on a man Timothy Treadwell who spent 13 summers in the wilderness to spend times with bears and to study their habitat.  What I did not like about this documentary was the way it was filmed.  It was handheld in most shots, but at the same time it was really shaky.  I know normally handheld shots are suppose to give viewers a more dramatic effect and we can feel like we are part of the action, but this time it did not give me that feeling but whereas it made me feel dizzy as I was watching it.

This documentary was different in a way of how it was edited too.  I know that Timothy passed away, and they published this doc after, but the narration I found was very distracting.  There wasn't much emotion that the narrator's voice was very monotone.  Normally this works well for doc's but this time it was quite boring to listen to.

I think the factor that made this documentary not as interesting was the concept that the documentary portrayed.  I didn't see that Timothy was trying to learn more about the bear's habitat, but he was intruding on their surrounding.  I think if this doc was edited with more better sequence and camera shots it would've worked better.

60 Minutes: Eminem Road to Stardom

Having always been a fan of Eminem, I was interested and excited to watch this segment of 60 Minutes.  The show started off with Anderson Cooper giving a brief intro of what the show would be about.

Going into the show I knew that it would be basically profiling Eminem's life.  But the show mixed in a lot of video archive's of earlier appearances by Eminem.  I liked how that the show transitioned between present interviews with Eminem and then flashback into memories of earlier days for Eminem.  The camera was really neat was that it was a close up of Eminem every time the camera focused on him.  It gave a sense of closeness to him.

Another concept that made this show more compelling to watch was the fact that Eminem has a negative impact on a lot of people in life.  The stuff he raps about and the language he uses makes a lot of people despise him.  But this show, managed to show another side of Eminem.  The mellow and dark colours and the camera angle that the show was shot in made me as a viewer feel more close to Eminem.  It made me understand the life of Eminem.  And the fact that Anderson Cooper narrated the show and when he talked over the archived footage made the show much more compelling to watch.

National Geographic: A Man Among Wolves

The trailer to this documentary was actually really interesting.  It showed a man living amongst the wolves and how he fully incorporated himself within a pack of wolves.

Shaun Ellis is a behaviour expert who studies the behaviour of wolves.  He wants to prove that wolves and humans can learn to live together.

It was interesting to learn that Ellis did not have any formal training but he was able to incorporate himself with the wolves.  Ellis risks his life everyday in trying to learn the daily lives of wolves and to be accepted into their pack.

The documentary was really fascinating to see how Ellis learned to live with the wolves.  Not having any training Ellis is one of the most famous wolf researcher in the world.  And it is great to know as your watching the documentary to realize what others are doing in the world to help make our lives better.

Documentary: Supersize Me

I have never seen this documentary before, but I have heard of it.  Watching it really made me wonder about my eating styles.  Of course growing up every kid loves fast food.  The greasiness and fatty food just makes you want more.  But as you grow up you realize that your body doesn't take the food in well.

Watching this documentary made me see how people underestimate their own body.  Although it focused on the American culture of fast food, it also made me see that people should really watch what they eat.  It doesn't matter where you live, but nutritious eating makes you live a longer and healthier life.

60 Minutes: Sgt. Giunta's Medal of Honour

I watched this video not knowing what to expect.  The title of the show interested me into watching it, and I must say it was a shocking surprise.

Normally I know that these kind of shows are heart warming and emotional, but I didn't think that this clip would have the amount of impact as it did on me.  

Lara Logan interviews Sal Giunta, the first living soldier to win a Medal of Honour since the Vietnam war.  Hearing Sgt. Giunta explaining the situation and how him and his army went about during the attack makes you realize that we take life for granted.  When we complain about how crappy our day is our how sometimes its so hard to continue in life, you listen to the events on the day of October 25th, 2007, and you realize that there are people out there fighting every day to give us freedom.

Although Giunta is from the US, but it makes no difference what he was fighting for.  The most memorable quote that really brings out who Giunta is as a person is...

"Coming and talking about it and people wanting to shake my hand because of it, it hurts me, because it's not what I want. And to be with so many people doing so much stuff and then to be singled out—and put forward. I mean, everyone did something..."