Film study sheet · 6 of 11
Food, Inc.
Cultural concept: Environmental justice, the food system
Robert Kenner · 2008 · a documentary that follows food from the farm to the supermarket and asks who controls what Americans eat.
Open the full film study Official trailer
Created by Madame Carole Paoli Pompougnac · https://trame-lycee.netlify.app/films/food-inc.html
Film credits
| Title | Food, Inc. (USA, 2008), documentary |
|---|---|
| Director | Robert Kenner |
| Writers | Robert Kenner, Elise Pearlstein, Kim Roberts |
| Producers | Robert Kenner, Elise Pearlstein |
| With | Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser (also narrators), Joel Salatin (Polyface Farms), Gary Hirshberg (Stonyfield Farm), Carole Morison (former Perdue grower), Barbara Kowalcyk (food safety advocate) |
| Editing | Kim Roberts |
| Music | Mark Adler |
| Production | Participant Media, River Road Entertainment |
| Distributor | Magnolia Pictures |
| Running time | 94 minutes |
| Release | Toronto, 7 September 2008 · USA, 12 June 2009 |
| Rating | PG |
| Awards | Nominated for the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature (82nd Academy Awards, 2010) |
The sequel: Food, Inc. 2 (2023)
| Directors | Robert Kenner and Melissa Robledo |
|---|---|
| With | Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser |
| Premiere | Telluride Film Festival, 1 September 2023 |
| US release | Special screenings 9 April 2024, digital 12 April 2024 (Magnolia Pictures) |
| Length · rating | 94 minutes · UK 12A (BBFC) |
| Production | Participant and River Road Entertainment |
Official trailer (2:27), Magnolia Pictures
Then and now: compare the two films with task 6 of the student’s worksheet.
Film language, with examples from the official trailer
Timecodes are approximate (± 2 s). Pause the trailer and check each example yourself.
Shots
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| establishing shot / extreme long shot | shows the place; people look tiny |
| long shot | a whole body in its setting |
| medium shot | from the waist up |
| close-up | a face fills the frame: emotion |
| extreme close-up | a detail: eyes, a hand, an object |
| two-shot | two characters in one frame: a relationship |
| over-the-shoulder shot | we watch one character through another’s position |
- ≈0:33close-up on packaged chicken in a supermarket: the product we see
- ≈0:51medium shot of a family at a table: the human cost
- ≈1:57medium close-up interview of a farmer in a straw hat: a witness speaks
Angles
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| eye level | neutral, we are equal with the character |
| high angle | camera above: the character looks small or weak |
| low angle | camera below: the character looks powerful |
| canted (Dutch) angle | tilted frame: unease, a world out of balance |
| bird’s-eye view | straight down from above |
- ≈0:39frontal shot of a supermarket wall of products: abundance or illusion?
Camera movement
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| pan | the camera turns horizontally |
| tilt | the camera moves up or down |
| tracking shot | the camera travels with a character or a car |
| zoom | the lens brings us closer |
| handheld camera | shaky, urgent, documentary feel |
| crane / aerial shot | the camera flies above the scene |
- ≈1:27fast tracking shot along supermarket shelves: speed and quantity
Lighting & colour
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| high-key lighting | bright, few shadows: optimism |
| low-key lighting | dark, strong shadows: tension, mystery |
| backlighting | light behind a character: a halo or a silhouette |
| natural light | sun, windows, candles |
| colour palette | the dominant colours of the film |
- ≈0:15an old farm image cut into a grid: the past broken into pieces
- ≈1:45golden sunset behind farm silos: nostalgia for the traditional farm
- ≈0:27cold industrial light on processed meat
Sound
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| diegetic sound | the characters can hear it (a radio, a piano on stage) |
| non-diegetic sound | only the audience hears it (the score, a narrator) |
| voice-over | a voice we hear over the images |
| score | music composed for the film |
| silence | no sound: a shock, a pause |
| sound bridge | a sound that continues into the next scene |
- ≈0:00a calm narrator’s voice-over sets the facts
- whole trailerinterviews (testimony) mixed with music that builds tension
Editing
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| cut | a direct change of shot |
| cross-cutting | alternating between two places or stories |
| montage | a fast series of shots that compresses time |
| fade to black | the image disappears: an ending, a pause |
| intertitle | text on screen between images |
| slow motion | time slows down: importance, emotion |
- ≈0:45animated graphics: a corn plant turns into many products
- ≈0:57motion graphics with official portraits: the links between industry and government
Step into the period
Daily life
- 2000s USA: supermarkets, drive-throughs, cheap fast food, rising obesity
- Meat from a few huge companies; farmers under contract
Music
- The documentary’s score by Mark Adler
Fashion
- Farmers’ work clothes, factory protective gear, supermarket uniforms
Places
- Chicken houses in Kentucky and Maryland, huge cattle feedlots, corn fields in Iowa
- Polyface Farms in Virginia, a meat plant in North Carolina, supermarkets
Historical landmarks
- 1906 Upton Sinclair publishes The Jungle; Congress passes the Pure Food and Drug Act and new federal meat safety laws.
- 1916 The first Piggly Wiggly, a self-service grocery store, opens in Memphis.
- 1940 The McDonald brothers open a restaurant in San Bernardino, California.
- 1955 Ray Kroc opens his first McDonald’s franchise (Illinois).
- 1990 The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act makes nutrition labels compulsory on most packaged foods.
- 1993 An E. coli outbreak linked to hamburgers from Jack in the Box restaurants sickens hundreds of people.
- 2001 Eric Schlosser publishes Fast Food Nation.
- 2006 Michael Pollan publishes The Omnivore’s Dilemma.
- 2008 Food, Inc. premieres in Toronto.
- 2010 Oscar nomination; the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act changes school meals.
- 2011 The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act.
- 2024 Food, Inc. 2 is released.
Sources: Magnolia Pictures, Food, Inc. · FDA, Food labeling & nutrition
Sentence starters for your sheet
- The tracking shot along the shelves suggests…
- The animated corn shows that…
- In the 2000s, American food…
To close: a place, then exchange
Where is each character’s place at the start and at the end? Then: political · emotional · general interest · human rights, then go deeper: what passes between the characters, and who do they become?
From the place they find or lose, the deepest exchange in this film is…