The True Cost Documentary Techniques

In the eye-opening documentary, The True Cost, director, Andrew Morgan presents a very biased and edited version of the events leading to the fast fashion industry and its negative impacts. Through the use a blame register the documentary is controlled to display necessary footage to expose the sweatshops and how it’s affecting lives and the environment with an underlying link to the title, “The True Cost”. In particular, persuasive language choices are purposely chosen which also link to the use of juxtaposition, displaying a contrast between narration and images. The silencing of garment workers’ unequal treatment outside of work and the fashion companies’ perspectives are selectively cut out. These three major techniques are all edited to

The purpose of the juxtaposition is to convey the lifestyle difference between developed countries like the United States of America with developing countries like Bangladesh yet the conventions used have been manipulated and purposefully selected to make the divide even bigger than reality. This contrasted difference was displayed in the film by the montage of images that were flickered to allow identification of significant inequality between the two. It is evident that this film technique was used, as from the very beginning it started with an interview with Lucy Siege, a journalist with a ten-year obsession with discovering the social and environmental impacts of the fashion industry. Then after 10 seconds of that interview it alternated to an interview with fashion designer, Orsola De Castro who articulated her love for fashion and its communication and expression of self. Another similar example, backing up the biased use of juxtaposition, towards the end of the film, a montage of images and videos are displayed yet it would flick between developed countries fashion industry then to the horrible living conditions of places like Bangladesh. Obviously, manipulation participated in the achievement of creating contrasting images and words and also the clever sequencing of interviews at the beginning with Lucy Siege and Orsola De Castro allowing the documentary to contribute a more significant amount of bias, in persuading the audience to follow the ideas and reasoning behind the