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The 2008 Financial Crisis




Explanation for video:

My movie is about the financial crisis of 2008. I focused on the fact that the crisis and it’s causes are something that have generally been forgotten, especially among my generation. I interviewed two classmates (Colby and Melissa), and of course, I have huge respect for them; however, when they described what caused the crisis, it didn’t seem like they exactly knew why and how it occurred!

My claim is that the crisis occurred because of the nature of the capitalist system. Capitalism is an incentive structure and the greatest incentive is the profit motive! This understanding makes almost complete sense of why the banks gave out horrible loans. If it wasn’t for the profit motive, the banks would never have done it and the crash wouldn’t have occurred.

Of course, it’s not our generation’s fault for not understanding the crisis. Colby says something very revealing in that he says that having an emotional reaction to the crisis is like having one about the Great Depression. It’s so long ago that it has no real impact on him (and us). It’s in the distant past. Throughout the movie, I’ve tried to create an emotional reaction to the crisis.

I did so by using the piece “Overtones” by Jonny Greenwood from the film The Master. The sharp violins should create a sense of sadness/tragedy, as well as a feeling of horror and even anger. At the end, I also used “Deep Blue Day” by Brian Eno which I first heard in the movie Trainspotting. I have been thinking a lot about Trainspotting and I’m sure that it inspired me subconsciously while making the video.

I used a montage of footage in the beginning that way the viewer can understand the damage of the crisis. I think this paired with the music makes it more than just footage. It makes the viewer think about just what occurred (all the people that were affected, etc.). 

A big portion of the video is me explaining the crisis. I used my iPad and drawing software to make a visual representation of what the banks did. I also used news footage and movie clips to accentuate what I was saying and show that the sort of abstract explanations of the crisis had real world effects.

I used smoke to show the transition between sections of the video. These are an echo of the money on fire that I showed earlier, and also it is supposed to cause reflection of what was just seen. The text I used is also very fleeting which further the feelings of precarity and change that comes from the economic system. Often, I also use fades to black (ex. Statement from George Bush) to also 

I also attempt to make the viewer reflect at the very end. Footage of raining New York City while the camera is in the shadows behind people’s back is supposed to give a sense of foreboding about the crisis, but also contemplation about the future. My objective is to have the viewer at the end think: “What is going to happen?”

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