Banking on Bitcoin is a documentary which appears on the online streaming site, Netflix. The documentary Banking on Bitcoin covers all basis’ from its roots to its future as a cryptocurrency. The title of the documentary is an example of play on words as it suggests Bitcoin is the last resort of monetary systems because the existing ones are failing. This documentary is directed by Christopher Cannucciari and is on Netflix.
The documentary begins with a complete black screen, with an upbeat soundtrack playing in the background and fades into a handheld shot of a man getting out a elevator. The handheld shot is documentary convention and gives a sense of realism as if you were there. The screen fades to black and titles of the director slide in then straight cuts. A tracking shot is used to follow the man out, opening the door of the building to exit the building, entering the public eye. By shooting the clip of him opening the door, it can be seen as a metaphor for bringing Bitcoin into the open. The cameraman continues to follow the man using a tracking shot and zooms into his ankle when he talks about his ankle tag, this immediately tells the audience that the man in question is a criminal out on bail. Titles come up naming the man and his occupation, the man is called Charlie Shrem and he is the CEO and cofounder of BITINSTANT. This suggests that his crime is most likely money related like tax evading as many rich people have been caught via the Paradise papers rather than violence related.
The next scene begins with an animation showing how the exchange of 1 Bitcoin to dollars has dramatically increased in 4 years. An animation is a common convention in documentaries to explain a topic simply and quickly. Also, this animation emphasises how far the cryptocurrency has come since it was created. A timeline animation succeeds this animation. This suggests to the audience that the documentary is going to follow a chronological order and pick up on the most important parts of Bitcoin’s history until the present day.
Cannucciari uses archived footage from a news television station about the Wall Street crash/08/09 global recession. Archived footage is used by directors to add historical knowledge to the given subject. The directors have used this archived footage to suggest to the audience that the current monetary system is a failure and potentially foreshadows how Bitcoin can help overcome the problems. Following the archived footage, a voiceover is played over the top of cinematic shots of Wall Street, protesters of capitalism and fumes, talking about the global recession. Voiceovers are usually authoritative and are used to make viewers think that voiceover has specialist knowledge on the subject. The cinematic/slow motion shots and the focus pulls may be used to suggest that capitalism is failing and new system is ready to takeover. A background sound track is playing; the tempo starts slow and begins increase. The fast tempo has connotations of hope, further suggesting something positive is about to succeed. A low angle slow motion shot is used when a man is posting question about why governments control central banks, a close up of a different man talking about the government’s stance on innovation followed by a medium shot of a man talking about how it is a monetary revolution. The direct speech from these members of the public are suggesting Bitcoin is the answer to the problems of the current monetary system. The low angle shot is used to make the subject in this case the man powerful, authoritarian and important suggesting he has specialist knowledge on the subject. The mise en scene in the close shot has the sun rising, the connotations of the sun rising is hope further suggesting Bitcoin is the answer to the current monetary system.
This documentary is in Bill Nichols’ mode of expository because it uses facts and figures to present an idea and uses interviews with experts to consolidate the idea. The meaning of the documentary is to inform the audience of the presence of Bitcoin and what it is to persuade the audience that Bitcoin is the answer to monetary policies.
No comments:
Post a Comment