Media concepts - Big Short

1. THE BIG SHORT
MEDIA CONCEPTS: MEDIA LANGUAGE
AND GENRE
By Ellie Lowes

2. MEDIA CONCEPTS - GENRE
• The Big Short combines several genres. It has elements from drama (such as the narrative), comedy (through
breaking the fourth wall and making humour of the constructed nature of the text), and documentary
(following three individuals and their personal stories, and montage scenes).
• There are also aspects of music video, e.g when CD is at ‘Golden Sac’ – Shake Your Money Maker’, as well as
we got a montage of CD making deals .
• There are also aspects of music videos when Christian Bale uses playing his drums and listening to heavy
music to keep his mind calm as he predicts a market collapse and creates a credit default swap market. We
see him playing his drums and there are montages of him playing and listening to his heavy metal music.
• Here is a scene featuring this music video style:
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BETKJq7tY5Y
Comedy – using
Margot Robbie
(model) to explain
long terminology,
which are boring
and hard to
understand,
however using
her to explain
these terms is
comical and
humourous.
Documentary – using a montage style of
editing to portray and show multiple
scenes and locations to set the scene of
where the film is taking place – New
York.
Music video/drum scene – here is the
scene whereby we see Christian
playing heavily into his drums and
emersing himself. The way this scene
is portrayed is more in the style of a
music video due to the wide range of
shots and vairety.

3. MEDIA LANGUAGE
• The Big Short features a lot of post modern and non traditional media language. The film heavily
emphasizes its constructed nature. There are multiple examples of this:
• Black/white images of cheerleaders during Christian Bales flashback – emphasizing that it is a flashback,
but also reinforcing the constructed nature of the film. (1)
• Multiple uses of text on the screen to provide definitions of long/challenging terminology – providing
the audience with a readable visual example of the definition which they can easily understand.
Highlighting how the film is constructed to allow the audience to have a deeper understanding of the
financial industry and what went on (2). (another example of this is Margot Robbie explaining
terminology in the bath: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anSPG0TPf84)
• There are also very obvious camera movements – which look like they are ‘hand held’. This contributes
to the realism as this is based on a true story. This is also a very ‘documentary style’, as mentioned
previously. This was particularly shown in the start of the film, featuring a lot of point of view shots. (3)
• There is also a blank screen as we hear the news report at the start, followed by a series of still images.
This shows the construction and makes a point to the audience that they must now focus on what is to
come as it interlinks with what has just been said, and is important within the plot.
• There is also a very obscure shot of the USA flag at the beguinning. Is it trying to make a point about the
USA? The corruption within banks? The destruction of the American society which is about to occur?
• The constructed nature of the film really pushes the boundaries within this film and makes it incredible
emotive and thought-provoking, as it a constant reminder that this film is a construction of a real event.
The constant reminders and defining terminology to educate you, and so you are aware permanently
that this did really happen and most likely will in the future again.
• Obtuse editing is also used when Christian Bale is looking through the mortgages and is cut in-between
other actions and stills of farms and other montages. This obtuse editing makes the audience look at it it
in a slightly uncomfortable way, and understands the severity of the situation as it is brought to life.
• A great example of this is the use of stars again, such as Selena Gomez, explaining the financial crisis.
This reminds you that this is a constructed film, retelling a story which did happen and most likely will do
again. These obviously constructed definitions allow the audience to understand what is going on and
therefore understand the extent and seriousness of the financial crisis. (4)
(1)
ISDA Agreement:
An agreement that lets an investor sit at the
“big boy table” and make high level trades
not available to stupid amateurs.
(2)
(3)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi
0QVF1DKHk - this is an the scene
whereby Selena Gomez explains the
financial crisis. This scene pops out of
the film essentially, and snaps you out
of the hyperreality of watching and
film and back into reality to learn the
terminology to better your
understanding of the financial crisis
and the narrative of the film.
(4)