The Art of Static

Abstract

ABSTRACT

This thesis The Art of Static: Ruben Östlund – Exploration Of Form, Function & Execution focuses on the minimalist visual language of the Director Ruben Östlund and his cinematographers Marius Dybwad Brandrud and Fredrik Wenzel. Östlund’s most recent work The Square (2017) being nominated for an Oscar for best foreign language film.

This thesis focuses on how Östlund’s visual approach encapsulates his philosophy as a filmmaker through analysis and deconstruction of the visual language of individual scenes within three of Östlund’s films: Play (2011), Force Majeure (2014) and his latest work, The Square (2017). Its analysis focuses on his anti-Hollywood aesthetic, and how he avoids leading his audience’s emotional responses. The main features of which can be categorized into aesthetical choices around composition, perspective of the camera and shot duration in the context of his static language. These fundamental visual principals underpin his key visual motif of the “Observers Perspective” that is carried across all of his films. Bringing the filmmakers morality to the forefront through his characters, while also creating powerful and evocative pieces of work.

Each chapter also discusses how this visual language implemented by him and his cinematographer’s has and is evolving across the body of his work. From one of ridged locked-off camera, to sequences containing tracks and fluid movement. Yet in his evolving visual language, Östlund manages to retain his principled philosophy visually and narratively.