| dc.description.abstract | I have a very specific drive towards the slow and static in my attempts as a filmmaker, but I find it hard to explain why. A personal preference perhaps, a reach towards films and filmmakers I admire, or is it also a result of resources or ideology? I strive, not always willingly, towards honesty, purity, and freshness in filmmaking. I want images and tone in the front seat, story and plot behind - of course, hoping they would merge seamlessly. I want the viewer to be aware of, and to explore, the potential complexity emerging from its minimalism. In my opinion, this aligns with what is called slow cinema, or slowness in films. According to Matthew Flanagan (2008), the potential of these types of films originate from the notion that: “speed perpetually risks gratuitous haste, fragmentation and distraction”, while slowness, or reduction, “intensifies the spectator’s gaze, awareness and response”. The idea of a combined practical and theoretical thesis - artistic research - was a perfect way back to filmmaking for me (after a six-year intermission). It gave me a motivational framework and combined the challenges with both the production, and of diving deeper into my place as an aspiring filmmaker - who I am as a filmmaker, my artistic choices, and where to place my film in an artistic and historical context. In July 2017, we shot Hurry Slowly (Emblem, 2018) in and around Ålesund, Norway. It resulted in 68-minute fictional film, clearly in the realms of slow and arthouse cinema. Delving into the ideas of Slow Cinema, this thesis will take a closer look at how slowness as a “storytelling device” work in activating the viewer in the film Hurry Slowly. This activation can be achieved by holding shots too long where “nothing” happens, to creating dead time throughout the film. Paul Schrader (2007) calls this leaning in to the film, instead of leaning back. As a filmmaker, I want the viewer to lean in by filling out the dead time with personal ideas, experience and feelings - to create additional meaning. As an academic, I want to clarify and understand the result of these mechanics, when slowness meets the viewer’s interpretation. | eng |