The Void Across Cultures: A Comparison of the Display of Emptiness in Eastern and Western Media

Abstract

This master’s thesis examines emptiness as a stylistic device in Eastern and Western audiovisual media. Specifically, it addresses the question of how Eastern and Western audiovisual media deliberately employ emptiness as a stylistic tool and what role the respective cultural and philosophical contexts play in this deployment. In addition, a research project creates an original realisation for implementations of emptiness in the animated short film mouse.mp4. For this project, an attempt will be made to incorporate both Eastern and Western modes of representation. The foundational research for this study shows that Eastern notions of emptiness are often grounded in Buddhist and Taoist philosophies and are expressed through traditional aesthetic concepts such as Ma or Yohaku no bi. In contrast, Western conceptions of emptiness tend to draw on Christian and existentialist philosophies and are frequently conveyed through devices such as the sublime or Slow Cinema. The analyses presented here reveal that Eastern media typically portray emptiness through long takes, negative space, and a reduced auditory palette, thus creating a contemplative ambience. Western media, on the contrary, employ rapid cuts, high-contrast visuals, and a dominant soundscape to render emptiness as an overwhelming experience. These findings identify emptiness as a powerful stylistic choice that can serve future media creators as a tool to evoke a wide range of emotional responses from audiences, deliberately focus viewers’ attention, and provoke reflective engagement.

Date of Award	2025
Original language	English
Supervisor	Jürgen Hagler (Supervisor)