Följande studie undersökte Before the Flood, en dokumentärfilm av och med Leonardo DiCaprio, utifrån ett retoriskt perspektiv. Studiens syfte var att undersöka om och i så fall på vilket sätt Leonardo DiCaprio, experter och skaparna bakom dokumentärfilmen använde retoriska strategier för att förstärka Before the Flood’s budskap och verka övertygande inför sin publik. Som metod tillämpade studien kvalitativ textanalys och de tre grundläggande appellformerna, visuell retorik samt argumentation var studiens analysverktyg. Analysen resulterade i nio olika analysenheter, tre för varje analysverktyg. Fokus lades på de tre grundläggande appellformerna: ethos, logos och pathos. Analysen fokuserade på visuella bilder, kroppsspråk och gestikulering samt kameravinklar inom visuell retorik. Bildargumentation, hotargumentation samt auktoritetsargumentation var de tre analysenheterna för argumentationsdelen. Vidare diskuterades användningen av inflytelserika personer som argument för förändring i ett visst beteende och hur användningen av retoriken kan spela en betydande roll för förstärkandet av budskapet. Resultatet visade att retoriska strategier används i Before the Flood. Både DiCaprio och experterna använder retoriska appellformer och olika typer av argument för att verka övertygande inför tittarna. Studien visade också att det fanns ett samspel mellan de retoriska appellformerna och argumentationen. Samspelet var viktigt för att förstärka dokumentärfilmens anspelning på känslor och dess trovärdighet. Slutligen har dokumentärfilmens skapare tillämpat visuella medel för att förstärka appellformerna och argumentationen, vilket resulterade i att budskapet i Before the Flood förstärktes. / Following study examined Before the Flood, a documentary film by and with Leonardo DiCaprio, from a rhetorical perspective. The purpose of the study was to see if and in what ways Leonardo DiCaprio, experts and the creators of the documentary film applied rhetorical strategies to strengthen the message of Before the Flood and how to seem convincing to the audience. The study applied a qualitative text analysis as a method and the three appeal forms, visual rhetoric and argumentation were the analysis tools of the study. The result showed nine different analysis units, three for each analysis tool. Focus was put on ethos, logos and pathos as the rhetoric’s three different appeal forms. It also focused on visual images, body language and camera angles. Furthermore, the analysis focused on three different kinds of argumentation: images, threats and authorities. The study discussed the use of influential people as an argument to convince viewers to change in certain behaviour. Further, the study discussed how the use of rhetoric could play a major role in the strengthening of the message. The result showed that rhetorical strategies are used in Before the Flood. Both DiCaprio and the experts are using the rhetoric appeal forms and different kinds of arguments to seem convincing to the audience. The study demonstrated that there is an interaction between the rhetorical appeal forms and the argumentation, and the interaction is important to strengthen the emotions and the credibility of the documentary film. Lastly, the creators of Before the Flood have also applied visual tools to strengthen the emotions and argumentation, which resulted in a more reinforcing message.

This master thesis deals with one of the current trends in cinema - the so-called climate change film. Film as a popular medium is able to influence public debate and this paper's main objective is to explain how environmental issues can be portrayed in film and how such films shape the climate change debate. In the first, theoretical part of this thesis, the aim is to briefly introduce the history and context of climate change debate from the 1970s to the present day based on sources primarily from interdisciplinary cultural and environmental studies. It also explains how environmental problems started to arise in different art spheres, above all in American cinema from 1995 to the present. The second part analyzes four American feature films of different genres: The Day After Tomorrow (2004) directed by Roland Emmerich's, The Road (2009) directed by John Hillcoat, Before the Flood (2016) directed by Fisher Stevens and Darren Aronofsky's mother! (2017). The final chapter summarizes the findings, explains the currently prevalent apocalyptic narrative and discusses why such approach is not effective and how filmmakers need to transform climate change stories into positive narratives that inspire change and hope.