The Persistence of Horror: Expression, Exploration, and Writing for the Screen
Annie Lomdahl
The written word of a screenplay is often undervalued, and dramatic structure and story content predominate.
However, through the aesthetics of language, a writer communicates not only a story, but a mood, tone and atmosphere, which are ultimately deterministic of other narrative elements, such as theme and genre.
Through recreating the fluctuating kinaesthetic scenes of my experience of post-traumatic stress disorder, I was able to demonstrate the integral role of literary constructs in screenwriting.
Furthermore, through the iterative process of screenwriting, I was able to explore the relationship between trauma and screenwriting; an exploration often seen as exclusive to prose, poetry and film.
Through this research, I found that screenwriting is not limited to the production of a film in purpose or relevance; it can be a medium of expression and exploration, much like other creative practices.