Author function: Screenwriter
INT. Hailey jumped from her bed and sprinted from her room to her mother's bedroom.
HAILEY
(Sobbing)
Mom... Wake up, mom...
ELIZABETH
(Wakes up, looks at the time)
Sweety... It's 3 am... What's the matter?
Runs to Elizabeth's side of the bed and grabs her hand.
HAILEY
(Sobbing)
The dark man is back, mom!
ELIZABETH
Oh, sweety... You had the same nightmare again.. You can't sleep in our bed forever. Come, let me get you back to your room.
Elizabeth takes Hailey's hand and escorts her to her room.
HAILEY
(sobbing more)
Mom, no! Please!
ELIZABETH
Honey, relax, nothing is there, it is just a nightmare, even mommy has nightmares too.
Elizabeth takes Hailey back to her bed and tugs her in, tears keep rolling down Hailey's cheek.
HAILEY
But what if he comes again? What if I close my eyes and he is back!? I don't want to sleep anymore!
ELIZABETH
(Calming voice)
Hailey, honey, there is nothing to be afraid of. Everyone has nightmares from time to time. Bad things happen, just like good things, but we cannot let our fear of bad things get the best of us. Fear is what allows those things to control our lives. I will stay here until you fall asleep, okay baby?
HAILEY
(Smiles)
Okay, mom, I love you.
END SCENE
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Reflection
I want to work as a scriptwriter, so I felt it was a perfect opportunity to make one. The interaction between the mother and daughter was a perfect opportunity to encapsulate an abstract notion as fear to something more simple, comprehensible, and relatable. If any other author functions were utilized I feel that those properties would be lost. If I had chosen poet as an author function, a stronger feeling of fear could be stirred among the readers, however, it would be complex, take effort and several attempts to fully comprehend, although it would be more personal.
A very simple yet effective illustration of some of the mechanics of fear. There was actually quite a bit of telling in your script, rather than pure showing (narrative bits both in the stage direction and the dialogue itself, such as "let me get you back to your room"). Maybe they are not so necessary for the main purpose of the text - to illustrate fear?
ReplyDeleteThe reflection is less convincing, as the intensity of feeling could be seen exactly as one of the strengths of poetry.