A critical analysis on how the application of cinematographic tools during the screenwriting process can contribute to the visualisation of post-death Christian existence in an Afrikaans film

Abstract

Abstract The visualisation of the post-death existence in South African films has grown over the past few years, proving that the South African screen can be a haunted place. In contrast, the romantic comedy genre has decreased from 2015 and 2016, when romantic comedies dominated South African cinema (Frassinelli 2012:37). In the past five years (2018-2022), there has not been a romantic comedy that visualises the post-death existence in a South African feature film. This study aims to identify the ways in which the Christian post-death existence is visualised in South African cinema over the last five years. Its primary purpose is to explore the visualisation process of the script, since the screenplay provides the impetus for screen visualisation. Screenwriters can produce a visually striking screenplay by using cinematographic conceptual tools while writing scripts. Comparatively, this study explores the ways in which suggested visualisations are translated to the screen. Furthermore, through a qualitative, critical reflection, this study applies its findings to the feature film screenplay that visualises the post-death existence, specifically written for the purpose of the study. This study is located in the field of creative writing and, more specifically, in the screenwriting domain. According to Adèle Ramet (2007:xi) creative writing is defined as possessing the ability to compose or produce an original literary work. Within a screenwriting context it can further denote the creation of an original literary work, written to be translated on screen. According to the University of Worcester ([sa]:1), if the goal of creative writing is to increase a writer’s confidence in their abilities, then screenwriting strives to improve the abilities of a writer from ideation to production. This study is also located in the domain of the Christian post-death existence and the visualisation thereof. The scope of the study is limited to South African films released between 2018 and 2022. Therefore, this study aims to critically assess the post-death existence, the South African Christian view of the post-death existence, cinema as theological reflection, South African cinema of the last five years, visualisation through cinematography, and visual writing within the screenplay. To further contextualise, this study interrogates the ways in which the conceptual tools of screenwriting and cinematography can be applied to the screenplay in order to visualise the post-death existence on the screen. Since a film depends on the combination of these tools, it is useful to consider the ways in which they are employed towards the visualisation of the post-death existence as a whole. The two films that are analysed in terms of their screenplays and cinematography, with a focus on the ways in which the post-death existence is visually translated from script-to-screen, are Siembamba (Roodt 2017) and Lykskou (Velts 2021).

This study concludes that there is a notable use of the conceptual tools of cinematography, both in the script and screen processes, to visualise a post-death existence. Key terms: Screenwriting, Ghosts, Visualisation, Cinematography, Afrikaans, Siembamba, Lykskou, Theology in Film, Christian post-death existence