Costume as Character Arc: How Emotional Transformation is Written into the Dressed Body

Abstract

A screenplay represents a moment in time. It captures the essence of the human condition and the everyday lived experience, connecting character and audience on a subliminal yet highly powerful level. As Grodal asserts, the screenplay paves the way for an eventual psychosomatic experience: in a film, body and mind are connected as one as ‘our eyes and ears pick up and analyze image and sound, our minds apprehend the story, which resonates on our memory; furthermore, our stomach, heart, and skin are activated in empathy with the story situations and the protagonists’ ability to cope’ (1997: 1). A screenplay also represents a transformation, capturing the shift in a protagonist from problem to resolution; from wounding to healing; from dramatic need to dramatic fulfilment. Characters are propelled into territories unknown, overcoming progressive obstacles and life challenging battles in order to attain physical and emotional achievement. The transformation of the protagonist represents the essence of a screenplay. It captures the story lurking beneath the action, and only when transformation is complete can the theme be understood by an audience, bestowing resonance. Character transformation thus lies at the emotional core of a form that is, by its visual nature, framed by action.