Traces of the past : an honors thesis (HONRS 499)

Abstract

Traces of the Past is my first attempt at a feature length screenplay. I have always been interested in creative writing. Previously, I have written three short screenplays and several short stories. However, my goal has always been to buckle down and write a screenplay. I would envision a movie like Traces of the Past to be on television, perhaps on a channel like "Lifetime," because it is geared more for women.Traces of the Past is about a thirty-year-old woman, Julia Donovan, who has what many would consider to be the perfect life. She lives in a large house in a wealthy part of Chicago, is married, and has two children. She basically leads a very happy life, until someone from her past calls her unexpectedly.Julia's college boyfriend, whom she hasn't spoken to in years, calls her out of the blue and wants to meet with her. But this isn't any ordinary meeting. Jake Lancaster has a bomb to drop - he has AIDS. This means that Julia could have it, too. Suddenly, her worst fears come true. Because she was raised as an only child in a wealthy household, Julia has never really had to deal with anything hard in her life. And now that she does, she doesn't know how to deal with the emotional pain that she feels. Instead of dealing with the possible AIDS issue with her husband, she isolates herself from her family.Julia then retreats to the world of art as she spends time with the dying Jake. She tries to ignore her problems by painting. As everyone around her continually urges her to get tested for AIDS, Julia draws further and further away from those she loves.Writing this screenplay has been one of the hardest endeavors that I have taken on. The thought process involved and trying to make the characters come alive was very challenging. I definitely found this to be a challenging and enjoyable capstone to my senior year at Ball State University.