ABSTRACT
Mental space refers to an imagined narrative/diegetic world. This chapter proposes, for the screenwriter, that this world includes the plot, characters, location, themes, genres and other components of an entire film narrative. The use of the schematic knowledge component of the mental space of film genre, the framing of the narrative with genre to create a short course to audience comprehension is evident in classically structured screenplays, especially in the opening and closing sequences. Film genre is a touchstone for audience recognition. There are at least two types of audiences: real and intended. The real audience is anyone who reads or perceives the author's message and the intended audience is the target group that the message-sender has in mind as he creates. Film theorist Torben Grodal explores developments in neuroscience and cognitive science in relation to narrative theory and film theory as they relate to the audience's experience of cinema.
