A crossover event is a narrative in which characters, settings, or universes from previously separate fictional properties interact in a single story.
Storytelling
Storytelling & Screenwriting Terms, A to Z
Explore the tools and techniques that writers and directors use to craft compelling movie narratives. This category covers screenwriting terms, narrative structures, pacing methods, plot devices, and storytelling conventions used across genres. Whether you're studying story arcs like the hero’s journey or curious about twists, flashbacks, or nonlinear storytelling, you'll find it all here.
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All 293 Storytelling & Screenwriting Terms
Listed alphabetically, each with its one-line answer first. This page runs from Crossover Event to Historical film. S is the busiest letter here, with 53 entries. Jump to a letter to see only the storytelling & screenwriting terms that start with it.
Storytelling & screenwriting terms starting with C
4 of 27 on this page · all C entries
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A 'crunchy cut' is film editing slang for a rough, jarring, or rhythmically awkward edit that draws attention to itself.
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Cutting on action is an editing technique where the cut occurs as a subject is in motion, creating seamless continuity between shots.
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The 'cutting room floor' is an idiom that refers to all the footage that was shot for a film but was ultimately removed during the editing process.
Storytelling & screenwriting terms starting with D
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The Dan Harmon Story Circle is an eight-step screenwriting structure that adapts Joseph Campbell's hero's journey into a practical tool for crafting compelling narratives.
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The Dark Night of the Soul is the emotional beat where the protagonist internally processes their utter defeat before finding the strength to continue.
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The denouement is the final part of a film that ties up loose ends and depicts the characters' new normal after the conflict is resolved.
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Dialectical montage is Sergei Eisenstein's theory that new ideas are created in the mind of the viewer through the forceful collision of two conflicting shots.
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Spoken interaction between characters drives plot, reveals psychology, and shapes pacing.
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The fictional world in which a film’s narrative and characters exist
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In narrative theory, mimesis is the direct showing of an action, while diegesis is the telling of a story by a narrator, a fundamental distinction between two modes of storytelling.
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Disability-in-film tests are evaluative frameworks used to assess the quality, authenticity, and agency of disability representation in cinematic narratives.
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A documentary film is a non-fiction motion picture that presents factual information about real events, people, or phenomena.
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A nonfiction series that explores real‑world topics across multiple episodes.
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A doppelgänger in storytelling is a look-alike or double of a living person, often representing a hidden or opposite aspect of their personality.
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A narrative genre focusing on realistic character development and emotional themes.
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The dramatic question is the central question that the audience subconsciously asks and that the narrative is structured to answer, typically resolving in the climax.
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A film sequence depicting a character’s dream or subconscious in surreal, symbolic imagery.
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The DuVernay Test is a critical framework for analyzing racial representation in film, assessing whether characters of color have fully realized lives independent of the white characters.
Storytelling & screenwriting terms starting with E
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A concealed clip or reference placed subtly within a film for viewers to discover.
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A narrative device that omits intervening actions or time to condense storytelling.
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Emerging conflict is the gradual escalation of opposition and obstacles that follows a story's inciting incident, building narrative tension and challenging the protagonist.
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A scene's emotional purpose is the specific feeling or emotional shift it is designed to evoke in the audience.
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Enemies to Lovers is a popular romantic trope where two characters who begin as adversaries gradually develop a powerful romantic connection.
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A narrative form featuring multiple principal characters whose stories interweave
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An epic war film is a large-scale production that portrays sweeping battle sequences and broad historical narratives of warfare.
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An epilogue offers a post-climax coda that reflects on consequences, theme or future horizons.
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Strategic moments of unresolved tension entice viewers to let the next episode autoplay.
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An espionage film is a subgenre of spy film that emphasizes the realistic, procedural, and psychologically complex aspects of intelligence work.
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A wide contextual view orients viewers to location, era, and tone before the scene unfolds.
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External conflict involves a struggle between a character and an outside force, such as another character, nature, or societal norms.
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An eye-line match is an editing technique where the editor cuts between what a character sees and the character’s gaze, ensuring spatial continuity.
Storytelling & screenwriting terms starting with F
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Fabula is a term from Russian Formalism that refers to the raw, chronological sequence of all events that constitute a narrative, which the audience mentally reconstructs.
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Falling action is the sequence of events immediately following the climax that begins to resolve the story's conflicts and de-escalate the tension.
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A falling plot is a narrative structure that charts a protagonist's gradual descent from a position of power, success, or morality into ruin and tragedy.
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Intentional inclusion of elements that appeal to dedicated fans of a franchise.
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A fan theory is a speculative interpretation or hypothesis about a film's plot, characters, or universe, created by viewers based on evidence, analysis, and creative reasoning.
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Critical and creative framework seeking subjectivity, empathy, and agency beyond objectifying codes.
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The initial complete version of a screenplay capturing the story’s core elements with minimal polish.
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A fish out of water is a comedic or dramatic narrative device where a character is placed in a radically unfamiliar environment.
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The five-act structure extends classical drama into five segments for detailed exposition.
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A narrative interruption that transports the audience to a past moment.
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A narrative technique depicting future events ahead of the current timeline.
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A romance that defies social, moral or legal boundaries.
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The four-act structure splits the conventional middle act to enhance pacing and focus.
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A narrative technique that uses a secondary story to contextualize the main narrative.
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A Franken-draft is a slang term for a screenplay that has been stitched together from the work of multiple writers, often resulting in an incoherent script.
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Friends to Lovers is a romantic trope where two characters with a pre-existing platonic friendship gradually realize they have romantic feelings for each other.
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The fun and games section is the part of a screenplay's second act that delivers on the promise of the premise, showcasing the story's core concept.
Storytelling & screenwriting terms starting with G
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A gag pass is a rewrite phase in comedy writing where the sole focus is to add more jokes and physical comedy bits to a script.
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A subgenre focusing on organized crime figures and underworld power struggles.
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Graphic novel adaptation is the process of translating a sequential art narrative into a live‑action or animated film.
Storytelling & screenwriting terms starting with H
8 of 10 on this page · all H entries
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A film sequence depicting a character’s sensory perceptions that defy objective reality.
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'Hanging a lantern' is a storytelling technique where the writer openly acknowledges a plot hole, a cliché, or a particularly unbelievable element of the story to diffuse audience skepticism.
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A subgenre emphasizing scientific accuracy and technical detail in futuristic settings.
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A 'Heavy Carry' refers to a scene or a significant portion of a film that relies almost entirely on one actor's performance to succeed and maintain audience engagement.
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The Hero’s Journey is a monomyth framework mapping universal story stages.
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A heroes-villains rivalry is a central, recurring conflict between a protagonist and antagonist who are often thematically or personally connected.
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A narrative device portraying a character’s selfless death to save others.
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A historical film is a narrative motion picture set in a past era, aiming to depict historical events and figures.
Other categories
The Other Seven Categories
The rest of the glossary, each with its own A to Z index: filmmaking craft, genres and styles, characters and tropes, industry and awards, pop culture and fandom, general terms, and the odd ones out.
