•Narration/Unreliable Narrator – Voiceover that explains or describes the events of a film as the events happen on screen. An unreliable narrator is somebody who cannot be fully trusted to give a credible explanation.

•Backstory – The history or background of a character that explains to the audience why they do what they do in the narrative.

•Flashback/Flashforward – Scenes depicted prior to or after the main narrative of the film, usually interrupting the chronological sequencing.

•Linear/Non-Linear Narrative – A linear narrative takes place in timeline order/each event happening after another. A non-linear narrative happens out of chronological order, leaving the audience to figure out when each part takes place in the narrative.

•Ellipsis – omitting an event in the narrative through editing, allowing audiences to interpret what has happened between sequences.

•Framing Device – When the main narrative is surrounded by a secondary story, creating a ‘story within a story’

•Cliffhanger/Closed Endings – Ending the film with no definitive ending so that the conclusion of the narrative is open to interpretation.

•Macguffin – The plot device that sets a story into motion and drives the story forward.

•Foreshadowing – hinting/teasing events that happen later in the narrative before they happen.

•Alignment/POV – When spectators are placed in the position and perspective of the characters on screen.

•Causality – how each event leads into the next, progressing the story forward.

•In Media Res – Beginning in the middle of the narrative, as opposed to starting where the plot begins.

•Masterplot/Subplot – Extra narrative strands that recur parallel to the main plot, adding additional information or depth.

•Narrative Hook – An event grabbing the attention of the audience within the first 10-15 minutes of a film.

•Plot Twist – A sudden turning point in the narrative that alters the previous and future events.