Narration: a voice over that doesn’t directly link to what’s happening in the scene, but comes from the perspective of who is telling the story.
Backstory: A scene portraying a story that led up to the main story.
Flashback/Flashforward: Flashback, when a character reminisces on an event in the past. Flashforward, revealing what is to happen that the characters are unaware of.
Linear/non-linear narrative: Linear, following the events of a narrative in a chronological order. Non-linear, telling the events out of order
Ellipsis: Where a portion of the story is taken out to either condense the story, or allow the viewer to fill in the gap.
Framing device: Portrayed at the beginning and end of a film, a separate story that’s able to put the main story in-between, like a narration that starts and ends a story, framing the story.
Cliff-hanger/Closed endings: Cliff-hanger, an open ending that doesn’t tie up all of the questions proposed earlier in the film. Closed endings tie up any loose ends, and doesn’t leave the viewer with wanting to know more.
Macguffin: An idea, person or thing that drives the story, and puts the characters in motion.
Foreshadowing: Where an event yet to come is hinted at by someone or something.
Alignment/POV: The way we are positioned to view a character and feel sympathy towards them
Causality: cause and effect between events, as one point in a film will naturally lead to another, as to not create confusion.
In Media Res: Literally meaning in the middle of things, a film will start in the middle of action with no explanation to hook the audience into the film.
Subplot/Master plot: Subplot, a side story that accompanies the main story, but is not vital to the progression of the film. Master plot is the main story, and contains events that drive the narrative forwards.
Narrative hook: used at the start of a film to hook the viewers attention with something unusual or exciting.
Plot twist: an unexpected occurrence or change in plot that takes the story into a different direction previously expected.