Cinema explained
Screenwriting
8 terms from the language of filmmaking and film theory, explained in plain words.
B
- Beat
- The smallest unit of change in a scene, or a written pause in dialogue.
I
- Inciting incident
- The event that disrupts the protagonist's world and sets the story in motion.
- Interval
- The intermission in an Indian feature film, usually placed right after a major twist.
L
- Logline
- A one- or two-sentence summary of a film's premise: who wants what, and what stands in the way.
M
- MacGuffin
- An object or goal that drives the plot but matters little in itself.
S
- Subtext
- What characters mean or feel beneath what they actually say.
T
- Table read
- A session where the cast reads the whole script aloud together before production.
- Three-act structure
- A way of shaping a story into setup, confrontation and resolution.
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