In
film
A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...
, a sequence is a scene or a series of
scenes that form a distinct narrative unit to advance the
narrative
A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether non-fictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller ...
, usually connected either by a
unity of location or a
unity of time. Each of these sequences might further contain sub-sequences. It is also known by the French term, "plan séquence". Sequence shots give the editor plenty of shots to tell a story and keep audiences' attention.
Sequencing refers to what one shoots, with the five most common shots used being: close-ups, wide angle, medium, over the shoulder, and point of view shots. Sequencing keeps viewer interest while maintaining a consistent story. The five most common shots are used to build a framework of where to place the characters or action.
The sequence is one of a hierarchy of structural units used to describe the structure of films in varying degrees of granularity. Analyzed this way, a film is composed of one or more
acts; acts include one or more sequences; sequences are divided into one or more
scenes; and scenes may be thought of as being built out of
shots (if one is thinking visually) or
beats (if one is thinking in narrative terms).
The sequence paradigm or the "8 sequence structure" of screenwriting was developed by
Frank Daniel. In 2004, his protege Paul Gulino, published a book about this paradigm called, “Screenwriting: The Sequence Approach”.
See also
*
Act structure
Story structure or narrative structure is the recognizable or comprehensible way in which a narrative's different elements are unified, including in a particularly chosen order and sometimes specifically referring to the ordering of the plot: ...
*
Sequential art
In comics studies, sequential art is a term proposed by comics artist Will Eisner Will Eisner, '' Comics and Sequential Art'', Poorhouse Press, 1990 (1st ed.: 1985), p. 5. to describe art forms that use images deployed in a specific order for the ...
References
Film scenes
Film and video terminology
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