SOCIALBILITTY • GLOSSARY DEPARTMENT

Writing & Story

Screenwriting, story structure, characters, dialogue, genres, treatments, scripts, themes, narrative concepts, and literary development for screen entertainment.

Film Noir

Film Noir is a term associated with a cycle and style of crime-oriented films, particularly American films of the 1940s and 1950s, characterized by morally complex characters, shadow-heavy cinematography, urban settings, fatalism, corruption, and psychological tension. The term is also used more broadly for later works influenced by that tradition.

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Novella

A novella is a term derived from an Italian word, which is a fictional text and or literary works usually written in prose, and is usually the length or longer than that of a short story. But the story maybe shorter than a novel, or the length of a text-book.

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MacGuffin

In literary works, a term used for a plot device such as an object, goal, desired goal, or some form of motivation that is utilized by the protagonist, often with little and or no explanation or subtext, usually not important for the overall plot points of the actual story, and or screenplay. Notable Film Director…

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Catalyst

A person or thing that offers  a means, channel , method or mechanism that triggers an event to happen . A substance or compound that increases the rate of chemical response  without undertaking a chemical change.

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Script

The literary format or text of a screenplay, teleplay, radio broadcast or play. A handwritten form of writing instead of print or block text. In computing, the script or scripting is a computer language in which a server utilizes for executing commands. Server side scripting includes; Perl, PHP,  Python, ASP.NET, Adobe ColdFusion, Ruby, Go, Python,…

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Teleplay

A Teleplay is a script written for television. Depending on format, it may be created for an episodic series, limited series, television movie, special, or other television program and follows production and formatting conventions appropriate to that form.

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Screenplay

A Screenplay is the written blueprint for a motion picture or other screen production. It is generally organized into scenes and uses standardized screenplay formatting to describe action, location, time of day, dialogue, and other story information needed to communicate how the narrative unfolds on screen. Screenplays may be original works or adaptations and can…

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Protagonist

The Protagonist is the principal character whose goals, choices, and conflicts drive the central action of a story. The protagonist is often—but not always—the hero, and the narrative is typically structured around what that character wants, needs, or must overcome.

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