Storytelling, Characterization, and Film Techniques

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the components of complete sentences, characterization, narrative psychology, the types of storytelling, Joseph Campbell's hero's journey, archetypes, foundational psychologists, screenwriting principles, cinematography shot types, and film editing techniques.

Complete Sentence

A grammatical unit that must contain three essential components: a subject, a predicate, and a complete thought.

Indirect Characterization (STEAL)

A method of revealing a character's traits indirectly through five methods: Speech, Thoughts, Effect on others, Actions, and Looks.

Multidimensional Character

A character crafted with both strengths and weaknesses, making protagonists relatable to the audience.

"Car Crash" Effect

Will Storr's theory that human brains are fixated on change and conflict because humans learn by observing how others navigate difficult experiences.

The Dramatic Arc (Paul Zak)

A narrative structure essential for donor and audience engagement, consisting of: something new, rising tension, a climax where characters look inward, transformation, and resolution.

Narrative Transportation

The psychological ability to immerse oneself in a story and temporarily escape one's own reality, which increases empathy, improves relationships, and reduces stress.

Oral Storytelling

The oldest storytelling form, consisting of spoken word, song, chant, and poetry passed down through generations (e.g., Homer's epics, podcasts).

Visual Storytelling

A storytelling form used for tens of thousands of years where images carry the narrative, originating with cave paintings and Egyptian hieroglyphs and evolving into film and TV.

Written Storytelling

A storytelling form that emerged after alphabets were developed to transcribe oral and visual tales, later expanded widely through the printing press.

Digital Storytelling

The newest storytelling layer that leverages technology (such as TV, film, radio, the internet, blogging, and social media) to widen reach.

Conflict

The core struggle that drives the plot; it creates tension, which heightens emotion and keeps the audience engaged.

Internal Conflict

A psychological struggle taking place within a character's own mind, such as dealing with doubt, fear, or guilt (character vs. self).

External Conflict

A struggle between a character and outside forces, categorized as character vs. character, character vs. nature, character vs. society, or character vs. technology.

Round Character

A complex, fully developed character who exhibits depth and undergoes change.

Flat Character

A simple character lacking complexity who remains the same throughout the story.

Dynamic Character

A character who undergoes significant internal change, growth, or transformation across the narrative.

Static Character

A character who remains unchanged throughout the entirety of a narrative.

Imagery

Descriptive language that appeals to the five senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch) to establish mood and support "show, don't tell."

The Hero's Journey

A universal narrative framework identified by Joseph Campbell in 1949 and simplified by Christopher Vogler into 12 distinct stages across three acts.

Archetype

A recurring character, symbol, or pattern found across cultures, proposed by Carl Jung to stem from the collective unconscious.

Persona

In Jungian psychology, the social mask or outward facade an individual presents to the outside world.

Shadow

In Jungian psychology, the hidden or repressed side of personality; in storytelling archetypes, the figure that opposes the hero.

Anima / Animus

In Jungian psychology, the archetypal inner feminine present within men (anima) and the inner masculine present within women (animus).

Threshold Guardian

A story archetype whose primary narrative function is to test the hero before they cross into the new world.

Herald

A story archetype that arrives to announce change and deliver the call to adventure to the hero.

Shapeshifter

A story archetype whose primary trait is that their true loyalty and intentions remain uncertain or unstable.

Trickster

A story archetype designed to provide comic relief and disrupt the established status quo.

Wilhelm Wundt

Psychologist who established the first experimental psychology laboratory in Leipzig in 1879, transforming psychology into an experimental science.

William James

The father of American psychology who authored The Principles of Psychology (1890) and coined the literary and psychological concept of "stream of consciousness."

Sigmund Freud

The founder of psychoanalysis who introduced the unconscious mind, the id, ego, and superego, and the Oedipus complex, illuminating internal character conflict.

Carl Jung

Psychologist who broke away from Freud to develop theories on the collective unconscious and archetypes, inspiring Campbell's monomyth.

Storyboard

A pre-production sequence of drawn panels resembling a comic strip that visualizes a film shot by shot, indicating camera angles, framing, action, and dialogue.

Wide Shot

A cinematography shot that displays the entire setting to establish scale, geography, or feelings of isolation.

Cowboy Shot

A cinematography shot framed from the mid-thigh up, originating in Westerns to showcase both the subject and their holstered weapon.

Dutch Angle

A deliberately tilted camera framing used to create an uneasy, disorienting, or tense atmosphere.

Over-the-shoulder Shot

A camera framing positioned behind one character looking towards another, frequently used to stage dialogues and conversations.

POV Shot

A point-of-view camera angle that reproduces exactly what a specific character is looking at.

Cutaway

An editing transition that cuts briefly away from the primary action to a related object or scene to supply additional context or information.

Match Cut

An edit joining two separate shots that match in shape, subject, or motion to create a smooth, visually harmonious transition.

Jump Cut

An abrupt cut within the same scene or shot that causes time to noticeably skip forward, utilized to compress time or heighten tension.

J Cut

An editing technique where the audio of the upcoming shot precedes the picture, allowing the viewer to hear clip B while still watching clip A.

Montage

An editing sequence consisting of rapid, successive cuts designed to condense time or demonstrate a character's progression.