dream sequence
Subconscious narrative interlude
A dream sequence is a scene in a film, novel, or other narrative that depicts a character's dream.
These sequences typically signal their dreamlike nature through visual distortion, unusual logic, or surreal imagery: The movie's dream sequence featured her childhood home floating in clouds.
The technique allows storytelling to access memories, fears, or desires that wouldn't emerge in waking scenes.
- flashbackInvoluntary past memory
- subconsciousBelow conscious awareness
- filmMovie or coating
- phantasmagoriaShifting sequence of illusions
- surrealismIrrational, dreamlike aesthetic
mythology · foreshadowing · archetypes · unreliable narrator · allegory · literature · memory distortion · memory palace · montage · slow motion · fade to white · black and white · stream of consciousness · spiritual visions · folklore · waking up · Freudian analysis · theater
- scenesopening scene, closing scene, final scene, death scene, love scene
- film techniquesdolly zoom, closeup, close-up, fade, wide shot
- Flashback Tropesflashback, flashbacks, amnesia, memory loss, backstory
- play elementsmonologue, soliloquy, throne room, funeral scene
- screenwriting techniquesdialogue, exposition, flashback, montage, voice-over
- film timeflashback, flash forward, flash-forward, time lapse, time-lapse
dream sequencereality
What actually exists
real life · objective reality · documentary footage · historical reenactment · live action
dream sequencelinear narrative
Story following chronological order
chronological sequence · exposition · kitchen sink realism · cinéma vérité · talking heads
dream, sequence, dreams, dreamed, dreaming, dreamer, dreamers, dreamlike, dreamy