emotional arc
Character's inner path
An emotional arc is the trajectory of feeling through a narrative—how a character's inner state shifts from beginning to end, or how a story moves its audience through successive emotional phases.
The term comes from screenwriting and fiction craft but applies to any structured experience: The film's emotional arc takes us from hope to despair to hard-won acceptance.
A character arc traces development of personality or circumstances; an emotional arc specifically tracks the feeling underneath.
- characterNature, symbol, or role
- character developmentProtagonist's psychological growth
- journeyTravel from place to place
- climaxPoint of greatest intensity
- dark nightUnlit nighttime hours
rock bottom · resolution · transformation · catharsis · tension · inner conflict · redemption · growth · stakes · turning point · moment of truth · payoff · rising action · denouement · vulnerability · breakthrough · struggle · revelation
- actingacting, act, performing, playacting, actor
- charactersprotagonist, antagonist, hero, character, characters
- Film Scoringleitmotif, cue, spotting, click track, motif
- danceballet, breaking, folk dances, b-boying, folk dance
- feelingsfeeling, pleasure, joy, anger, sadness
- emotions in fictionlove, fear, anger, grief, joy
emotional arcplotlessness
Lack of narrative structure
vignette · slice of life · mood piece · character sketch · stream of consciousness
emotion, emotional, emotionally, emote, emotive, emotionless, arcing