flash forward
Narrative time jump
A flash forward is a narrative device that jumps ahead in time, showing events that will occur later in the story.
The opposite of a flashback.
Common in film, television, and fiction to create suspense or dramatic irony: The movie opens with a flash forward to the trial before returning to the crime itself.
Also used as a verb: The story flashes forward ten years.
Narrative leap across time
- scene transitionShift between shots
- epilogueConcluding literary section
- temporal shiftChange in time position
- cut toTransition abruptly between scenes
smash cut · time skip · story structure · in medias res · parallel timeline
Advance sense of future events
- omenProphetic indicator
- portentSign of future calamity
- harbingerOne who foreshadows
- presageIndicate beforehand
forewarning · augury · prophecy · precognition · vision · clairvoyance · foretelling · hint
Suspenseful unresolved ending
- tensionStretched or strained state
- uncertaintyState of being unsure
- dreadIntense anticipatory fear
- apprehensionNervous anticipation of trouble
intrigue · mystery · dramatic tension · nail-biting · edge-of-seat · hook · teaser · what happens next
Movement across temporal points
- future selfOne's eventual incarnation
- down the roadAt a future point
- in timeBefore too late
- future stateCondition yet to occur
Premature ending disclosure
- previewAdvance showing sample
- glimpseFleeting view
- sneak peekAdvance partial viewing
- dramatic revealSudden surprising disclosure
time jump
Narrative leap across time
- scene transitionShift between shots
- epilogueConcluding literary section
- temporal shiftChange in time position
cut to · smash cut · time skip · story structure · in medias res · parallel timeline
premonition
Advance sense of future events
presage · forewarning · augury · prophecy · precognition · vision · clairvoyance · foretelling · hint · setup
cliffhanger
Suspenseful unresolved ending
- tensionStretched or strained state
- uncertaintyState of being unsure
- dreadIntense anticipatory fear
apprehension · intrigue · mystery · dramatic tension · nail-biting · edge-of-seat · hook · teaser · what happens next · impending doom
time travel
Movement across temporal points
- future selfOne's eventual incarnation
- down the roadAt a future point
- in timeBefore too late
spoiler
Premature ending disclosure
- previewAdvance showing sample
- glimpseFleeting view
- sneak peekAdvance partial viewing
dramatic reveal · coming attraction · predetermined · endgame
- storytellingstorytelling, story, tale, narrative, narrator
- time wordsminute, hour, day, now, soon
- plotplot, storyline, subplot, climax, narrative
- film editingediting, film editing, cut, editor, splice
- film techniquesdolly zoom, closeup, close-up, fade, wide shot
- narrative techniquesnonlinear plot, fragmented narrative, point of view, narrator, first person
flash forwardflashback
Involuntary past memory
flash back · retrospective · reminiscence · recall · look back
flash forwardlinear narrative
Story following chronological order
chronological sequence · real time · real-time · present moment
flash, forward, flashed, flashing, flashy, flasher, flashback, forwards, forwarded