flashforward
Narrative time leap
A flashforward is a narrative device that jumps ahead to show events occurring after the main timeline, the opposite of a flashback.
Common in fiction, film, and television: The opening scene was a flashforward to the protagonist's death.
The technique creates suspense or dramatic irony by revealing outcomes before showing how characters reach them.
Hinting at later events
- cutawayView with exterior removed
- sequenceOrdered succession of elements
- transitionChange from one state
- montageAssembled sequence of images
scene · nonlinear · chronology · narration · voiceover · screenplay · edit · frame
Stretched or strained state
- anticipationState of awaiting something
- cliffhangerSuspenseful unresolved ending
- uncertaintyState of being unsure
- apprehensionNervous anticipation of trouble
dread · foreshadowing · expectancy · buildup · reveal · twist · payoff · setup
Advance sense of future events
- visionAbility to see
- precognitionParanormal future awareness
- omenProphetic indicator
- foreshadowingHinting at later events
harbinger · portent · foretelling · divination · oracle · presage · clairvoyance · prophecy
Something that extends outward
- forecastPrediction of future conditions
- scenarioPostulated event sequence
- visionAbility to see
- outlookAttitude toward the future
trajectory · roadmap · anticipation · prediction · prognosis · prospectus · strategy · blueprint
foreshadowing
Hinting at later events
- cutawayView with exterior removed
- sequenceOrdered succession of elements
- transitionChange from one state
montage · scene · nonlinear · chronology · narration · voiceover · screenplay · edit · frame · shot
tension
Stretched or strained state
- anticipationState of awaiting something
- cliffhangerSuspenseful unresolved ending
- uncertaintyState of being unsure
apprehension · dread · foreshadowing · expectancy · buildup · reveal · twist · payoff · setup · dramatic irony
premonition
Advance sense of future events
- visionAbility to see
- precognitionParanormal future awareness
- omenProphetic indicator
foreshadowing · harbinger · portent · foretelling · divination · oracle · presage · clairvoyance · prophecy · fate
projection
Something that extends outward
outlook · trajectory · roadmap · anticipation · prediction · prognosis · prospectus · strategy · blueprint · milestone
- storytellingstorytelling, story, tale, narrative, narrator
- storytelling termsstory, plot, narrative, storytelling, chapter
- film techniquesdolly zoom, closeup, close-up, fade, wide shot
- narrative devicesnarrator, prologue, epilogue, unreliable narrator, frame story
- narrative techniquesnonlinear plot, fragmented narrative, point of view, narrator, first person
- screenwriting techniquesdialogue, exposition, montage, voice-over, scene transition
flashforwardflashback
Involuntary past memory
rewind · cutback · retrospective · recall · backstory
flashforwardlinear narrative
Story following chronological order
chronological sequence · chronological order · real-time · in medias res · present tense