Screenwriting glossary

The terms screenwriters use every day, defined in a few lines, with the equivalent used in Brazil. Every term has its own link.

A-story / B-storyIn Portuguese: Trama A / trama B: In an episode, the A-story is the main plot and the B-story a secondary one running alongside — often with other characters — that echoes or contrasts with the main one.
ActIn Portuguese: Ato: A major block of dramatic structure, separated from the next by a turn that changes the story’s direction. Features most often use three acts; broadcast TV episodes usually have four to six, marked by the commercial breaks.
Argumento (treatment / synopsis)In Portuguese: Argumento: Brazilian term for the whole story told in prose, start to finish, before the script is written. In US practice the equivalent document is called a treatment or a synopsis, depending on length. Never translate it as "argument".
Authorial voiceIn Portuguese: Voz autoral: A screenwriter’s own way of writing: sentence rhythm, what they show and hide, how characters talk, the humor and tone. It is what makes two tellings of the same story different works.
BeatIn Portuguese: Beat: The smallest unit of dramatic change: a moment when something shifts inside a scene — a decision, a reveal, an action that tips the balance. A scene usually holds several beats.
Central dramatic questionIn Portuguese: Pergunta central: The question the story raises early and only answers at the end — will the protagonist succeed? It is what keeps the audience through the final act.
Character arcIn Portuguese: Arco de personagem: How a character changes over the story: who they are at the start, what the plot forces them to face, and who they are at the end. An arc can be one of change, of decline, or of a belief confirmed.
CliffhangerIn Portuguese: Cliffhanger: An episode ending that cuts the story at its point of highest tension — an unanswered question, a danger left hanging — so the audience comes back. In vertical drama, every episode ends on one.
HookIn Portuguese: Gancho: What grabs the audience and makes them want the next moment: at the opening, the promise that holds them in the first seconds; at the end of an episode, the question left open. In Brazilian usage the word ("gancho") also covers a setup the story will pay off later.
LoglineIn Portuguese: Logline: The story in one sentence: who the protagonist is, what they want, what stands in the way and what is at stake. It is how a project is pitched in seconds.
One page, one minuteIn Portuguese: Uma página, um minuto: The industry rule of thumb for running time: one page of properly formatted script is about one minute of screen time. It holds from features to vertical drama, where a 90-second episode is about a page and a half.
ParentheticalIn Portuguese: Parentética: A brief note in parentheses under the character name about how a line is delivered or who it is aimed at — (quietly), (to Ana). Used sparingly: the dialogue should stand on its own.
Paywall (vertical drama)In Portuguese: Paywall (novela vertical): The episode after which viewers must pay to keep watching. In vertical drama, where it falls is a writing decision: everything before it has to make the audience want to pay for the rest.
PilotIn Portuguese: Piloto: The first episode of a series, written to establish the world, the characters and the engine that will generate episodes. It can be a premise pilot (how it all begins) or a non-premise pilot (a typical episode).
Plot point (turning point)In Portuguese: Ponto de virada: The event that changes the story’s direction and pushes the plot into the next act. In three-act structure, the two main ones close the first and second acts.
SceneIn Portuguese: Cena: Continuous action in one place and time. Change the place or jump in time and a new scene begins, with a new heading. A good scene goes in with one situation and comes out with another.
Scene heading (slug line)In Portuguese: Cabeçalho de cena: The line that opens each scene and says where and when it happens: INT. or EXT., the location and the time (DAY, NIGHT, CONTINUOUS). E.g. INT. KITCHEN — NIGHT.
Screenplay (script)In Portuguese: Roteiro: The text that describes what goes on screen, scene by scene — headings, action and dialogue — in a standard format, so the whole crew reads the same work and the page maps to screen time.
SeasonIn Portuguese: Temporada: The set of episodes that tells a larger arc of the series, with its own beginning and end. It is the unit a series is planned in; in vertical drama, a season has dozens of short episodes.
SequenceIn Portuguese: Sequência: A group of scenes that forms its own dramatic unit, with a beginning, middle and end, inside an act. In the classic sequence approach, a feature has about eight.
Series bibleIn Portuguese: Bíblia da série: The reference document for a series: premise, world, rules, characters and their arcs, tone, and the plan for the seasons. It sells the project and keeps writers and episodes consistent.
Setup and payoffIn Portuguese: Plantio e colheita: Something introduced early (the setup, or plant) that gains meaning or gets used later (the payoff). A setup with no payoff is a broken promise; a payoff with no setup feels like cheating.
Step outline (escaleta)In Portuguese: Escaleta: The scenes listed in order, each described in a few lines: what happens and what changes. It is the map of the script before any dialogue. Not the same thing as a beat sheet, which lists a story’s major structural beats.
SynopsisIn Portuguese: Sinopse: A summary of the story in one or a few paragraphs, with beginning, middle and end. Shorter than a treatment; it presents the project and orients whoever reads the script.
TreatmentIn Portuguese: Tratamento: A prose version of the story, longer and more detailed than a synopsis, with the main scenes and the tone of the film or series. Brazilian screenwriters often call this document "argumento".
TropeIn Portuguese: Tropo (trope): A story situation or pattern the audience recognizes — the contract marriage, the hidden heiress, revenge years later. In vertical drama, tropes are the entry point: viewers pick a series by its trope.
Twist (reversal)In Portuguese: Reviravolta: A turn that flips the audience’s expectation or the character’s situation. In vertical drama, most episodes deliver one before the cliffhanger — the payoff moment that keeps viewers watching.
V.O. and O.S.In Portuguese: V.O. e O.S.: Extensions next to a character name. V.O. (voice-over): the voice belongs to no one physically present, such as narration. O.S. (off-screen): the character is in the scene but out of frame. Brazilian scripts often mark both as "OFF".
Vertical drama (microdrama)In Portuguese: Novela vertical: Scripted series shot for a phone held upright, with episodes of roughly one to three minutes, each ending on a cliffhanger, and seasons of dozens of episodes. It grew on platforms such as ReelShort, DramaBox and ShortMax.
Writers' roomIn Portuguese: Writers' room: The writing staff of a series: the group that discusses the season, breaks episodes into scenes and splits the writing, led by the showrunner.