Flikipedia A branching dictionary of the moving image

sequence

noun

A series of related scenes that together form a larger, self-contained segment of a film's structure, occupying the level above the scene and below the complete work.

Origin From Latin sequentia, “a following,” from sequi, “to follow,” by way of Old French; the general sense of an ordered succession of things was applied to the connected units of a film narrative in the early 20th century.

  1. Film structure A structural unit of a film consisting of several consecutive scenes unified by a continuous action, location, span of time, or dramatic purpose, and set off from the material around it by a sense of beginning and completion. an opening sequence establishing a setting

  2. Editing A passage assembled from many brief shots that compresses an extended span of time or action into a short screen duration, commonly termed a montage sequence. a training montage sequence

Place in film structure

A sequence sits between the scene and the complete motion picture in the hierarchy of film form. A single scene generally unfolds in one place and one stretch of time; a sequence gathers several such scenes into a larger unit held together by a continuous line of action, a shared location, an unbroken span of time, or a common dramatic function. Read as a whole, a sequence tends to have its own sense of opening and closure, so that it functions as a self-contained segment even though it remains part of the larger work. Long-form narrative films are commonly described as a succession of such segments, each advancing the whole while forming a coherent passage in its own right.

The montage sequence

A montage sequence is a compressed variety in which many short shots are joined so that an extended period of time or a long process is conveyed in a brief screen duration. Rather than presenting events at their full length, it selects representative fragments and links them, often over music or with transitional devices, so that the passage of days, months, or years, or the progress of a repeated activity, is understood at a glance. As a product of film editing, the montage sequence relies on the viewer’s inference of continuity across gaps in time, and it stands as a recognized special case of the sequence as a structural unit.

See also

  • motion picture— A work made of many still images shown in rapid succession, producing the impression of continuous movement.
  • scene— A unit of dramatic action unified by continuity of time and place, built from one or more shots. In the structure of a film it is the intermediate level between the individual shot and the larger sequence.
  • film editing— The selection, arrangement, and joining of individual shots into a continuous finished film; also the profession and craft of the editor who performs this work.

Sources

  1. Bordwell & Thompson, "Film Art: An Introduction"
  2. Oxford English Dictionary, "sequence, n."

Last revised: September 18, 2026