Scenario

In literature a scenario is a synopsis of plot and development of action. In improvisational theatre only the scenario is fixed. The scenario originally alway excluded monologues and dialogues but could include detailed timing for entrances and exits of characters, and beginning and ends of scenes and acts. In cinematography the scenario is the full script or screenplay, but there is also a director's scenario which is the plan of filming and which determines the film's visual content, its sequences of imagery, its photographic and technical techniques and effects, its use of music, etc. In military parlance, which also speaks of theatres of operations, a scenario is a projected outcome of a wargame or strategic disposition or utilization of force. In industry and government a scenario is a business or economic forecast of conditions. The three-scenario system may use optimistic and pessimistic extremes and a mean. In futurology a scenario is similar to a model, or to the outcome of employing a particular forecasting methodology, and futures scenarios describe a model society as a whole or in part according to demographic, economic, ecological, geopolitical and other considerations. As esthetic or holistic presentations, scenarios or detailed descriptions of projected conditions sometimes distract from appraisal of the analytical rigor that was employed to arrive at conclusions.