Can a vignette take place inside a scene in a movie, or must 'scene' and 'vignette' be separate from one another when describing?
In the film-making process, the 'scene' has been described as the most basic part of that process.
Merriam-Webster has this:
vignette
2b a brief incident or scene (as in a play or movie)
I believe that a 'brief incident' or vignette, may occur inside a scene. When describing, for example, a poignant moment inside of a scene, that is a vignette.
NoFilmSchool explains that there are two kinds of vignettes in film (the first is also used in photography, whereas the second is borrowed from literature):
In the world of filmmaking and photography, the term "vignette" often floats around, but few people know this literary device actually describes several things.
In A Dictionary of Film Studies (2012), Annette Kuhn and Guy Westwell say:
The vocabulary used in the mainstream film industry for story development and scriptwriting, developed with the purpose of keeping plot, action, and character motivation as clear as possible so as to maximize audience involvement. Some of this terminology is taken from drama and literature, and some has been created ad hoc. Character establishment is the key to both narrative clarity and audience involvement, and a mainstream fiction film will ensure that each of a story's main characters is established through a specific scene or vignette.
So a vignette is a kind of scene.
Now, as a literary device, it is used in screenwriting and it means:
A vignette is a very short story about a brief incident or scene, which can be adapted into a film or TV episode.
The OED defines it as:
A brief verbal description of a person, place, etc.; a short descriptive or evocative episode in a play, etc.
The play was supposed to evoke the Edwardian era in a series of tiny vignettes interspersed with ‘instrumental effects’. Practical Wireless vol. 33 558/1
The two kinds of vignettes are defined as follows:
- Visual Vignette: A reduction or fade in brightness or saturation at the periphery of an image. This effect draws the viewer's eye toward the center or focal point of the frame. It can be a natural outcome of camera equipment or applied intentionally in post-production.
- Narrative Vignette: A short, evocative description, account, or episode. This form of vignette focuses on a brief incident or scene, often disconnected from the main narrative, that provides insight into a character, setting, or theme.
Now of course you can have a short scene/incident (i.e. vignette) occurring within another scene. You can have a conversation between two characters telling an incident from the past for example. Among the example this article gives we find the classic When Harry Met Sally (1989):
Rob Reiner and Nora Ephron tell a story that jumps in time and shows us the scenes that make up a great relationship.
As for the term scene, its meaning varies. Here's the OED definition:
a sequence of continuous action, esp. one dealing with a particular incident, episode, or event, and typically forming part of a wider dramatic or narrative structure, such as a play, film, book, etc. Also: the action and dialogue comprising such a sequence.
The Film Glossary of Brooklyn College gets a little more technical:
Scene: A dramatic action consisting of one or more shots and taking place in more or less continuous time and space. In a shooting script, specific locations, setups, and even shots may be numbered as scenes although, strictly speaking, they are not.
I would recommend the term SHOT in this glossary, which is a smaller unit within a scene. A shot is:
a piece of film that has been exposed, without cuts or interruptions, in a single running of the camera. The shot is often regarded as the elemental division of a film.
