Telegraphing (entertainment)

Telegraphing, in the creation or performance of creative works, is conveying information to the audience through acting or nonverbal clues, providing a clear hint of the meaning or outcome of a dramatic action.[1] Telegraphing may undercut suspense by advance disclosure or extreme hinting of an element in a composition, narrative plot, or recitation. A familiar example is stand-up comic and comedy films "telegraphing" the punch line of a joke,[2] i.e. making its outcome obvious before it happens. This meaning for the term was coined shortly after the invention of the telegraph.[1]

In music and the visual arts, such techniques are respected as means of preparing the audience by "building up" to the foreseeable result, as musical overtures usually do. In role-playing games such as live-action role-playing it may refer to non-verbal communication with other players through gestures to convey the intentions of the player outside the game.[3]

Telegraphing is often compared to foreshadowing[4] as a way to reveal incoming plot and make the listener form expectations.[5] While foreshadowing doesn't necessarily reveal that the introduced element will play a role later, telegraphing conveys information to spectators about how the plot will develop.[6] Contrast it with red herring, where the plot element revealed in advance is intended to be misleading.

In literature telegraphing is generally seen as lessening the final effect by approaching it too gradually, and thus as a failure of literary technique. Information used too often to telegraph about characters can be overused and become clichéd,[7] such as a dumb police officer eating doughnuts, an absent-minded professor, or a beautiful librarian concealed by unattractive personal grooming.

See also

References
  1. Martin Harrison (1998). The language of theatre. New York: Routledge. p. 273. ISBN 9780878300877.
  2. John Howard Reid (2005). Hollywood Gold: Films of the Forties and Fifties. p. 194. ISBN 9781411635241.
  3. Johannes Axner; Annika Waern (2018-01-30). Shuffling the Deck: The Knutpunkt 2018 Printed Companion. Lulu.com. ISBN 9781387535026.
  4. Kendall F. Haven (1999). Write right!: creative writing using storytelling techniques. Englewood, Colorado: Teacher Ideas Press. p. 203. ISBN 1563086778.
  5. Karl Albrecht (2005). Social intelligence: the new science of success. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9780787982911.
  6. Stephen Denning (2011). The Leader's Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons. p. 142. ISBN 9781118008782.
  7. Hallie Ephron (2010-12-16). The Everything Guide to Writing Your First Novel: All the Tools You Need to Write and Sell Your First Novel. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781440509575.
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