Techniques
The ticking clock, Chekhov's gun, the MacGuffin… — name it, then use it.
Bomb Under the TableA setup where the audience knows about the danger before the characters do — tension comes not from the explosion but from the waiting.
Chekhov's GunEvery eye-catching element you put on stage makes a promise — a gun shown in the first act has to pay off in the story.
Dramatic IronyAny moment the audience knows more than the character on screen — the information gap lays tension or pain under the scene.
MacGuffinThe thing everyone is chasing but that is itself almost unimportant — the MacGuffin starts the story; the story could be told without it, but couldn't have started without it.
Red HerringA clue that deliberately pulls the audience's attention to the wrong target — it doesn't hide the real truth, it protects it by making them look elsewhere.
Ticking ClockTicking Clock (Countdown) · A visible deadline added to the story — the moment the clock starts running, every scene is watched in the shadow of "will they make it?"