What happens in front of camera—a dramaturgical unit within a sequence. Not the shot, not the scenario, but the concrete action between rolling and cut.
On set, we talk about an event when we mean what is actually happening in front of the camera — not the technical setup, not the script scenario, but the concrete dramatic action between two cuts. An event has a beginning and an end; it tells something self-contained, even if it is constructed from multiple shots. The actor enters the room, sits down, drinks coffee, glances at his phone — that is an event. Not the camera movement accompanying him; not the location where it happens. But what happens.
In the daily work of directing, you need this term to communicate with the team. You don't say: "We're shooting the scene in the living room" — that's too vague. You say: "The event is: He comes in, notices something is missing, looks for it." This way, everyone knows what needs to happen dramatically before you can cut. The lighting is aligned with this, the editing is structured accordingly, the sound is built for it. An event can consist of one shot — a static shot in which everything unfolds — or ten shots if you need to isolate details or require a change of perspective.
The difference from a shot is essential: A shot is a technical unit (frame, focal length, position). An event is a dramatic unit. You can tell an event in one shot or distribute it over several shots — both work. Some directors work with very long takes in which multiple events unfold consecutively; others break down a single event into close-ups, wide shots, and detail shots. That is a stylistic decision. But without clearly knowing what the event is, you will cut unclearly on set or communicate unclearly with your DoP and editor.
In practice: Before every setup, you ask yourself what the next event is. Then you ask how many shots you need to tell it. This saves time because you don't shoot unnecessary takes — you know when the event is complete. In the edit, your event then becomes a scene or a scene component, depending on its length.