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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/23810
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I am trying to create a documentary about the history of a sports team, and have identified some compelling story arcs. However, as we know in reality, stories do not begin and end one at a time:

    story 1 exposition
    story 1 rising action 
    story 1 climax
    story 1 falling action
    story 1 resolution
    story 2 exposition
    story 2 rising action 
    story 2 climax
    story 2 falling action
    story 2 resolution

but rather are interwoven

    story 1 exposition
    story 1 rising action 
    story 2 exposition
    story 1 climax
    story 2 rising action 
    story 1 falling action
    story 2 climax
    story 2 falling action
    story 1 resolution
    story 2 resolution

I can easily modify my documentary to make scene transitions seamless/connected by having a connecting theme. BUT this doesn't ensure the viewer can identify the 2 different story arcs and feel the satisfaction that all plots were explored and resolved. To them, the interwoven structure above just looks like a bunch of connected scenes with no overall meaning.

What do screenwriters do to ensure viewers don't get lost and remind them that there is a (set of) journeys to be payed off that they should keep watching to get rewarded with? Apart from just narration which explicitly identifies the 2 separate plots, I don't get how this is done (I'm an amateur screenwriter with no training). But since I don't want to rely on English narration (I want people from other countries to watch it too), I'm wondering if there are any non-narrater ways to help orient viewers.

Original score: 1