The word scene is usually used in regards to the playing out of a dramatic conflict in real time. When you hear "scene" you think of movies, TV, or stage. Something happening live that you can watch. In a broader sense a scene is simply the retelling of action/reaction in the attainment of a small objective that serves the larger goal of a character. Before a scene begins and in between actions are lots of internal thoughts going through a character's head that will alter the actions they take. So a scene also includes many things that you can't see on a screen.

Reactions To Results

When a character wants to get someone to leave his house he take the easiest way out first. When he tells his friend he is really tired and the friend doesn't take the hint, the character now has to formulate a new plan in his head. In a scene portrayed on screen this wouldn't be a consideration, one action would just lead to the next without any attention to the thought process. Even if the thinking process is very fast as in a sword-fighting scene there if often some kind of mental working to account for things that have just happened.

Meaning Of What Happened

Once an action doesn't get a character closer to achieving an objective, they have to consider what did happen and what it means. When you tell a friend you are tired and he pulls out a knife, you have to come up with a meaning for that action. Does he mean to threaten you or is he just admiring his knife. When you try to put your key into your door and it won't turn, you have to suss out what that means. You would take in all the existing evidence and make a hypothesis. Is your door lock rusty and needs lubrication or are you drunk and it's likely you are trying to open the wrong door?

Decision-Making Process

Along with your mental reaction to unexpected results and finding out what it means, is the process of what to do next. Once you think you know you're at the wrong door because you are drunk, you will stop trying to get in but will also need some action to get to the real room. You will do some prognosticating and what if’s and consider likelihoods and then do something. Do you remember your apartment number? If you don't, you need to call someone for them to tell you. Who should you call? It might reflect poorly on you if you call your boss.

These may seem trivial when measured against exciting scenes of epic battles and duals to the death, but they are an important part of a character that a novel or prose work is best at conveying. A novel can uncover from scenes things hidden in a movie that can help give context to the movie scene. A novel can lightly sketch a scene but fully describe the psychology of it. Novels have things it does better than other media and the hidden, internal parts of scenes are one of them.