Need Asistance w/ Flashback

[nganok]

I am going to enter a short in a competition (my first one). I have a story that has a beginning (page 1 or so) but, the character flashes back for the majority of the story (page 2-9), then the last page or so has a climatic surprise ending. Example ---- JOHN, 28, sits drinking on monday, he flashes back from highschool graduation all the way up to the day prior, sunday. story ends with a twist.

Do I make every scene a flashback or do I just put date stamps on every scene up until present day again. Sorry if this is confusing. Anybody got advice.

[write4details]

Yeah. Don't call it a flashback. Some readers are kind of prejudiced against the term and usage.

What you see a LOT of films doing...American Beauty, for one example...is starting at the end, so to speak (I saw five films in 6 weeks that started with the narrator dead). Then they just go back and tell the story.

It you've got an adult sitting at a bar and the next scene he's a teenager, we know what's going on.

You can help this by giving him a strong ID, like somebody calling him by name or a letter jacket or whatever. Or, as most of these flicks I mention do, just have him say something like, "Maybe I should back up to when it all started" Or, "the last time I understood anything I was in high school" or something.

Then just slug the next scene, no supered date or tag needed. When the scene comes back to the bar, we will know what happened. Mess around with that, see if it works for you.

[IWrite]

If you're going back in time - it's a good idea to flag it for the reader in some way. You don't want the reader to be confused about when and where we are.

In the American Beauty spec they faded to black and superimposed "One Year Earlier".

In The Godfather Part II they used DISSOLVES to segue between Michael's story and Vito's.

If this is something you are producing yourself - as opposed to submitting to others - it really doesn't matter how you do it - although you do need to make sure that the shift in time is clear to the actors, costumer, prop person etc.

[NikeeGoddess]

best example: Stand By Me - except for the opening and tag the entire flick was a flashback. i have one script like that too.

[maestrowork]

Much of "Butterfly Effect" is also told in flashback. You can say "Memento" is also told mostly in flashback (but that's a different concept)... "Wicker Park" also have big chunks of flashback (although I find that film really clumsy).

I'd say unless your timeline is confusing (that you jump back and forth between 1989, 1976, and 1992), you don't need to tell anyone what time and year it is. I think if you start with modern day, then flash back to 1989 and go forward in time, it would be apparent to the audience (that's what they did in "Butterfly Effect"). You can do some tricks like "DISSOLVES" but it may not be necesary if your narrative is clean and effective.

[nganok]

Thanks guys - I might put it on here when I'm done for a seal of approval