Flashbacks

Hollow · Apr 16, 2007

Are they okay to use?

My current in-progress screenplay is centered around three unrelated children who have never met. All have had something happen to them in the past which traumatizes them. And over the course of the film they meet and try to help each other get better.

However, I think it might be necessary to actually SHOW the events that happened in the past rather than just have it told through dialogue. But I'm not sure if perhaps Flashbacks are the best way to go. You guys may have some alternatives, mayhaps?

~Hollow

Joe Calabrese · Apr 16, 2007

Do whatever works, but I agree that you should show and do not tell.

Flashbacks are the only way unless you start the film off with the past events and then go to present day. Watch MYSTIC RIVER for a great example of a similar story.

Flashbacks can be effective and if done well, be very compelling and thought provoking, but new writers tend to overuse it or use it in place of good dramatic structure.

If you do decide to use flashbacks, make it clearly a flash back, yet seamless. Don't make it too long (a page or less whenever possible) The worst flashbacks are the once that look like they were just stuck into the script for back story sake. Also, don't give it all away, leave room for guessing for drama.

THE AVIATOR used some good flashbacks to give hints at the trauma he received in his youth, but not so much that it gave away the whole story.

Hollow · Apr 16, 2007

That's what I thought. I figured I'd only have short flashbacks that give a hint of what happened but not show everything. Don't want to take the viewer away from the story too long with stupid flashbacks. Let thereader/audience figure it out. Thanks for replying.

NikeeGoddess · Apr 16, 2007

the tv show Lost is more than 50% flashbacks - that's actually a first for tv that i can recall

most recently - Batman Returns - flashbacks showed his trauma in a cave full of bats as a youth

the bookends: where the story is present in the beginning and the end and the entire (95%) of the movie is in flashback - Stand By Me and Titanic

show don't tell! well, here are two examples where telling was better than showing:
The Straight Story (academy nominated Farnsworth) where this old guy was telling a guy in a bar about an experience of "friendly" fire in WWII. and incident that troubled him tremendously and something he never ever told anyone ... except this stranger.
and
Silence of the Lambs - after seeing this flick i would have bet money that there was a flashback scene where Starling was a child running away from her uncle's farm carrying a baby lamb trying to save it from slaughter. yet this scene was never shown. i believe they actually shot it but later cut it from the film and only used the scene were Starling told us (Lecter) what feared her the most back then.

like joe says, do what works best and really think about it. or do it both ways and then let others (objective readers) decide.

scripter1 · Apr 17, 2007

Another

great TELL but not show moment was in Jaws where Quinn talks about the sharks in the water.

You have to really think about what will be the most powerful to watch.
The events as they happend or the character actually dealing with them NOW.

I guess you need to ask yourself What is most important? The details of the event and what actually happend OR How is this character handling those events? How are they responding now?

That will go a long ways in telling you whether your story needs a Flashback or not.

clockwork · Apr 17, 2007

NikeeGoddess said:
Silence of the Lambs - after seeing this flick i would have bet money that there was a flashback scene where Starling was a child running away from her uncle's farm carrying a baby lamb trying to save it from slaughter. yet this scene was never shown. i believe they actually shot it but later cut it from the film and only used the scene were Starling told us (Lecter) what feared her the most back then.

Those scenes were in the script but thankfully didn't make it to the final cut. I have the dvd but can't recall whether they were shot or not. In any case, that scene is so damned, amazingly intense the way Demme shot it with straight POVs... flashbacks would have ruined it.

billythrilly7th · Apr 17, 2007

Hollow said:
Are they okay to use?

My current in-progress screenplay is centered around three unrelated children who have never met. All have had something happen to them in the past which traumatizes them. And over the course of the film they meet and try to help each other get better.

However, I think it might be necessary to actually SHOW the events that happened in the past rather than just have it told through dialogue. But I'm not sure if perhaps Flashbacks are the best way to go. You guys may have some alternatives, mayhaps?

~Hollow

Absolutely it's okay to use flashbacks.

What Joe said.

clockwork · Apr 17, 2007

clock_work9 said:
Those scenes were in the script but thankfully didn't make it to the final cut. I have the dvd but can't recall whether they were shot or not. In any case, that scene is so damned, amazingly intense the way Demme shot it with straight POVs... flashbacks would have ruined it.

But I forgot to say, I have nothing against flashbacks per se and the script that is currently doing the rounds has flashbacks in it. Flash on if need be.

Plot Device · Apr 17, 2007

NikeeGoddess said:
the tv show Lost is more than 50% flashbacks - that's actually a first for tv that i can recall

I am totally NOT being snarky here.

But just pointing out two older shows that heavilly and regularly employed flashbacks in virtually every episode:

Kung Fu
The Highlander

small axe · Apr 17, 2007

scripter1 said:
great TELL but not show moment was in Jaws where Quinn talks about the sharks in the water.

Excellent point. If it had been a "Flashback" it would've been more of the same (sharks eat people. We know, we've seen) ...

But have the guys sit around telling shark stories, and then Quint goes into his horror story TELLING about the Indianapolis and the sharks picking off hundreds of helpless men ...

It's about the horror you mind sees, not some mechanical fish scene ...
It's about the three guys bonding ... (That sudden silence and awe as one guy knows what he's talking about, and the other guy thinks it's more shark joking, until ... suddenly jokes are dead forever)
It's about the sudden horror of realizing what they're up against ...
It's about CHARACTERS deepening and feeling ...

Excellent scene, one of the great scenes in movies ever ...

Joe Calabrese · Apr 17, 2007

You know...

Chris Kentis (wri/dir Open Water), is currently in development
with Warner Bros for the feature film "Indianapolis" where..

"Into the drink with 900 other clowns... Started with 900 anyway...floating in that big warm Pacific."

God!!! I hope Quint is in it.

Now that scene in Jaws is pretty standard in films of the 70's. It's what I like to call the campfire scene, where the hero takes a break before the end of act 2 to tell his story to the others in his or her group. The reveal of character backstory or just a lull before the climax.

scripter1 · Apr 18, 2007

I tend to think

that scene in Jaws is a bit more then just a little lull before the climax.

I think it's a nice set up and builder of tension for what Brody is about to face. A destroyed boat. The shark picking off his friends one by one.
Being alone, not knowing if he will be next or where the sneak attack will come from.

What Brody is about to exprience is the shark attack in OPEN water.
Every thing else he knew about the shark was from incidents near the beach.

But back to Flashbacks.
They need to be more then just a history lesson.
And I really like my thoughts from my other post.
What is that we REALLY need to know? The details of the event (FLASHBACK) or How is the character and the story currently affected by it? (TELLING, no flashback.)

Watched The Fog the other night. Bad film, bad acting, GREAT use of Flashback.

Joe Calabrese · Apr 18, 2007

Don't get me wrong. As much as the campfire scene in a lot films of that period are done to give the backstory of the characters or reveal their personal pain, etc... JAWS did it right and for the right reasons. Best example from that era.

Kit_Marlowe · Apr 18, 2007

flashbacks

I just got Linda Aronson's book "Screenwriting Updated" in the mail today. Haven't read it yet (obviously), but... one of the reasons I ordered it was that it contains major sections about flashback narrative. I just skimmed though it, and it seems very promising. You may want to check it out.

scripter1 · Apr 18, 2007

Sorry Joe,

my response came out a bit antagonistic.
I'm really more of the sweet sidekick type.

I just wanted to highlight how that scene that COULD have been a flashback, and that perhaps most new writers WOULD have made a flashback, worked really, really, REALLY well as a telling scene.
And also how the scene supported the ones after it.

NikeeGoddess · Apr 18, 2007

why you sorry, scripter? like you can't have a sarcastic, nasty moment?!! join the club

anyhoo - the "telling" flashback scenes all seem to work when the character is so interesting that you hang on every word they say... you eyes glued to the screen.

and you're write Plot - KungFu was first in tv but hey, that was like 30 years ago. funny that you mention that b/c i just saw Office Space the other day and the protag and jen aniston's character were both KF fanatics.

scripter1 · Apr 19, 2007

Me?

Sarcastic? Nasty? even for a moment?

Oh no, no no no no no nooooo.

dpaterso · Apr 19, 2007

From ScriptPIMP's FAQs:

Why in so many screenwriting and filmmaking books are flashbacks looked down upon?

The reason why emerging writers are strongly discouraged from using flashbacks in their work is that many use this device as a kind of quick fix for plot/character holes. Rather than finding a subtle way to reveal story information, the writer simply resorts to a flashback scene. As a result, the scene tends to seem out of the blue and inorganic.

While many great scripts and films incorporate flashbacks, the thing to remember is that it's actually very difficult to include flashbacks in a way that doesn't feel contrived.

Before including a flashback in a script, consider whether there is another way to convey this information. If so, do it. Keep the reader/viewer in the here and now of the story. Only use flashbacks if essential and if they fit with the overall tone of the story.

-Derek

jonpiper · Apr 19, 2007

In addition, flashbacks, unless done right as has been said, or written in the right place in the story, tend to slow the story and take the reader/viewer out of the story.

Hollow · Apr 19, 2007

jonpiper said:
In addition, flashbacks, unless done right as has been said, or written in the right place in the story, tend to slow the story and take the reader/viewer out of the story.

Yep, that's what I'm doing my best to protect my script from. (I'm protecting my work from myself, how nutty is that?)

jonpiper · Apr 19, 2007

Ain't nutty at all. Just write it flashbacks, voice over, everything. Then on re-writes take everything into consideration and edit them out or reaarange them as necessary.

I think once you've written the first draft you'll be able to see how the flashbacks work with or detract from the story.

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