Flashback Scenes

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  • Flashback Scenes

    As I mention in my "Page Dilemma" thread, I'm writing a modern day gangster drama. It's about the son of a gangster who was on the straight and narrow path, until tragedy caused him to follow his fathers footsteps. Now with chaos surrounding him, he struggles with the choice he made... And no, it's not similar to the Godfather .

    The tragedy happens at the beginning when the main character is 18, then the story picks up 10 years later. So what I'm trying to accomplish is Flashback scenes to show the type of relationship they had and to carry the story along explaining it in detail, without using Voice Over.

    So my question is: Is there an unwritten rule on Flashback scenes? How many are too much?

  • #2
    Re: Flashback Scenes

    Originally posted by Spanky View Post
    ... So my question is: Is there an unwritten rule on Flashback scenes? How many are too much?
    - There are no rules, written or unwritten.
    - Use as many as you need for the story.

    However you are free to consider:

    - If what happens in the flashback is that important perhaps that should be where the story starts. Try stringing all your flashbacks together and putting them at the beginning of the story. Does the story work better?

    - That perhaps there are scenes that should not be used to show or explain. Cut all the flashbacks. Does the story work better?

    These are not rules - just exercises.
    "I am the story itself; its source, its voice, its music."
    - Clive Barker, Galilee

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    • #3
      Re: Flashback Scenes

      No rules, as TwoBrad said. One film where I felt the flashbacks were done really well was "Angel Heart." Another, really the best imo, was an Italian film called "La Sconosciuta" - The Unknown Woman. If you get a chance to watch those, I think they could give you some examples of really effective flashbacks.

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      • #4
        Re: Flashback Scenes

        I wouldn't call these rules per se, but there are certain things I like to stress about writing flashbacks.

        First, do not use a flashback if their only purpose is a cheap short cut to give exposition that could be much better given through more dramatically organic methods, such as conflict, action, and character behavior.

        If a FB is the only viable way to give such info, remember that a FB scene must be just like any other scene. Characters must be pursuing objectives, those objectives create drama by coming into conflict with each other, and the scene ends with a moment of change that moves the story situation forward (or often in the FB's case, the audience's perception of the story situation.

        Finally, one must remember that a FB is not a 'time out' from the developing narrative. It has its purpose and place within its respective story sequence just like any other scene. It must keep things moving forward. There must be some logic behind why it makes sense cut away from the temporal flow at that particular point without creating a jarring break in the sequence's momentum. In other words, the action within the FB should have some causal connection to the scene we just left in the regular timeline, and the one that follows it when we return.
        scribbler screenwriting blog-o-zine - Celebrating its fifth year of bloggerdom!

        Download a copy of Screenwriting Down to the Atoms : The Absolute Essentials Edition completely FREE!

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        • #5
          Re: Flashback Scenes

          Originally posted by Spanky View Post
          The tragedy happens at the beginning when the main character is 18, then the story picks up 10 years later. So what I'm trying to accomplish is Flashback scenes to show the type of relationship they had and to carry the story along explaining it in detail, without using Voice Over.

          So my question is: Is there an unwritten rule on Flashback scenes? How many are too much?
          There are no rules, and flashbacks can be an effective tool.

          But that doesn't mean they're necessary. We don't need to see his relationship before it was destroyed to have a good sense of how good a relationship it was. In fact, if you don't have a compelling, original way to show how good it was, then a flashback is a terrible choice to accomplish that.

          I'm not saying don't use the flashback. I am saying ask yourself this: how is someone who underwent tragedy 10 years ago different from someone who hasn't? Can you find ways to show me in his current behavior today what his relationship was like? What he's missing? Why no-one who's come since has been able to fill the hole the tragedy left?

          This isn't exactly analogous, but take a look at Ocean's 11. We never see a scene of Clooney and Roberts together back when things were good. Yet it's abundantly clear just how special that relationship was to both of them from how they interact (with each other and others) today. The specialness of that relationship is, in fact, the motivation for the entire plot. We get it.

          We get it from watching them have one scene together - in the restaurant, when they first converse in the film.

          You do not need to spell everything out.

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          • #6
            Re: Flashback Scenes

            I agree with Ronaldhino. I'm less concerned at whether flashbacks are 'allowed' but more whether they're needed. Using them as a way to define character always seems a bit cheap.

            Seeing as you mention The Godfather, probably my favourite flashback ever is in GF2, where we see young Vito watching nervously as baby Fredo is sick. It adds so much to what we see in the present - the idea of Fredo being the weak one, but also the one who needs extra protection from the family rather than being cast out. It shows Vito's love in contrast to Michael's indifference. It's yet another reminder that this is, at heart, a story about family.

            But it could be cut and the film would still make sense. We'd still understand Fredo's character, his weakness, his jealousy. We'd still get that he's that guy, the guy who always f**ks up, who always gets stuff wrong. The flashback is just a beautiful poetic hint at where some of that comes from.

            More recently I saw Blue Jasmine which uses flashbacks throughout. Again, they don't tell us anything we don't know about Jasmine, rather they add extra irony to her situation - she bemoans not knowing that her husband is a crook, but then a flashback shows us that she chose not to know. Then the final flashback completely pulls the rug and flips what we thought we knew on its head. It's a good film to watch for how flashbacks can be effectively woven into the story without slowing the pace or confusing the audience.
            My stuff

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            • #7
              Re: Flashback Scenes

              Piggy-back question on flashbacks re: format.

              FLASHBACK

              INT. HOUSE - DAY

              YOUNG HERO
              Blah, blah, blah.

              END FLASHBACK

              Now, do I need to bookend each flashback with FLASHBACK/END FLASHBACK or can I just use "Young Hero" to let the reader know it's a flashback?

              If a father, for example, appears in an early flashback, is it then implied that whenever he appears, we are looking back or is it better, for clarity, to bookend the Slug?

              SL35
              SL35
              Potent dreamer. Newb disclaimer.

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              • #8
                Re: Flashback Scenes

                ONCE UPON A TIME employs flashbacks as a recurring style to the show, and they work quite well. They advance story or character, and don't slow down the episode's narrative.

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