Relating a story with quick flashes?

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Relating a story with quick flashes?

    Written this already, and not sure I like it. Looked for examples (Usual Suspects script), but no help.

    Have a character relating an historical story to a group with quick soundless flashes of action from that story dropped in (bit like ANGEL HEART finale - checked that too, not in the script!).

    At the moment it looks like this:

    CHARACTER
    blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah.
    blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah.
    blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah.

    INTERCUT BETWEEN CHARACTER AND SUCCESSION OF [silent] POP SCENES

    - flash showing what the blah, blah, blah was about, but with more detail.

    CHARACTER
    blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah.
    blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah.

    - Another flash showing once again what is happened.

    CHARACTER
    Blah. Blah. Blah.

    ---------------------------

    ...and that's the way the page runs. Now, should I revert to proper slugs and scene descriptions for the flashes and just make CHARACTER's dialogue (V.O) despite wanting to cut back to them or should I go with the old FLASH ON and FLASH OFF before the flashes?

    I'm over thinking this here I know, but it's bugging me that in it's current form it's not clear what I'm doing.

    Thanks.
    @MacBullitt

  • #2
    Re: Realting a story with quick flashes?

    Originally posted by Twofingeredtypist View Post
    Written this already, and not sure I like it. Looked for examples (Usual Suspects script), but no help.

    Have a character relating an historical story to a group with quick soundless flashes of action from that story dropped in (bit like ANGEL HEART finale - checked that too, not in the script!).

    At the moment it looks like this:

    CHARACTER
    blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah.
    blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah.
    blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah.

    INTERCUT BETWEEN CHARACTER AND SUCCESSION OF [silent] POP SCENES

    - flash showing what the blah, blah, blah was about, but with more detail.

    CHARACTER
    blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah.
    blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah.

    - Another flash showing once again what is happened.

    CHARACTER
    Blah. Blah. Blah.

    ---------------------------

    ...and that's the way the page runs. Now, should I revert to proper slugs and scene descriptions for the flashes and just make CHARACTER's dialogue (V.O) despite wanting to cut back to them or should I go with the old FLASH ON and FLASH OFF before the flashes?

    I'm over thinking this here I know, but it's bugging me that in it's current form it's not clear what I'm doing.

    Thanks.
    This may be an artifact of how you present the question, but what it reads like is that you tell in the dialog then show that same moment again in the action -- you're telling the story twice. Unless the two stories are significantly different, why do it this way?

    As far as formatting, I personally would probably do something like this:

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    CHARACTER
    blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah.

    INT. HOUSE - NIGHT (RETELLING)

    Done MOS, shows the blah, blah, blah in action.

    CHARACTER (VO)
    blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah.
    blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah.

    BACK TO SCENE

    CHARACTER
    blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah.
    blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah.
    blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah.

    HOUSE (RETELLING)

    Another silent flash with continued voice over.

    BACK TO SCENE

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Et cetera. (I'm not sure if I'd use "MOS" these days, but it's really handy for this situation.) I would also make the cuts count; if we're cutting back to the narrator, then what about the narrator's action or expression is important for us to see or know?

    Re-reading this, the way I wrote this the silent scenes are not "flashes," they're moving moments. Flashes are very quick -- almost like a still photograph. Think the buttons and opening moments for NCIS acts. For a true still moment, I would probably do more like:

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    CHARACTER
    blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah.
    blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah.
    blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah.

    QUICK SHOT OF BLAH

    CHARACTER
    blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah.
    blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah.
    blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah. blah.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Write it like you see it; if you see the voice continuing over the action, then VO. Intercut feels more like moving between two scenes, where you've got scene 1 with dialog, and scene 2 completely silent. (Depending on the scene, this could be effective.)

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Relating a story with quick flashes?

      Thanks for helping me get out of my head on this. Yes, in the end I went the traditional (V.O) route and I think it has simplified it no end. Much better.

      Thanks again.
      @MacBullitt

      Comment

      Working...
      X