Examples of flashback scenes that work

J

Joe_Digital

Well-known member
I'm looking for inspiration to help me justify a flashback for my main character. I've been instructed and told over the years that a flashback is a screenwriting cop out, but I cannot think of a better way to do this, and I cannot recall a scene by an actor that had the dialogue and meat to it that could elicit the desired emotional effect of having that actor describe the trauma they witnessed without using this storytelling tool. The mantra of show don't tell is another of those instructions, and therefore seems to contredict the 'do not use flashback' canon.

Would love some opinions.
 
Joe_Digital said:
I'm looking for inspiration to help me justify a flashback for my main character. I've been instructed and told over the years that a flashback is a screenwriting cop out, but I cannot think of a better way to do this, and I cannot recall a scene by an actor that had the dialogue and meat to it that could elicit the desired emotional effect of having that actor describe the trauma they witnessed without using this storytelling tool. The mantra of show don't tell is another of those instructions, and therefore seems to contredict the 'do not use flashback' canon.

Would love some opinions.
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I don't think flashbacks have the degree of taboo you ascribe. A movie like "12 monkeys" (or was it 13?) with Bruce Willis wouldn't have worked without flashbacks.

Having said that, you're saying exposition is the alternative to flashback. Can't you tell the story chronologically?

I'd recommend viewing screenwriting "rules" as guidelines. The use of flashback, telling and not showing, are fair game if your story works.
 
Can't do the story chronologically..the story takes place in 1977 over a finite period. However, my character reveals something about himself -he attributes his motivation to something terrible he witnessed as a child.

I'm not saying it cannot work with a talented actor through expression and dialogue, but for it to resonate...well my gut tells me I can show it in a FB and have it look and sound much more visceral than if I wrote dialogue for my character to tell us what happened.

Don't know if anyone saw the last couple of episodes of Dexter but they used flashback fairly well when he recalls the moment that changed him forever.
 
"Usual Suspects" had some strong flashbacks as I recall. My general feeling though about flashbacks is they're often not the best way to convey the visceral--I think of them more as an expository thing. But that's just me.

Either way, I think it's a mistake to let any rule confine you. Use the damn flashback Joe!
 
Thanks for the vote of confidence. The DVXuser site is a great tool overall, and it's cool to solicit other thoughts in a constructive way.

I've written one produced screenplay, co-written another, have three in development, and the one in question is being hailed by a MAJOR indie distributor as the 'next Scarface' so it's mighty shoes to fill. Now the problem of course is I don't want my film to be too close to it, and certainly there were no flashbacks there. The major thing I had a problem with was that Montana was just not a nice guy, consumed by 'wanting the world, and everything in it.' My character's goals are not so lofty, and he is a protagonist you can actually relate to on an emotional level, which is entirely different...the overall journey is similar but I am looking for the right way to have him reveal a difficult part of his past with the right amount of emotional drama. I feel that if I can have him flashback, we see and hear what he does as a child, and when we come back to the present (in this case 1977) he's a wreck, his voice is cracked, and his usual confidence is shattered. But at least we understand viscerally why he is motivated the way he is.
 
We heard the same things about flashbacks, voice-over, etc. : "They're copouts, crutches, props for bad storytelling, etc."

We ran into the same problem you describe with our movie X-GEN: how else to tell the story? We needed flashbacks b/c the fact that the character was having them was a major factor in the development of the story. It pointed to changes in the character and made up a significant part of the building tension.

I guess one alternative for your story is a killer bit of speechified dialogue in which he tells the story of whatever happened to him to someone (significant) in language that is markedly different from his usual manner of speaking. But then you've got all the issues that come with a monologue...

So ditto the guy who said "use but don't abuse." If it helps you tell your story, break the rules. Note: We noticed during editing that flashbacks (unless they played out like little scenes) were difficult because there were fewer structural constraints. When anything could happen in any order, we had a lot of difficult decisions to make. So if you aren't involved in the editing and the flashback is not a straightforward scene, you might put more detailed direction than normal.

P.S. - we also used voice-over, so we're clearly philistines whose advice is highly suspect.
 
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Constant Gardner nominated for oscars was FULL of Flashbacks, so was the succesful Batman Begins, and a whole lot of films in the past two years.

If the story sucks then flashbacks will be highly criticized BUT if the story's great than you may include as many flashbacks as you need, as long as they're meaningful and MOVE the story.
 
Flashbacks can work when the story works

Tarantino's use of the flashback is wonderful in Reservoir Dogs and the Kill Billy's, The Godfather Part 2, Titanic, Citizen Kane, Scorsese uses it with great flaire, Forrest Gump ......

It is simply a Plot Device



(Constant Gardner; why ? Whhhhhhhhhhhyyyyyyyyyyyy ?)
 
John_Hudson said:
(Constant Gardner; why ? Whhhhhhhhhhhyyyyyyyyyyyy ?)
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Think of how you feel about Constant Gardener and then The Thin Red Line. Now, flip those two around and you'll know how I feel about Constant Gardener and The Thin Red Line...:Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)
 
To me, theres only two ways a flashback will work, theres the flashback of a time that happens before the the scenes prior (which is done by tarantino the great and should pretty much be a really short film on it's own) and than theres the flashback to something that did happen in a prior scene.

If you take the second route, during the scene that requires the flashback, don't cut to the flashback, than cut back to the scene. Use your editor. Go in and out flash back and forth from the scene. It gives more of a dramatic feel, and looks more artistic than the simple, "cut back to a scene everybody already saw, than come back to the scene we're at now."

The editing at the end of Saw movies are excellent.

"Can't do the story chronologically..the story takes place in 1977 over a finite period. However, my character reveals something about himself -he attributes his motivation to something terrible he witnessed as a child." -- Joe Digital

If I was writing this movie, I would have the thing that happens to him as a kid happen as the intro, cut to opening credits, than start the movie from wherever. Than when the flashback time comes, I'd do the cutting in and out from present to flashback style. Maybe even give the flashback a dull look.

Than it gets tricky for dialogue reasons, and I couldn't say what I would do unless I knew the dialogue from both times.

I'm not saying other forms of flashbacks DON'T work, I'm just giving my opinion on flashbacks. Now if it's a big complex (here there and everywhere) movie you definantly need the narrarator. But for those uncomplex simple plot films, I think it's a cheesy way to get the story over...
 
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Joe_Digital said:
I am looking for the right way to have him reveal a difficult part of his past with the right amount of emotional drama..
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imhop your ability to do this will be a function of your abiliity, up to that point, to create an engaging character.
 
Any emotional drama requires build up, holding off on release, tension and then a sudden release. A childhood drama could be alluded to repeatedly, not overtly but very subvertly, because it's subtext for many of the character's actions. A lot of people claim films are about what people _don't_ say, and it's very possible to make an incident like that clear without ever saying it - that leads to a lot of tension which you could either blow open by showing it for an immediate release, or come much closer to alluding to it and leave it unsaid.

All drama is just figuring out what people want and denying it to them until the right moment.
 
use it because i am.if i don't use it my story won't be the same.i'm at a point were i wont let hollywood dictate how i tell my stories.if you can get your point across to the vast majority of audiences who can care less about all the technical jargan, then who cares.your purpose of telling your story was accomplised.
 
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