Get Back to Where you Once Belonged

Flashbacks

I just reviewed a script that was impossible to follow, mostly because the author used about twenty five flashbacks, ranging in length from one script inch to twenty seven pages! So, I thought this would be a good time to review the use of flashbacks.

*** This information is from “Plot & Structure”, by James Scott Bell. A very good book, highly recommended. All quotes and most of the ideas are from this book.

Flashbacks are double edged swords. They can add texture and exposition to your script. But, they also disrupt the forward flow of the story. AND film schools and readers distrust them. AND they can confuse the audience - anyone who saw “Flags of Our Fathers” and was able to follow the story, raise your hand. So, use with caution.

Key points to remember about flashbacks:

1. Necessity: is a flashback the best way to present the information? “A flashback is almost always used to explain why a character acts a certain way in the story present.” Don't just use it as an information dump.

2. Independence: write the flashback to work as an interesting scene in it's own right, independent of how you got there.

3. Navigation: how do you get in and out of a flashback w/out confusing the audience? In the main story put in a strong sensory detail that triggers the flashback, goto the flashback, then return to the sensory detail in the main story.

Example: ( from a script I just read)

Johnny is a soldier in Iraq. He's in a fire fight. A grenade goes off. FLASH. (That's the sensory trigger).

Begin Flashback

The flash becomes a photographer's flashbulb. Johnny is back at his wedding three years previous, standing next to his beautiful bride, being congratulated by family. “You lucky guy,” “Congratulations!,” etc.

End flashback

Johnny is back in Iraq, his ears ringing and blood flowing from the grenade blast. (Return to the sensory trigger).

The flashback scene doesn't have independence but the navigation is easy to follow. Also it adds texture to the plot and character detail for Johnny.

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Jojo was a man who thought he was a loner
But he knew it wouldn't last.
Jojo left his home in tucson, arizona
For some california grass.
Get back, get back.
Get back to where you once belonged
Get back, get back.
Get back to where you once belonged. -- The Beatles