What is a flashback? The meaning of the word "flashback"

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Every layman who has minimal knowledge of the English language will be able to explain what a flashback is (the origin of the term: from English flash - an instant and back - back). This term is applicable to art: cinema, literature, theater. The term flashback in these areas is interpreted as a brief return to the events of the past, a look back. In the cinema, the course of action can be interrupted by frames that pass in the thoughts of the hero - his memories, reasoning, feelings in the past. These shots may be a repetition of those already shown in the film. This way of narrating can even form the main idea of the composition. The same term is also used to refer to frames of the chronicle of bygone days, which can interrupt the action; such inclusions in the plot are often served in black and white or serpentine toning. In literature, flashback allows you to understand the thoughts of the hero, to explain his actions. In the theater, this technique is rather akin to interludes. This method of presentation can prove that, according to the time frame of the plot, it cannot enter the main part of the picture or film. That's what flashback is in art. This technique allows you to better tell about the hero, explain why he became the way he is, what events of the past affect him.today's situation.

Views

Like many others, the term discussed in this article has its own classification. It is recommended that you familiarize yourself with the types and types of concepts before answering the question, what is a flashback.

• A single episode from the past is the most common technique. It is used when it is necessary to clarify a certain fact from the biography of the protagonist or to provide additional information necessary to understand the twist of the storyline. A typical example explaining what a flashback is in a movie is the horror comedy Zombieland. There, an unobtrusive and even cute insert intelligibly explains the reasons for the unpopularity of the central character among female representatives and tells how zombies appeared on the planet. Directors rarely use such one-time flashbacks, as they can disrupt the established flow of the story. Yes, and frequently repeated references to the past sometimes simply repeat those episodes that are known to the viewer from the dialogues. A little bit of good.
• Explication - an explanation, it is often used in films, books with a very confusing ending, mostly in the detective genre. So what is a flashback? This is when the detective / detective talks about exactly how he found the lead and unraveled the crime. This method is very similar to the previous one, but its main goal is to finally dot the “I”. It is often used on television and in series, for example, in the television project Lost. It is this technique that makes the plot look like a mosaic.series narrative. In Lost, at least one flashback is dedicated to each of the main characters, which tells about his biography in the light of the events currently taking place on the Island. If you want to understand what a flashback is in a series, see Lost.

From the spot and to the quarry

Right to the beginning - a method in which the entire plot is a flashback. Traditionally, the action begins with the story of the already elderly protagonist, he seems to be transferred to the time of his violent youth or relative maturity, and closer to the climax, the story returns to the “present” time and the narrator ends the story. This technique has been used more than effectively in the films: "Slumdog Millionaire", "Titanic" and in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". The audience is always intrigued by the beginning of the series: "Once there was a case …". Sometimes screenwriters start from the opposite - they show the death of the central character in the first minutes, and then tell in detail about his glorious deeds ("Lawrence of Arabia", "Gandhi").

But what is flashback and flashout in the script, you can understand by reviewing the pictures: "Star Trek", "Up", "The Departed". These film projects have a similar structure, the film begins with events in the past, followed by their consequences in the present. This allows the viewer to understand the background of the conflict and accept the actions of the characters. If the viewer had not been shown a flashback containing information about the circumstances of the death of Father William Volos, they might not have understood and appreciated the passion for freedom experienced by the hero of Braveheart.

Grain-by-grain, slowly

Step-by-step declassification of the truth is a series of flashbacks in which each episode is shown strictly in chronological order during the allotted time. So the viewer learns about the events that took place in the past and about the hero himself. In the film "I am a legend", according to the author's intention, the viewer only by the middle of the film finds out what really happened. This flashback is a favorite technique for screenwriters of films - court dramas (A Few Good Men, Nothing Personal) and films about memory loss like The Long Kiss Goodnight, where the plot is complex from the "puzzle". To understand what a flashback in "Naruto" is, the memories of the characters about the past allow. For example - Obito and Kakashi (the hero's meeting with his own father), as well as Itachi and Sasuke. This is the most effective technique, it maintains suspense throughout the entire timeline and allows the creators to share information about the characters and events with the viewer in parts.

Teaser

This technique is not common: only when the movie begins with a very emotional, powerful scene that takes place in the "present time", and after the narration is transferred back in order to bring the meaning of the story to this scene and then continue the narration. This method is clearly demonstrated by the comedy "The Hangover". Her narrative begins with a shot where three men look like they are going to fight: they stand proudly in the middle of the desert, not far from a wrecked car, and one of them talks in a trembling voice about the sad fate of a friend,who at this moment is getting married a hundred kilometers away. Similar examples of teaser flashback can be seen in the films "Michael Clayton" and "Mission Impossible 3". It certainly allows you to capture the attention of the beholder from the first minutes.

Parallel storylines

The most difficult technique is the simultaneous development of two completely opposite storylines ("The Usual Suspects", "The English Patient"). They are traditionally tied to the same character and will definitely intersect at a certain point in the story. Basically, it's like two films in one. During each excursion into the past or return-rewind to the present, the creators pay especially close attention to the details that keep the audience in suspense.

Alternative

However, the masters of cinema, wise by experience, consider the categorical “not to use them at all” to be the best recommendation for using flashbacks. Regardless of the impressive list of paintings listed above in each subspecies, one should be aware that this technique was masterfully performed there. But in the overwhelming majority of other films, nothing but a sad feeling that the filmmakers have chosen the easy way is not formed. It's just that instead of presenting in an elegant way the narrative of their character's past, they insert a flashback, most of which is unsuccessful. After all, conflicts taking place in the “present” time are much more interesting, and you can talk about past troublesnarrate using normal dialogue (Jaws, LA Confidential, and Saving Private Ryan). It's good that novice filmmakers know what a flashback is, if only they understood that this is not the only way out of the situation, but rather an extreme one.