Each inhabitant who has minimal knowledge of the English language will be able to explain what flashback is (the origin of the term: from English flash - instant and back-back). This term applies 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 movie, the course of action can be interrupted by frames that pass in the hero’s thoughts - his memories, reasoning, feelings in the past. These frames may be a replay of those already shown in the film. This kind of storytelling can even make up the main idea of ​​composition. The same term is also used for frames from the chronicle of past days, which can interrupt actions, such intersperses in the plot are often served in black and white or serpia toning. In literature, flashback allows you to understand the thoughts of the hero, explain his actions. In the theater, such a reception is rather related to interlude. 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. This is what flashback is in art. This technique allows you to better talk about the hero, explain why he became so, what events of the past affect the current situation.
Kinds
Like many others, the term parsed 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 of what flashback is.
- A single episode from the past is the most common trick. It is used when it is necessary to clarify a certain fact from the biography of the protagonist or to give additional information necessary for understanding the rotation of the storyline. A typical example that explains what flashback is in a movie can be the horror comedy Zombieland. There, an unobtrusive and even cute insert lucidly explains the reasons for the unpopularity of the central character among female representatives and tells how zombies appeared on the planet. The directors use such one-time flashbacks very rarely, as they can disrupt the established course of the narrative. And often repeated references to the past sometimes simply repeat those episodes that are known to the viewer from the dialogues. Good - little by little.
- Explication is an explanation, it is often used in films, books with a very confusing ending, mainly of the detective genre. So what is 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 all the “And”. It is often used on television and in TV shows, for example, in the television project Lost. It is this technique that makes the plot narrative of the series look like a mosaic. 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 taking place at this time on the Island. If you want to understand what flashback is in the series, see Lost.
From the spot and into the quarry
Right to the beginning - a method in which the whole plot is flashback. Traditionally, the action begins with the story of an already elderly protagonist, as if transferred to the time of his exuberant youth or relative maturity, and closer to the climax, the story returns to the "present" time and the narrator ends the story. This technique was used more than effectively in the films: Slumdog Millionaire, Titanic, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The audience is always intrigued by the beginning of the series: “Once there was a business ...”. Sometimes screenwriters start from the opposite - in the first minutes they demonstrate the death of the central character, and afterwards they tell in detail about his glorious exploits (Lawrence of Arabia, Gandhi).
But what is flashback and flashout in the script can be understood by reviewing the paintings: “Star Track”, “Up”, “The Departed”. These film projects have a similar structure, the film begins with events in the past, then their consequences in the present follow. This allows the viewer to understand the background of the conflict and accept the actions of the characters. If the audience had not been shown a flashback containing information about the circumstances of the death of Father William Volos, they probably would not have understood and appreciated the passion for freedom experienced by the hero of Braveheart.
Bit by bit, slowly
A phased declassification of the truth is a series of flashbacks in which each episode is shown strictly in chronological order during the allotted timing. So the viewer learns about the events that happened in the past and about the hero himself. In the film “I Am a Legend”, according to the author’s intention, the viewer only in the middle of the film knows what really happened. This flashback is a favorite technique of scriptwriters - judicial dramas (“Some Good Guys,” “Nothing Personal”) and films about memory loss like “A Long Kiss for the Night,” where the plot is composed of a “puzzle”. Understand what flashback in "Naruto", allow the memories of the characters about the past. For example - Obito and Kakashi (meeting the hero with his own father), as well as Itachi and Sasuke. This is the most effective technique, it maintains suspense throughout the entire timing and allows creators to share information about heroes and events in parts with the viewer.
Teaser
This technique is not often found: only if the movie begins with a very emotional, strong scene taking 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 story. This method is clearly demonstrated by the comedy "Bachelor Party in Vegas." Her story begins with a frame where three men look as if they are going to fight: they stand proudly in the middle of the desert, not far from the car, which was wrecked in rubbish, and one of them tells in a trembling voice about the sad fate of a friend who at that moment is getting married a hundred kilometers from them. Similar samples of the teaser flashback can be seen in the films “Michael Clayton” and “Mission Impossible 3”. It undoubtedly allows you to capture the attention of the beholder from the first minutes.
Parallel storylines
The most difficult trick is the simultaneous development of two completely opposite storylines (“Normal Suspects”, “English Patient”). They are traditionally tied to the same character and will necessarily intersect at a certain point in the story. In fact, 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, wise cinema masters of experience, the best recommendation for the use of flashbacks is categorical "do not use them at all." Regardless of the impressive list of paintings listed above in each subspecies, one should be aware that this technique was performed expertly there. But in the predominant majority of other paintings - nothing but the sad feeling that the filmmakers chose the easy way is not formed. Just instead of presenting in an elegant form a narrative about the past of their character, they insert a flashback, for the most part unsuccessful. After all, the conflicts that occur in the “present” time are much more interesting, and you can tell about past troubles using ordinary dialogues (“Jaws”, “Secrets of Los Angeles” and “Saving Private Ryan”). It’s good that beginning filmmakers know what flashback is, if only they would understand that this is not the only way out of the situation, but rather an extreme.