I considered voice overs and flashbacks as some form of cheating when writing a movie script.
When it comes to voice overs I am still of the opinion that if the story needs to be told by speech, there is probably something missing in the visuals. There are good examples where a voice over fit perfectly, but there are many more movies where the storyteller should have been left out.
In my mind, the same used to be true for flashbacks.
But I have changed my opinion.
In my current script my hero’s background is vital. But how to tell what is needed? I thought that I had succeeded in passing the needed info though dialog here and there.
But to look at it with more realistic eyes my hero and her love interest have a two minute dialog. With amusing moments and visuals, sure, but still this is a two minutes dialog.
And more important, something that is told does not have near as much impact as something shown.
We get a much wider understanding if we see what is happening. There is a reason for news on TV to have films taken on location.
“I was a thief.”
“Yeah, sure, absolutely, pass me the pickles.”
So I realized that flashbacks can be a very good.
Cheating?
Well, maybe and maybe not. Like most things, flashbacks can be used too much or in the wrong places.
But by learning it this way I think that maybe I have learned something more than just a good use of flashbacks.
3 comments:
The question I ask myself, if I want a flashback, is 'are they really needed?' We've all seen films where flashbacks have been used brilliantly but mostly films and scripts could do without them.
One film I saw had a flashback then a flashback in that flashback and then another flashback in that flashback. And that was one of the better films.
The example you quote is a good one in that while a two minute dialogue scene may not be cheating, it may be too difficult to disguise that you are telling back-story needed for the future (unless there can be a big conflict in the scene and it isn't just chatting). In that case flashbacks may be the lesser of two evils.
Although, maybe if you can bring the relevant fact into the present...
“My bag was just snatched! Thieves are evil!”
“I wouldn't call them evil.”
“Of course they're evil, they are the scum of the earth.”
“Sometimes they have reasons for stealing, they're not trying to hurt people.”
That's less obvious than saying "I was a thief" but the audience gets a chance to work it out for themselves.
In this case the flashback reveal more information than that is told, which - hopefully - helps to understand the story.
The flashbacks appear inside the two minutes dialog where my hero talks to her love interest.
She tells him she met a man who based his income on stealing.
While she tells us this, we see her beeing sexually abused by a man already known in the script.
I think this adds both understanding and tenstion in this case.
I agree, that's a very effective way to use it. I don't even consider that example to be a typical flashback because it's like the character remembering.
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