Hi all!
Following the webinar on how to write a commercial script given by the delightful Christopher Lockhart a couple of weeks back, what he said about the flashback story structure resonated with me as a possible key to fixing the structure of one of my scripts. But try as I might on Google, I can find absolutely nothing outside of good ways to structure a flashback! EDIT: I'm not looking for feedback on flashbacks! Rather, the flashback story structure similar to Titanic, for example! :)
Does anyone have any tips or directions to resources that can help a girl out? I'd be forever in your debt!! Thanks so much in advance, and have awesome weekends wherever you may be!
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This is a great question and something I realize we don’t have a webinar for! I’ll get the education team to work on finding someone great to teach this!
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Oh, thank you so much, Amanda Toney! That would be amazing! I'd sign up for that in a heartbeat! I think I'm on the right track with my new plan for my script, but to have something concrete to refer to would be incredible!
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Amy Jayne Conley can you say more about the problem with the structure and why the webinar helped, please?
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The biggest mistake in use of flashbacks is that they feel forced in to explain something (ie: lazy writing) as opposed to being weaved into the structure and feeling organic to it. Some of the better examples come in biopics -- RAY does this very well. It's worth watching to see.
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A webinar about flashbacks would be great, Amanda Toney. And maybe the teacher could throw in advice on time jumps (Example: "Five years later") and writing non-linear scripts.
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Laurie Ashbourne Thanks - I do mean a flashback structure overall, though, rather than just using a flashback to give extra info. The way I understood Chris' use of it as an example was that the flashback would be longer, and rather than being a device for explanation. I believe he used the Titanic as an example of flashback structure. If I'm barking up the wrong tree, or I've misunderstood, it'd also be very good to know - endless hours Googling are proving so fruitless it's painful!
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Amy Jayne Conley TITANIC is essentially an extended flashback (that's the term) bookended with Old Rose in present day. The bookend would also be more of the structure you are looking for. There are a lot of films that do this well in addition to TITANIC. You can probably find a lot of them just by google variations on the term bookend structure as framing device. FOREST GUMP is sort of like this too, but we check in with him quite often on that bus stop bench. So try, bookend structure and extended flashback in your searches, even "Chekov's gun" will probably help in defining how to use these devices successfully.
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Hey Maurice, there may be better credited people to write a webinar on Flashbacks and flash forwards but I do that often in my scripts and would be open to writing a webinar discussing the posiitives and negatives.
Cool, Tom. Talk to Sam Sokolow. He's Stage 32's
Director of Education (www.stage32.com/profile/877526/about).
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Flashbacks used as devices for exposition stand out like a sore thumb. And if they're executed long and clunky, they can really take the viewer out of the rhythm of the story.
The recent Guy Ritchie film, Wrath of Man, had this issue, in that the whole structure relied on flashbacks that constantly threw off the flow of the story. Same goes for the one twist flashback in Tarantino's Hateful Eight.
On the other hand, if done quickly and smoothly, they can go unnoticed - like the reveal of the diamond's whereabouts at the end of Titanic. Or any of the quick insert shots Chris Nolan likes to use.
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Laurie Ashbourne Hooolalala this is amazing! Thank you so much!!
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Flashbacks, especially long ones, kill a story for me; however, the use of a Quick Flash or even a series of Quick Flashes, can be a powerful tool in revealing a character's inner life and emotion.
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B A Mason, John - thanks so much - but I'm not looking for feedback on flashbacks themselves! I know not to use too many. Rather, I'm looking for any resources on the structure that Laurie gave more info on. It's a whole story structure, I think - rather than overused flashbacks! Thanks for your input, though! :)
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Happy it was useful, Amy Jayne Conley
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A good example of how flashbacks can work for story development is ‘American Harry Stories’ (at least the last 3 or so seasons). Displaying the present dilemma to create an origin to the plot.
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I never read Titanic screenplay so I am not sure what you are asking. There are only a few ways to format a flashback that I am aware of.
One way is to write:
INT. CLASSROOM - DAY - FLASHBACK
If it happens in a dream you can write:
INT. JOE’S BEDROOM – NIGHT
Joe is asleep in bed.
DREAM
Joe runs down the street…
BACK TO SCENE
Joe wakes up.
If a scene consists of more than just one scene you start off like:
BEGIN FLASHBACK SEQUENCE
INT. JOE’S FARM - DAY
Joe repairs a broken fence.
INT. JOE’S KITCHEN – DAY
Joe washes dishes.
INT. JOE’S BARN – NIGHT
Joe feeds the horses.
END FLASHBACK SEQUENCE
There are other ways but these are the most common ones.
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In my first script, I was given feedback to work more on the flashback. In reviewing the flashbacks I believe that one of the flashbacks I had, was incorrect because of writing a situation occurring in the future but formatted it as a flashback. In reconsidering and reviewing the definition of flashback, I came to the conclusion that an incident occurring in the future is not the same as a flashback. So I rewrote the incident and the scenes following it, then I resubmitted the script.
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Dan, Pamela, thanks very much for your input :) but as I mentioned in the post, I’m not looking for feedback on flashbacks - rather, the flashback story structure, which the titanic is an example of. I’m good with actual flashback scenes - I need/want info on overall flashback story structure! :)