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

Every philistine who has minimal knowledge of English can explain - what is flashback (the origin of the term: from English flash - instant and backward). This term is applicable to art: cinema, literature, theater. The term flashback in these spheres 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 through the hero's thoughts - his memories, reasonings, feelings in the past. These frames can be a repetition of the ones already shown in the film. Such a way of narration can even make up the basic idea of composition. The same term is used to refer to the chronicles of the past days, which can interrupt the actions, such inclusions in the plot are often given in black and white or serpia-toning. In the literature flashback allows you to understand the hero's thoughts, explain his actions. In the theater, this method, rather, is related to interludes. This method of filing can tell you that the time frame of the story can not 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 such, what events of the past affect the current situation.

Kinds

Like many others, the term 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 a flashback is.

• A single episode from the past is the most common technique. It is used when it is necessary to explain a certain fact from the biography of the main character or to provide additional information necessary for understanding the turn of the storyline. A typical example, explaining what a flashback, in the movie can serve as a horror comedy "Zombiland." There, an unobtrusive and even sweet insertion intelligibly explains the reasons for the unpopularity of the central character in female representatives and tells how the zombies appeared on the planet. Such one-off flashbacks directors use very rarely, as they can disrupt the established course of the narrative. And repetitive often 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, mostly detective genre. So what is flashback? This is when the detective / detective tells how exactly he found a clue and solved the crime. This method is very similar to the previous one, but its main goal is to finally dot all the "I" points. He is often used on television and on TV, for example, in the teleproject Lost. It is this method that makes the plot narrative of the series similar to the mosaic. In Lost, each of the main characters is assigned at least one flashback, which tells about his biography in the light of the events taking place at the moment on the Island. Want to understand what flashback is in the series - see Lost.

From the spot and into the quarry

Immediately to the beginning is a method in which the whole plot is a flashback. Traditionally, the action begins with the story of an elderly protagonist, he seems to be transferred to the time of his violent youth or relative maturity, and closer to the culmination of history returns to the "present" time and the narrator finishes the narrative. This technique is used more than effectively in the films: "Slumdog Millionaire", "Titanic" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". Spectator audience is always intrigued by the beginning of the series: "Once it was ...". Sometimes the writers start from the opposite - they demonstrate the death of the central character at the first minute, and afterwards they tell in detail about his glorious exploits ("Lawrence of Arabia", "Gandhi").

But what is flashback and flash in the script can be understood by reviewing the paintings: "Star Trek", "Up", "The Departed". These film projects have a similar structure, the film begins with events in the past, then their consequences follow in the present. This allows the viewer to understand the background of the conflict and accept the actions of the characters. If the viewer was not shown a flashback containing information about the circumstances of the death of his father, William Volos, perhaps they would not understand and appreciate the passion for freedom experienced by the hero of the "Brave Heart".

By the grains, slowly

Step by step declassification of the truth is called a series of flashbacks, in which each episode is demonstrated strictly in chronological order during the allotted timekeeping. So the spectator learns about the events that happened in the past and about the hero himself. In the film "I'm a legend", according to the author's idea, the viewer only finds out in the middle of the film what really happened. This flashback is a favorite device for screenwriters of paintings - judicial dramas ("A few good guys", "Nothing personal") and a movie about losing memory like "A long kiss for the night," where the plot is made up of a "puzzle". To understand what a flashback in "Naruto" allows memories of the characters about the past. For example - Obito and Kakashi (meeting the hero with his own father), and Itachi and Sasuke. This is the most effective technique, it supports suspense throughout the timekeeping and allows creators to share information about the heroes and events in parts with the viewer.

Teaser

This method is not often met: only when the movie starts with a very emotional, strong scene that occurs in the "present tense", and then the narrative is transferred back, in order to bring the meaning of the story to this scene and after continuing the narration. Such a method is clearly demonstrated comedy "Bachelor Party in Vegas". Her narrative 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 a car that has been broken into rubbish, and one of them with a trembling voice tells about the sad fate of a friend who at that moment marries a hundred kilometers from them. 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 device is the simultaneous development of two completely opposite storylines ("Ordinary suspects", "English patient"). They are traditionally tied to the same character and will necessarily intersect at a certain point in the narrative. In fact, it's like two films in one. During each excursion into the past or return-rewind to the present, the creators pay special attention to the details that keep the viewer in suspense.

Alternative

However, experienced masters of cinematography, the best recommendation for using flashbacks is the categorical "do not use them at all." Regardless of the above impressive list of paintings in each subspecies, you should be aware that there this reception is executed masterfully. But in the majority of other pictures - nothing but the sad feeling that the filmmakers chose the easy way is not being formed. Simply instead of presenting in a graceful form a narrative about the past of your character, they insert a flashback, mostly unsuccessful. After all, conflicts that occur in the "present" time are much more interesting, and you can tell about past troubles with the help of usual dialogues ("Jaws", "Los Angeles Secrets" and "Saving Private Ryan"). It's good that beginning filmmakers know what flashback is, they would have understood that this is not the only way out, but rather an extreme.