Screenwriting : Flashback by Katarzyna Adamus

Flashbacks are a way of imparting information in a non-linear fashion. Flashbacks aren't always about the character thinking about something in the past, but sometimes that's what is happening in the scene. Also, flashbacks don't need to be the truth - they can lie to give us a red-herring, give us a bit of the truth (or a shade of the truth), or just contradict what the characters are saying.

That being said, you just enter them and exit them. Don't worry about how the editor might add a special effect. And the actor doesn't need to make a funny face so that we know they are thinking really hard about the past... But sometimes that helps with the transition.

I always look for real world examples...

In the movie Annihilation (2018) (Alex Garland, Jeff VanderMeer (Novel)) they use a simple transition for the flashback. The flashback isn't absolutely necessary. It's not giving us new information that the characters aren't already telling us, it's there to reinforce what's happening.

"THORENSEN (CONT’D)

See the bones?

LENA

... Yes.

THORENSEN

He’s been laid there about six months now.

Too far away to positively ID, but from his uniform, they know he was on the previous mission.

FLASHBACK TO

EXT. THE SHIMMER/TREELINE - DAY

- LONG LENS on the trees.

A MAN walks out. Unarmed. Wearing the SPEC OPS uniform.

Through the mirage distortion, he seems to have a long beard.

THORENSEN (O.S.)

Just strolled out the forest one day.

Even at this distance, the MAN seems slightly dazed. Or uncertain. ..."

Sometimes it is someone thinking about the past, as a way to reinforce what might be driving the character's decisions:

The Blacklist pilot episode (2013) (Jon Bokenkamp).

"ON LIZ (PRESENT)

As she wrestles with a memory. Thinking back.

RED (O.S.)

Where did you see it, Lizzy?

INT. LIZ’S BROWNSTONE (FLASHBACK)

Liz remembers her frantic morning. Being late. Tom holding the TWO TOURISM BROCHURES for his field trip.

TOM

Air and Space or the National Zoo?

Liz flicks the zoo brochure. We see the same SUNBURST IMAGE in the brochure. The logo for the Smithsonian National Zoo.

LIZ (O.S.)

It wasn’t a tattoo... (realizing) ...it was a stamp. ..."

"leaving for a professional to illustrate it", are you co-writing with the professional? If yes then you can leave it for that professional.

What you're actually asking is scenes without a dialogue (like a movie without a dialogue).

It's quite a tough work, the scenes will demand a STRONG VISUAL and much CLARITY. We will know what's going on from the actions of the characters. That means you will have to spend time on the action, and make it UNDERSTANDABLE.

Reading scripts will be helpful. And remember, TALENT will be required...

Good luck...

Christopher Phillips thank you for providing examples, it made it easy!

Felix Agyeman Boahen I'm writing on my own. So far I was writing novels and stories, which are obviously different mediums. The flashback will have dialogue as well. I am going to change one of my short stories into short film screenplay.

Just know the basics of screenwriting. You will know the rest as you work on your projects.

With the flashback, just write it as a normal scene, and indicate that it's a flashback in the slug line.

Remember to show, don't tell...

Thank you Felix Agyeman Boahen

Voiceover? God no. Unless you're Scorcese. Or it's diegetic somehow in a non-contrived way. Just cut to it. You don't even need a slugline unless the timeframe is specifically relevant to the plot. (i.e. 3 weeks earlier, and a character mentions something will happen in 3 weeks, etc.) If you can't communicate to the audience that its a flashback based on context alone, you need to work on your skills as a writer.

Also i shouldn't need to say it, but definitely don't start the story at the end and then cut to 3 weeks earlier, thats such a tired gimmick xD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ-Z_DW0AuE

if you're talking about presentation on the page, Greta Gerwig changed the font color of the flashback scenes in "Little Women" script.

Dan MaxXx Yes, I had problem how to present Flashback as a flashback in the screenplay

Look at how Quentin Tarantino presented a Flashback in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. You can just show a C.U. (I know about camera direction and don't wish to have that debate today) of your character thinking or having a smoke, as he did with Brad Pitt. Something like:

EXT. ROOF - DAY

Cliff LIGHTS UP a smoke. Suddenly, he hears the voice of Rick re-playing in his head:

RICK DALTON

I been meaning to tell you, the guy that gaffes this? Best friends with Randy, the guy from the Green Hornet. So, there really ain't no point.

CUT TO:

EXT. STUDIO BACKLOT - DAY

Cliff sits in a Golf Cart getting ready to light up a smoke.

THEN WE SEE WHAT CLIFF DID TO PISS OFF RANDY FROM THE GREEN HORNET IN THE FLASHBACK. AT THE END OF THE FLASHBACK, WE ......

CUT TO:

EXT. ROOF - DAY

C.U.

Cliff BLOWS SMOKE and LAUGHS to himself, as he shakes his head and reminisces.

CLIFF BOOTH

Good enough.

Again, I don't wish to get into a debate about camera moves, as I have written close to 50 scripts and produced 18 films. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I am of the firm belief that a writer has to convey certain things. Now, WHAT a DIRECTOR (if the Writer is not BOTH) does with those things is up to them. BUT< for the purposes of conveying what we are seeing on screen, this is my answer. For the record, I hope it helps. Break Legs on that script! GOD BLESS and STAY FRESH!!!

Now for Rick's line, there should likely be a (O.S.) or (O.C.) after it. I should have gotten that up there, but I wanted to get this to you. :)

Thank you Sam Borowski I will stuck to just writing "Flashback" in the slugline, leaving the rest of work to a potential director (and It is not that I am lazy - I am still new to screenplay format and prefer keep it simple).

If it ain't on the page it ain't on the stage. You write the scene. Note: Flashbacks and Voice Over are the two most misused elements in new writer's screenplays. Always better to learn to write without them.

William Martell Yes, I can place it not as a flashback, just changing a bit structure of the screenplay. It will be even better, thank you for advice. I stuck to idea of flashback, as it is flashback in the original story, but presenting it in different way adds more of dynamics. Thanks!

Ben Hinman To be honest I felt offended, assuming that you assumed that my writing is same bad as a script read by the character in provided video. Then I cought myself in the circle of assumptions, and decided to let it go. Good luck with your own writing!

I feel like flashbacks unless used for specifically comedic effect are a sign of bad writing. Thats not to say non-linear storytelling can't be amazing when done right, just look at Westworld. But Westworld is also a perfect example of how structure informs our understanding of events, the actual timeline itself is never explained to the audience and we are even initially misled as to which events are happening simultaneously as they are juxtaposed together. Over time, the audiences understanding of the timeline becomes better informed and we know which moments are "flashbacks" but they're not flashbacks because they are still a story being told linearly. Any time you have to "flash back" to one scene, it is usually to give the audience pertinent information you should have already given them earlier. It also detracts from the impact of that moment--imagine if you have a relationship between two characters and you have to flash back to the moment they met to give some context to their current relationship... the audience isn't going to be invested in that moment at all, they're invested in the relationship in the present day. But if we see it from the beginning, it gives us more to build off of. Again, look at Eternal Sunshine for a perfect example of this, they don't use flashbacks, they use creatively framed non-linear storytelling. It is really 2 stories from 2 different time periods told side by side running in parallel.

Thanks Ben Hinman I decided to get rid of this flashback. P.S. There will be more of "newbie" questions soon, as I see that I can get more valuable knowledge here, than googling and trying to find the answer in the Internet.

Ben Hinman flashbacks are a tool... nothing more, nothing less.

Hi Katarzyna,

Regarding flashback...you simply do it when you need it. You're the writer of the story, and if you feel a need to "go back in time to show something", then you just do it, and come back to the present. Make sure it's effective - but that applies to every line you write anyway, right?

I know that there is this belief by some that "flashbacks are bad/lazy writing", but that's just another inaccurate blanket-statement/generalization. So many great films and TV shows utilize flashbacks. From Citizen Kane to 8 1/2 to The Godfather to Forrest Gump to The Conformist to Cinema Paradiso to Kill Bill to John Wick to....etc., etc. etc..

My favorite film flashback is probably in the ending of Once Upon a Time in the West - no words, just images. I also love the ending scene of Contagion - again, no words, just images. Those sure are two great scenes. My favorite TV flashbacks are probably in Euphoria. That sure is a great show.

Best fortunes in your creative endeavors, Katarzyna!