How To Write A Screenplay:
Features Writing Tips How Do I Indicate a Flashback? Should I Use Them? How Do I Indicate a Flashback? Should I Use Them? |
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Q. How do I do flashbacks? I have in my screenplay a few times when the character is having a flashback. I fully appreciate your views on them but how should they actually be written in the script? At the moment I am just writing: FLASHBACK.
A. Well, I think that would work well - just do a scene header as normal and indicate flashback first line of the scene - does the trick fine. As to whether you should be using them? That's another matter altogether - I'd normally advise against it - do you really need a flashback? What are you getting from them that you can't tell in the present? Often a whole flashback scene can be done in a line of dialogue in the present. Personally I’d be very wary. I know there’s a big vogue for flashbacks – the TV show ‘Lost’ made a meal of them – but I always feel you should be moving forward and gathering pace in the present, and adding flashbacks only tends to slow that down. It can be done, (See ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ for the most fantastic, most convoluted, time line shifting narrative) but usually they just act to drag the pace. (In fact I think ‘Lost’ suffered for this - I just got bored of going into the past to play that perspective shift trick with the future. Obviously I’m on my own with this one!) You may say people need to know that information at that point - I would argue that all people REALLY need to know most of the time is what your character chooses to DO and SAY in the PRESENT. (Which also means I would avoid giving out a lot of back story generally.)
This is just a personal issue of mine, so please take it with a pinch of salt, but since I made myself stick to it I think another punch was added to my writing.
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