The classic flashback is often shown through a use of fade or dissolve, along with music over the top. However, there are other ways to cut into a flashback which I want to look further into.
''By suddenly presenting the past, flashbacks can abruptly offer new meanings connected to any person, place or object'' (Turim, 1989:17)
Turin states an interesting point, as the scene in which the flashback occurs is going to be quite powerful and emotional. It's the turning point in the film where everything almost comes together. The audience find out answers, whilst still trying to put together everything that is happening. Flashbacks can have a powerful effect on films and I don't want our flashback to not give any meaning, I want it to be portrayed in a way which adds to the film and lets us see further into Francis' life and Bethany's.
Sid Field states: "Flashbacks are a tool, a device, where the screenwriter provides the reader and audience with visual information that he or she cannot incorporate into the screenplay any other way. The purpose of the flashback is simple: it is a technique that bridges time, place and action to reveal information about the character, or move the story forward.''
Reference: https://www.writersstore.com/the-use-of-flashbacks/
An interesting flashback scene is in the film 'Oldboy'. The man is stood in the lift as some music begins playing. He then almost steps into the flashback as he reaches his hand out to her and then we cut to the flashback where she is in the same scene. The scene then begins jolting from his point of view to what he currently looks like now, in the flashback scene. The music builds up to help lift the message behind the flashback. And then a juxtaposition almost occurs, the music has reached a point of 'happiness' whilst the man shoots himself in the lift.
I looked at a really interesting video which informs filmmakers on the different types of flashback styles there are; some are new to me and very creative ways of showing a flashback. Whereas some are very simplistic as to fade into a flashback which if done right, still has a powerful effect.
VideoEssay - "Flashbacks in Films" from Hauke Sterner on Vimeo.
Different styles of flashbacks.
Allow the audience to look into the mind of a character, it looks into a personal memory and represents a subjective 'truth'.
Example:
In the film Citizen Kane, 1941, a group of men are talking about the life of one of the characters in 5 separate flashbacks. They all have their own personal memory which means it is subjective to them.
Objective Flashbacks:
Objective
When it's clear that the characters mind is not entered, or entering through an object, the flashback is distinguished as Objective.
Example:
Lost - The Greater Good, 2004.
There are men are all talking amongst themselves, but it is not them who are physically telling the story - the director/editor has pushed the flashback in during the scene so that we are watching a completely different timeline. 'For the duration of this flashback, the past, simply becomes the present.'
Internal
Internal flashbacks are flashbacks which are shown that fit into the timeframe of the movie. So, we will have already seen the scene, however, the audiences' memory is being refreshed.
External
These flashbacks are scenes which have happened before the plot of the film. This can provide a backstory.
Example:
Something which could fit this example, is in The Notebook. The old man is reading a story to the old women, which is actually the whole story of the film.
Oral Flashback
This type of flashback is sound only, no visuals. The character may be doing something in the present on screen, however, we hear noises from the past over the top of the clip.
Flashbacks are presented through visual, oral or verbal queues. This could be through someone showing something and it triggering a flashback, or through pulling a face in the present, and it being the same face in the flashback, through music which is a queue that there is going to be a flashback, or through someone saying something.
Some other ways are for the character to act as the narrator over the top of the flashback and talk us through what they were up to, instead of allowing the audience to be put into the flashback and letting the person from the flashback tell the story. The voice over bridges the gap between the past and the present.
An example of this is in Wild At Heart - the film fades into a flashback, however she is still narrating over the top of it which almost shatters the flashback illusion as we don't hear it for what it is, however, for some films this works and creates a really great effect.
In the video below, from the film 'The Usual Suspect' they use a mixture of narrative and oral queues in the flashback. Whenever the flashback is approaching, the music increases and becomes very creepy and distorted. As well as this, he narrates over the top, which works really effectively in this film as the scene is very creepy and he adds to it with his deep voice and slow paced voice.
Sometimes, the film doesn't use queues in order to make the audience think and work it out for themselves. This could be cutting straight to the flashback and eventually the audience will notice it's a flashback.
An example of this is in the film 'Don't Look Now'. The film often has a lot of random flashs' of flashbacks and they are very jolty and random. This makes the style and time of the film very fractured and distorted. I think this fits really well for this style of film and adds a unique effect to it.
Looking at the first video I watched really helped me see flashbacks in different ways. There's so much room we have to work with and if we film it in the right style and tone, I think we can work with the flashback in different ways to develop it further into the story and create music and visual queues to enable us to cut to the flashback. I also think it's quite interesting in terms of what type of flashback ours is, to me, it feels like a Subjective flashback to both characters, as although it may seem like we are just looking into Bethany's memory - it could also be Francis' too as towards the end he is the one speaking in a more intimate moment with Bethany's mother.
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