Inneresting 67
issue 67
September 10th, 2021
What do we know, and when do we know it?
Syd Field breaks down the basics of flashbacks, including this nugget from screenwriter Waldo Salt:
“[Salt] thought a flashback should be thought of as a ’flashpresent,’ because the visual image we’re seeing is what the character is thinking and feeling at that present moment…”
Previously on the blog, John’s talked about the mechanics of flashbacks on the screenplay page, including:
When and how to explain a time jump.
Keeping things lean and clean with quick cutaways or repeating flashbacks.
Looking at examples of flashbacks
Giles Menegaldo lays out the different styles of flashback used in films noir.
Nick Kolakowski looks at The Limey, and how its fractured timeline plays with the expectations of a revenge story. Donato Totaro expands on the relationship between The Limey and 1970’s Performance, and how it makes us question if scenes are in the past, present, or future.
Daniel Ibarra explores the relationship between flashbacks and memory in films like Slumdog Millionaire and Marjorie Prime.
Kent Jones takes on Hiroshima mon amour and its twisty meshing of documentary footage and fictional memories for Criterion. Cheng Guo looks at director Alain Resnais’s use of flashbacks and memory in Hiroshima mon amour and several other films. For an even deeper dive, watch this University of California TV interview with Lucy Fischer discussing the film and its contemporaries.
Use In Case of (Writing) Emergencies
“Imagine your story being told in reverse, Memento-style. How could your setups become payoffs?”
That’s one of the prompts from the Writer Emergency Pack, a deck of cards made to help get you out of your writing rut.
When you get stuck, give the deck a shuffle and draw a card with ideas to restart your story’s momentum.
You can find out more about the cards and how to order them at the Writer Emergency site.
Other Cool Things
If you want to learn how to properly season your cast iron skillet, learn from a cowboy.
Varsha Bansal explains the challenges faced by designers trying to convert the Tulu-Tigalari script from India to work on computers as part of the Unicode standard.
Consider the problems of expecting private companies to address public needs, like bathrooms.
And that’s what’s inneresting this week!
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