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Story robert mckee9/12/2023 ![]() ![]() But movie makers don’t have that luxury, so they must sometimes rely on flashbacks. A novelist can have a character walk past a particular shop in their hometown and recall times their parents took them there, the conversations that were had, and that that was the first place they had ever heard a swearword, for example. Novelists have a massive advantage that screenplay writers do not: Novelists can directly invade the thoughts and feelings of characters and can indulge in the luxury of free association. Then and only then, when the audience needs and wants to know, do the writers flashback. As Act Two opens, the audience is burning with curiosity, wondering what went on between these two in Paris. There follows a scene of cocktail chat, double entendres, and subtext that hint at a past relationship and a passion still very much alive. Second, do not bring in a flashback until you have created in the audience the need and desire to know.ĬASABLANCA: The Act One Climax is also the Central Plot’s Inciting Incident as Ilsa suddenly reappears in Rick’s life and they share a powerful exchange of looks over Sam’s piano. But as Rick remembers his affair with Ilsa, the flashback to the tale of their love affair while the Nazis invade Paris sweeps the film into an ever swifter pace that peaks around a sequence Climax as Ilsa runs out on Rick. Rick is crying in his whiskey, drunk and depressed, the film’s rhythm deliberately retarding to relieve the tension of the Act One Climax. Although producers often claim that flashbacks slow a film’s pace, and indeed badly done they do, a well-done flashback actually accelerates pace.ĬASABLANCA: The Paris Flashback comes at the opening of Act Two. Rather than flashing back to flat scenes in the past, interpolate a minidrama into the story with its own Inciting Incident, progressions, and Turning Point. You don’t want it to be full of nothing but boring, unwanted facts either. If timed poorly, it can slow down the pace of your story and/or bore the readers as they wonder what that event from ten years ago had to do with what is happening currently. But honestly, I think that they can be used to great effect if done right, and so does McKee.Ī flashback is really straight-up exposition. Some people say that flashbacks should not be used in novels, that if you have to use a flashback, you’re telling your story wrong. I actually recently reblogged a post that covered this topic really well and I highly recommend you check it out. Revelations, in fact, tend to have more impact, and so we often reserve them for the major Turning Points, act climaxes. Inevitably, we need a mix of action and revelation. ![]() With few exceptions, scenes cannot be turned on nothing but action, action, action. George Lucas could have exposed Luke’s paternity by having C3PO warn R2D2 “Don’t tell Luke, he’d be really upset to hear this, but Darth’s his dad.” Rather, they used Backstory exposition to create explosive Turning Points that open the gap between expectation and result, and deliver a rush of insight. ![]()
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