In history, film, television and other media, a flashback (also called analepsis) is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. In Fiction, a scene is a unit of drama A sequel is what follows an aftermath Mythos (Aristotle In literature the plot comprises all the events in a story particularly rendered towards the achievement of some particular Artistic or Emotional Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened prior to the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory. In Narratology, a back-story (also back story or backstory) is the history behind the situation extant at the start of the main story In the opposite direction, a flashforward (or prolepsis) reveals events that will occur in the future. In literature film television and other media a flashforward or flash-forward (also called Prolepsis) is an interjected scene that takes the Narrative The technique is used to create suspense in a story, or develop a character. In literature, internal analepsis is a flashback to an earlier point in the narrative; external analepsis is a flashback to before the narrative started.

Literature

An early example of analepsis is in the Mahabharata, where the main story is narrated through a frame story set in a later time. A frame story (also frame tale, frame narrative, etc is a narrative technique whereby an introductory main story is composed at least in part for the purpose of

Analepsis was used extensively by author Ford Madox Ford. An author is defined both as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created Ford Madox Ford ( December 17, 1873 &ndash June 26, 1939) was an English Novelist, Poet, Critic

The 1927 book The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder is the progenitor of the modern disaster epic in literature and film-making, where a single disaster intertwines the victims, whose lives are then explored by means of flashbacks to events leading up to the disaster. Year 1927 ( MCMXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Bridge of San Luis Rey is American author Thornton Wilder 's second novel first published in 1927 to worldwide acclaim Thornton Niven Wilder ( April 17, 1897 &ndash December 7, 1975) was an American Playwright and Novelist.

Example In Film

Sometimes a flashback is inserted into a film even though there was none in the original source from which the film was adapted. The 1956 film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's stage musical Carousel used a flashback device which somewhat takes the impact away from a very dramatic plot development later in the film. Richard Rodgers (1902 &ndash 1979 and Oscar Hammerstein II (1895 &ndash 1960 were a well-known American songwriting duo Carousel is a musical by Richard Rodgers (music and Oscar Hammerstein II (book and lyrics that was adapted from Ferenc Molnar This was done because the plot of Carousel was then considered unusually strong for a film musical. The 1967 film version of Camelot also uses this technique, but in the case of Camelot, according to Alan Jay Lerner, it was not done to soften the blow of a later plot development but because the show had been criticized onstage as taking a too abrupt shift in tone from near-comedy to tragedy. Camelot is a musical by Alan Jay Lerner (book and lyrics and Frederic Loewe (music Alan Jay Lerner ( August 31, 1918 &ndash June 14, 1986) was an American Broadway Lyricist and Librettist

A good example of both analepsis and prolepsis is the first scene of La Jetée. La jetée ( English: The Jetty and The Pier) ( 1962) is a 28-minute black and white Science fiction As we learn a few minutes later, what we are seeing in that scene is a flashback to the past, since the present of the film’s diegesis is a time directly following World War III. World War III (also WWIII, or Third World War) denotes a successor to World War II (1939&ndash1945 that would be on a global scale with However, as we learn at the very end of the film, that scene also doubles as a prolepsis, since the dying man the boy is seeing is, in fact, himself. In other words, he is proleptically seeing his own death. We thus have an analepsis and prolepsis in the very same scene.

One of the first films to use a flashback technique was the 1939 Wuthering Heights, in which, as in Emily Brontë's original novel, the housekeeper Ellen narrates the main story to overnight visitor Mr. Wuthering Heights is a 1939 film directed by William Wyler and produced by Samuel Goldwyn. Emily Jane Brontë (ˈbrɒnti ( July 30, 1818 – December 19, 1848) was a British Novelist and Poet, now best Lockwood, who has witnessed Heathcliff's frantic pursuit of what is apparently a ghost. More famously, also in 1939, Marcel Carne's movie Le jour se lève is told entirely through flashback: the story starts with the murder of a man in a hotel. While the murderer, played by Jean Gabin, is surrounded by the police, several flashbacks tell the story of why he killed the man at the beginning of the movie.

One of the most famous examples of non-chronological flashback is in the 1941 Orson Welles film Citizen Kane. George Orson Welles (May 6 1915 – October 10 1985 was an Academy Award -winning director, writer actor and producer for film stage radio and television Citizen Kane ( 1941) is an American Dramatic film, and the first Feature film directed by Orson Welles, who also co-authored The protagonist, Charles Foster Kane, dies at the beginning, uttering the word "Rosebud". A reporter spends the rest of the film interviewing Kane's friends and associates, in an effort to discover what Kane meant by uttering the word. As the interviews proceed, pieces of Kane's life unfold in flashback, but not always chronologically.

Occasionally, a story may contain a flashback within a flashback: one example of this is the film The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: the main action of the film is told in flashback, with the scene of Liberty Valance’s murder occurring as a flashback within that flashback. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is a classic Western movie made in 1962, directed by John Ford and starring James Stewart, An extremely convoluted story may contain flashbacks within flashbacks within flashbacks: examples of this are the movies Six Degrees of Separation, Passage to Marseille, and The Locket. Six Degrees of Separation is a 1993 film adaptation of the John Guare play of the same title. Passage to Marseille is a 1944 War film made by Warner Brothers, directed by Michael Curtiz and produced by Hal B The Locket ( 1946) is a suspense film directed by John Brahm, starring Laraine Day, Brian Aherne, Robert Mitchum, and

Though usually used to clarify plot or backstory, flashbacks can also be used in the manner of the "unreliable narrator. In literature film theatre and music an unreliable narrator (a term coined by Wayne C " Alfred Hitchcock's Stage Fright notoriously featured a flashback that did not tell the truth but dramatized a lie from a witness. Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE (13 Stage Fright is a 1950 Hitchcock Crime film starring Jane Wyman, Marlene Dietrich, Michael Wilding, and The multiple and contradictory staged reconstructions of a crime in Errol Morris's The Thin Blue Line are presented as flashbacks based on divergent testimony. Errol Morris (born February 5, 1948) is an American Academy Award winning Documentary film director The Thin Blue Line is a 1988 Documentary film concerning the November 28 1976 murder of Dallas police officer Robert W Akira Kurosawa's classic film Rashomon does this in the most celebrated fictional narrative use of contested multiple testimonies. is a 1950 Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa, working in close collaboration with Cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa.

Near the end of his life, film director Howard Hawks boasted that he was proud that none of his films ever used a flashback. Howard Winchester Hawks ( May 30, 1896 &ndash December 26, 1977) was an American Film director, producer and

Flashbacks are a trademark of the Saw movies, with many scenes adding extra depth to characters and adding insight to various aspects of the series. The Saw series is a Horror film franchise created by director James Wan and Screenwriter Leigh Whannell. Saw IV has one scene set in real-time, while the rest of the film is a flashback, structured around a series of other flashbacks. Saw IV is the fourth installment in the ''Saw'' series. The film was initially released on October 25 2007 and in the United States on October 26 2007

An occasional twist is the insertion of a character who was not part of the sequence being depicted, usually one to whom the events shown are being described. For instance, during a police interrogation in Under Suspicion, the events described are shown in flashback with the interrogator watching – signaling that the flashback represents the events as described by the witness, not necessarily as they really happened. Under Suspicion is an American film released in 2000 and directed by Stephen Hopkins.

Example in Television

In the world of television flashbacks are also very common. They are sometimes incorporated into episodes, but often whole episodes are devoted to them. One recent show which is well-known for this is Lost which utilizes flashbacks in every episode and more recently flashforwards to advance the storyline and provide a link between the characters' past and their current behavior. Lost is an Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning American serial drama television series.

Lots of flashbacks have been used in the hit TV show Prison Break for most characters. Prison Break is an American action / Serial drama television series that premiered on the Fox Broadcasting Company on August 29 2005

In Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff Angel, flashbacks show events in the history of the principal vampires Darla, Angel, Drusilla and Spike, from 1609 until shortly before the beginning of the series. Fictional narratives (and works of art exist beyond their completion e Angel is an American Television series, a Spin-off of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In the fictional world of the Television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, a vampire is a species of demon Darla is a Fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the Television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel Angel is a Fictional character created by Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt for the Television programs Buffy the Vampire Drusilla, nicknamed "Dru" is a Fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the cult Television series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Spike (aka William "the Bloody") played by James Marsters, is a Fictional character

In One Tree Hill at the end of season 4, the characters graduate high school. One Tree Hill is a teen television drama created by Mark Schwahn that premiered on September 23 2003 on The WB Television Network. In the start of season 5 the series takes place 4 years in the future. The series includes flashbacks to explain what happened to the characters.

In Desperate Housewives in season 4 a flashforward takes place 5 years in the future. Desperate Housewives is an American Television Dramedy series created by Marc Cherry, who also serves as Show runner, and produced The next season may take place 5 years into the future. If so Season 5 would likely include flashbacks to explain the mysteries reveled in the season finale.

In movies and television, several camera techniques and special effects have evolved to alert the viewer that the action shown is from the past; for example, the edges of the picture may be deliberately blurred or unusual coloration may be used.