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Flashforwards

A scene that temporarily takes the narrative forward in time from the current story point (formally: prolepsis). Creates anticipation or dramatic irony by revealing future events before the story reaches them.

References

Flashforward. Wikipedia.

DZ-79: Interweaving Timelines 2 - The Social Network

How can interweaving two timelines change how we feel about a character?

AI✦Stu, Mel, and Chas analyze how Sorkin’s flash-forward technique manages the absence of stakes by revealing that Facebook exists, creating a fundamentally different emotional experience than the flashbacks in Destroyer.✦

⏱ 1h 37m

30 APR 2021

Structure · Character · Audience

Listen to understand how manage stakes when you're using flashforwards.

▶ More Info

In this Part 2 of Interweaving Timelines (aka The Stu Monologue Episode), Mel, Chas and Stu tackle Sorkin/Fincher’s The Social Network. As you’ll hear, it is clearly Stu’s favourite of the examples we cover and, ah, not Mel’s favourite. While all three bring their own biases and opinions on the reality of Facebook as it has become, we do manage to put the destruction of democracy to one side to actually analyse the meticulous craft that this film displays… →

Films: The Social Network (2010)

Structure: Interweaving Timelines , Emotional Event , Flashforwards , Stakes , Narrative Velocity

Character: Character Arcs , Character Introductions

Audience: Audience Sympathy