tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post5063747375168154788..comments2023-09-29T05:32:04.308-07:00Comments on StrangePegs: "Danger, Will Robinson!" pt 4: Flashing ForwardAndrew Leonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-36674195748900179572011-06-28T14:44:38.450-07:002011-06-28T14:44:38.450-07:00Doing a sreies of flashbacks can be okay. I can st...Doing a sreies of flashbacks can be okay. I can still like those. It's when the episode opens in the climatic sequence and then jumps back 8 hours or 24 hours or whatever and start again that I have an issue with it. That's when it's (almost always) just a gimmick to get you to watch.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-25327752300444980752011-06-27T16:26:15.472-07:002011-06-27T16:26:15.472-07:00Agreed about the quality of technique having a ten...Agreed about the quality of technique having a tendency to go down over time. I was watching a movie last week with one my kids and at a particularly dramatic moment, when the bad guy had a gun on the good guy, and things starting moving in slow motion, my son said, "Oh god, please don't let them do the bullet time thing, I'm so tired of that."<br /><br />Wow.<br /><br />Anyway, Psych used it when the guy from Wings was the guest star, they were looking for buried treasure. They started off being interrogated by the police and may have been arrested, but told the story through flashbacks until we were caught up half way through the episode.Rusty Carlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09887821877521181811noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-51510695950276456532011-06-27T14:39:09.730-07:002011-06-27T14:39:09.730-07:00Bess: Yeah, there is that episode. But, you know, ...Bess: Yeah, there is that episode. But, you know, that episode had artistic merit for starting that way. It was a great opening, because it was so unexpected.<br /><br />Starting with an opening with the heroes in danger, though, is no where near unexpected.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-91554545935407461402011-06-26T15:50:53.716-07:002011-06-26T15:50:53.716-07:00Yeah it's a cheP trick, I think. No longer inv...Yeah it's a cheP trick, I think. No longer inventive. There's nothing so suspenseful and satisfying as a good story, just told from beginning to end,<br /><br />I think I do remember an episode of firefly that begins with mal alone sitting naked on a rock, then goes back and tells the story. But that was justnhilarious. And obviously the writers of firefly don't need to prove themselves. We know they can tell a good story without the flashback ;)Bess Weatherbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09873091527596352004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-52382000886406512472011-06-25T12:48:31.435-07:002011-06-25T12:48:31.435-07:00Rusty: Yes, it is in the execution; however, when ...Rusty: Yes, it is in the execution; however, when anything starts getting over-used, it's a sure bet that it won't be used well. When it's integral to the story telling, it should certainly be used. When it's just the writers trying to start with a hook, probably not.<br /><br />I love Psych. Waiting for the last season to be available for rental, right now. I don't really remember it being used in the seasons we've seen so far, but it has been a year since I've seen an episode.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-78842200724433438292011-06-25T11:38:17.799-07:002011-06-25T11:38:17.799-07:00I'm kind of of the opinion that it's all i...I'm kind of of the opinion that it's all in the execution. Tropes are something that genre fiction writers have to deal with all the time, and in some cases that storytelling technique can kind of serve as one. <br /><br />I read a travelogue written that way once, the guy had been kidnapped in the mountains and then released to be hunted and killed for sport. So he started with the chase, then went back to the beginning. <br /><br />I didn't know it originated with Tarrentino either, and anything can become tiresome when overused. I'm told that TV directors got a little excited with using the zoom on their lenses in the seventies and a lot of shows from that era are overwhelmed with those quick zooms. It can become distracting once you start seeing it, you can't ignore it once you see it. <br /><br />But, since Psych has used the technique, and it's the greatest show ever, then it's okay with me.Rusty Carlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09887821877521181811noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-12250053527677347152011-06-25T11:24:52.874-07:002011-06-25T11:24:52.874-07:00Michael: Possibly, I'm not enough familiar wit...Michael: Possibly, I'm not enough familiar with Tarrentino, because I don't remember that from any of the movies I've seen from him. <br /><br />Julie: Well, I have my theory, but I'll get to that in my next post in this series. Like I said, it's a symptom of a larger problem.<br /><br />Sam: Yeah, I'm right there. I was trying to remember back to the first time I encountered this whole thing, but I don't know. Maybe, it was Alias? Or Stargate? It's just everywhere, now, though.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-21826356237754391842011-06-25T03:53:02.365-07:002011-06-25T03:53:02.365-07:00Now...I hate them.
Two years ago...I liked them a...Now...I hate them.<br /><br />Two years ago...I liked them a lot.Samantha Sottohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14116257082088369600noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-8240145623528741142011-06-24T10:33:48.016-07:002011-06-24T10:33:48.016-07:00You're exactly right. Whenever I see this happ...You're exactly right. Whenever I see this happen, I groan. And it seems that, without fail, when we actually get to that climax, there's nothing really to it. Like you said, I always end up feeling cheated. If the storyline of the episode can stand on its own, then it should. If it can't, then why are they even using it? Great post.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02708904894566620939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-80070879967110373382011-06-24T08:15:31.029-07:002011-06-24T08:15:31.029-07:00House uses this technique a lot and I also dislike...House uses this technique a lot and I also dislike it. I think people picked it up from Quentin Tarrentino who popularized it with his films and thus now everyone has to do it.Michael Offutt, Phantom Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10557969104886174930noreply@blogger.com