Flashforward
A flashforward (also spelled flash-forward; also called a prolepsis) is an interjected scene that takes the narrative forward in time from the current point of the story in literature, film, television and other media.[1] Flashforwards are often used to represent events expected, projected, or imagined to occur in the future. They may also reveal significant parts of the story that have not yet occurred, but soon will in greater detail. In the opposite direction, a flashback (or analepsis) reveals events that have occurred in the past.
Prolepsis is a post modern narrative device. It is a device where the narrator moves (jumps) forward along the timeline of the plot , often as a prophecy or in an epilogue. The opposite is analepsis.
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[edit] Early Examples
An early example of prolepsis which precludes the post modern literary period is Charles Dickens a Christmas Carol in which the protagonist Ebeneezer Scrooge is taken forward through time to visit his funeral.
[edit] Famous Examples in Literature
The last chapter of JK Rowling Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is a flash forward.
Terry Brooks Word and Void Series features a protagonist who when he sleeps mores forwards and backwards through time to before and after a great cataclysm. This is both analepsis and prolepsis.
[edit] Famous Examples in Television
The TV series Lost made a great deal of use of this technique throughout the show's later seasons. In season four, most of the episodes contained flashforwards, although flashbacks were still used.
The series finale of Star Trek: Voyager, "Endgame", used a flashforward at the start to depict one possible future if the U.S.S. Voyager had returned to Earth the long way, but then an elderly Admiral Janeway decides to go back in time with new technology to get her crew home sooner.
Brannon Braga co-wrote the pilot episode and is an executive producer for the U.S. sci-fi TV series FlashForward, which revolves around the entire planet losing consciousness for 137 seconds, during which almost everyone experiences a glimpse of events that may happen roughly 6 months into the future. This becomes commonly known as a "flash forward".[2]
In December 2009, it was announced that British soap opera Hollyoaks would flash forward six months in May 2010 for a special episode.[3]
The last episode of Six Feet Under has an extensive flashforward through the eyes of Claire and we get to see the deaths of all the central characters as they unfold.
[edit] Famous Examples in film
Midway through the film They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, there is an abrupt flashforward when Robert, the character played by Michael Sarrazin, is seen being thrust into a jail cell by a police officer, even though he has done nothing to provoke such treatment. The audience is notified, later in the story, that Sarrazin's character would have indeed made choices that warrant his arrest.
[edit] See also
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Look up flashforward in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.thefreedictionary.com/flash-forward
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1441135
- ^ Green, Kris (15 December 2009). "Hollyoaks to air flashforward episode". Digital Spy. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s13/hollyoaks/news/a191387/hollyoaks-to-air-flashforward-episode.html. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
