Screenwriting : How to write an "Almost Flashback"? by Claes Lane

I would write it as a flashback and describe the apparitions so the reader can understand it is on the edge of reality.

well I said that the characters appear as apparitions, do their thing, then disappear. Could I write that but with the flashback thing too? Wouldn't a flashback suggest that the main characters in present time are gone?

@Dan- That's exactly it. So how do I clearly portray that?

So, Dan would you write it as: Bob's POV: From the bleachers he sees..?

I understand exactly what I'll write now. Thanks guys! This was a huge help! :D

Hey guys, I'm on the run of the production of my new movie screenplay -The W- set to be produced by Amazon Studios/Warner Brothers. I need urgent help to rewrite. Who ever accepts this job, rewrite the entire script, gets 50% of sale and partnership credits as a screen writer. You can read it at: http://www.abraham-nissan.com/moviescripts.html Or follow the project and download it in Amazon Studios: http://studios.amazon.com/users/4882

Hey. I once wrote a similar scene where the two dead war buddies appear in a crime scene as an emotional back up for their still living friend. I wrote it with dialogue between the two apparitions telling the live one they had his back, giving him the courage and confidence to disarm the bad guy. When he acts, the apparitions vanish. I see you already figured out your scene, just recognized the problem and wanted to offer my 2 cents worth. CW

@Chris- Well how did you end up writing it? Because that is exactly what happens for my story (except for the actual story)

So when the POV was my hero, the apparitions were visible and he felt their support and presence. The background changed to a Bahgdad house, though the couch etc. didn't change. When the POV switched to the cop in the room it was all normal, no apparitions. I think I switched POV 2or3 times, before the bad guy made his move, once my hero subdued him everything faded into normal. It wasn't the first time in the script that the apparitions appeared or that he heard their voices. Worked out pretty well, I think.

Hey Chris, I may be a bit late jumping into this conversation, but sounds to me like switching POV's 2 or 3 times is kind of complicating things. A POV is usually only a shot or even just a SLUG line, really. It tells us we're basically seeing things through the character's eyes, primarily to reveal something of importance. Jumping in and out all the time could make things more complicated than they need to be. You don't need to change POV's, you can simply put, The apparitions appear ONLY TO OUR HERO, and then write the scene as per usual. It just means obviously, that the other people in the scene don't react or interact with the apparitions, but you can have them all in the same scene without having to jump around from POV to POV. Hope that's of some help to you.

Justin, thanks for the feedback, but I put this script to bed three years ago. The POV of the hero and the cop focuses on the bad guy in the room, and his beat up girlfriend. The audience alone sees the apparitions and change in background. The hero hears the voices of his apparitional buddies, saying dialogue from earlier scenes (flashbacks and real time). It's an interesting scene, not really complicated, shoot it twice (as if you could get right in the first take) with and without the flashback characters.

I have the same situation in one of my screenplays. I marked it not as a flashback but a "vision" to make it easier for the reader to understand my intent.