🙂 I read viewers gripe so often about the flashbacks so I’ll explain my take on it.
Actual Question from a MotA forum: Why does it take up 5 to 10 minutes of the first half?
My Short Answer: Because we’re logging back in.
Don’t you see what the director’s doing here?
The flashback is a brilliant film technique to DUPLICATE the game mode and to give us the gaming experience of being logged OUT by the show at the end of each episode and logging ourselves BACK IN at the start of the new episode.
I checked: all the episodes ended in a cliffhanger or a “shocker.” For instance in Ep 8, the falcon lands on JW’s wrist and the message is delivered from the “master”. In Ep 9, just as he is frantically ordering the Programmer to locate Sec Seo, the game informs him, “You have lost your ally” and follows it up with, “You’re out of Granada. Out of bounds. Your duel will be canceled.” In Ep 10, he sees a light as the zombies gather around him.
These shocking turns of events are the equivalent of getting ambushed by a sneak attack in a game — we don’t see the plot twists coming — and the episode end is equivalent to dying/logging out.
When we tune in to the next episode the following day, we are virtually logging ourselves back into the game. Hence the flashback. A gamer will understand this. Once the user dies/fails his task and gets logged out, he has to start from where he previously last saved the game. He doesn’t necessarily resume from the last point where he was killed or logged out. He might be set back and need to work his way back up again. Like, JW had to return repeatedly to the restroom to get that rusty sword to fight the Nasrid warrior although he already had the sword when he died. (If that had been me, though, I would have just stayed in the bar and ordered tapas and fino. Goodbye, game!)
Just like in a FLASHBACK….
We are replaying the “game” as we watch the flashbacks, but this time, we’re noticing details which we missed the first go-around. The director is also filling us in and giving us the backstory.
That’s why I say that, although many viewers don’t get it, the flashback is in fact a clever directorial choice and narrative tool. I already wrote a longer, pre-written answer that’s in the pipeline and scheduled for release later. This short version is just a stopgap because I sense frustration from the viewers.
Logging out and going on vacation mode now. The beach is calling.
@growingbeautifully,
Feel free to post this on DB and soompi if you wish. Thanks! 🙂
Edited to add this, the longer version:
LOL @packmule3. I seem to be the courier of thoughts from BoD to DB and vice versa. I’ll look for a likely spot to post your article, since you probably wrote it shorter with that in mind. Maybe slot it in where some are sighing at the flashbacks. 😉
Thanks for taking the time to share this. It’s an interesting idea. I’d love to hear from the producer/director to get confirmation that the purpose of the flashbacks are indeed to give us the log-back-into-game feel.The flashbacks definitely flesh out the happenings with more details that we were not given to see before.
Happy vacationing and I’ll be waiting for you to log back in!
Well this explains a lot…straight from the horse’s mouth…PokemonGo…male centric (gamer perspective)…love line shoehorned in…
http://koalasplayground.com/2019/01/16/memories-of-alhambra-screenwriter-explains-story-is-male-lead-centric-and-didnt-have-the-otp-romance-until-she-shoehorned-it-in/#more-94414
hahahaha. Thanks, @growing_beautifully! It’s because you seem to be everywhere while I’m limited by space and time.
Flashbacks are a pain to edit AND a bore for the actors to do. Can you imagine how many times Hyun Bin had to run that train station scene? Count the different camera angles. And then add on top of that: the scene of SeeJoo on the ground. That took different camera angles: one from a camera from medium range, one from a camera up-close, one camera for focusing the on the gun.
It require PRE-PLANNING and forethought, too. They can’t just reenact the scene again afterwards when they’re already back in the editing room in Seoul.
See? That should tell viewers that there WAS a plan in existence before they rolled the cameras to do all these flashbacks.
Or an intelligent design planned by an intelligent director. 😉
Heh! @packmule3, I’m impressed by how quickly you churn out your articles after minute analyses, much re-watching (I’m guessing), locating of appropriate screenshots and related gifs and of course after much thought and writing!
I wish I could have the time to read and be active across many blogs but I’m really only mainly on DB and I dip in here and there in a couple of others.
I’m going to slow down my drama watching for a bit, but I’ll be coming by to read you from time to time.
Oh, and I did post your article and there was interest in how flashbacks can be interpreted/re-interpreted.😆 Cheers!
Thanks!! I hope my post was able to persuade other viewers to cut the writer some slack. 😉
If I’m blogging about a kdrama, I take screenshots of the scenes I believe will have impact, as I watch the episode. This saves me time from taking screenshots later on. Then I save them in folders on my laptop so I can access them when I write. They jog my memory, too, of little things.
As for writing, I often “call it in” or dictate my thoughts on my iPhone. So while I’m making morning coffee or putting on makeup for work or driving, for instance, I’m explaining over the phone what I think about certain scenes. When I get home, I just cut and paste. 🙂 I’m not really a techie but I’ve learned to do this much. I tried to dictate too while jogging, but my speech came out garbled when I was out of breath. 🤪
Anyway, I’m used to dictating for work so “Siri” on my iPhone works too. I’m thinking of using our “Alexa” or the smart speaker but I haven’t figured out the privacy settings for that one. 🙂