[[quoteright:238:[[GunnerkriggCourt http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/flashbacktime.jpg]]]]
-->''"Diddly-doot! Diddly-doot! Diddly-doot!"''
-->-- ''Wayne's World''

[[PaintingTheFourthWall The use of]] CameraTricks and other {{paratext}}ual elements to distinguish {{flashback}}s, flash forwards, and {{Imagine Spot}}s from normal, in-the-present action.

These are very helpful on those occasions when there's nothing in the event itself to specify when it takes place.

Common ways of doing this include:
* Explicitly setting the date of the scene through [[{{narrator}} narration]] or [[TitleIn subtitles]] (or text boxes in {{comicbooks}}). "Seven years ago..."
* Using an [[IdiosyncraticWipes Idiosyncratic Wipe]] or {{Dissolve}} to mark the transition from Present to Past. May or may not be accompanied by a unique sound effect.
** One particularly common (and frequently parodied) version of this is to have the screen go wavy during the Dissolve, accompanied by the sound of harpist plucking up the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_tone_scale whole tone scale]].
** [[FlashBackBackBack Repeating the last sound effect over the dissolve is also common enough to have its own article]].
* Make the scene in the flashback look or sound different from the present in some way. Common ways of doing this include:
** Blurring it.
** Showing it DeliberatelyMonochrome.
** Add a misty border around the edge of the screen.
** Apply an echo or other sound effect to everyone's voice.
** In animation or comics, apply an ArtShift.
** For books, changing the typeface.
** In comic books, changing the panel border style.

FlashBackBackBack is a subtrope. Not to be confused with FlashbackCut.
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!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime / Manga ]]

* A rather popular effect in manga is to use black spaces between the panels during flashbacks, as opposed to the usual white. It can be seen in ''OnePiece'', ''DeathNote'', ''{{Bleach}}'' and ''{{Naruto}}''.
*Every time someone has a flashback in ''GhostInTheShell'', it's covered by a monologue, because there is always someone there to listen to the flashback. The exception would be Togusa, who is venting, directing all his thoughts toward an established character who might not be present.
* The entirety of ''BoogiepopPhantom'' is filmed with a vignette effect and more often than not with dull colors. Correspondingly, the entire series is a huge flashback.
* ''{{Mnemosyne}}'''s flashbacks are seen from the perspective of the person having the flashback, with the audio and video given a sort of watery distortion.
*[[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in ''ExcelSaga'' episode 11: after a short discussion about an impending flashback, the ripple effect begins, and Hyatt chants softly "ripple, ripple, ripple..."
* No ''GGundam'' mention yet? This might be one of the very few cases where an anime dub suffered from being TOO faithful to the original. Somehow, "You're the same as you were back then. Back then. Back then. Back then. Back then. Back then. Back then." sounds more absurd in English than in Japanese.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* Popular alterations to panel borders for flashbacks are rounded corners, or making it wavy all around.
* In the ''{{ElfQuest}}'' story ''Recognition'', Brandon McKinney uses wavy borders and a "faded" effect (dark grey inked outlines rather than black) for the images for most flashbacks. Others have a shifted art style matched to the culture of the person telling the story: A style evoking [[http://www.elfquest.com/gallery/OnlineComics/SS2aREC/DisplaySS2aREC.html?page=33 stained glass windows]] for the medieval Europe FantasyCounterpartCulture, and one inspired by [[http://www.elfquest.com/gallery/OnlineComics/SS2aREC/DisplaySS2aREC.html?page=35 Far Eastern brush drawings]] for the Mongolia/China mashup.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* ''WaynesWorld'' parodied the use of IdiosyncraticWipes.
* In ''BigFish'', all of the flashbacks have shots with more brightly-colored objects in them and a slight glowing effect on the characters' faces.
*''BoggyCreek2TheLegendContinues'', every single flashback was slightly blurred.
**The ''MysteryScienceTheater3000'' crew did not let this pass without comment. They then parodied it in one sketch, where Crow, Tom Servo, and Mike each narrate a flashback to [[ViewersAreGoldfish an event that occurred seconds ago]], and each flashback is blurrier than the last.
* JohnnyDangerously [[LampshadeHanging explained this trope's effect in scene]] to a would-be child thief that he was lecturing about his own childhood choices. The screen blurs and the child responds "What the hell's goin' on?!" Johnny explains that it always happens when he "talks about the past."
* In ''G.O.R.A.'', as the alien villain Logar explains why he hates humans, the movie flashes back to [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fm9Tf7p34w his grandfather landing his spaceship in 18th-century Turkey]]. The flashback is shot in grainy, black-and-white film reminiscent of the most primitive motion picture technology.
* In ''TrickRTreat'', the flashback is filmed with a much brighter colour pallet than the rest of the film, and is bathed in golden light.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* ''WithoutATrace''. The screen flashes white with every transition from the present to the past (and vice versa). Often these are {{Match Cut}}s as well, establishing that the flashback occurring in the same location as the present.
* ''{{Highlander}}'' usually had black and white or sepia-toned flashbacks.
* ''{{Lost}}'' has a distinctive sound effect to mark the transition to and from each flashback.
* At least two episodes of ''MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' parodied this:
** [[http://ibras.dk/montypython/episode21.htm#10 This sketch]] in episode 21 {{Lampshaded}} it:
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