The Flash movie above fades between two extremes. The first image shows a cataclysmic variable in a so-called "low state". The rate at which gas flows from the red star is low, so the disc is relatively small and cool. The second image shows the opposite — a "high state". Now the accretion rate is much higher. So much so, that the stolen gas piles into the disc faster than it can accrete on the white dwarf. As a result, the disc has become swollen and much hotter and brighter, and its central regions are illuminating the face of the red dwarf. Note the shadow of the disc on the face of the red dwarf. See also Cataclysm III, Cataclysm VI and Cataclysmic Dawn.