When writing action scenes....

My take:

Since the script reader has to experience (in some measure) what the viewing audience will experience when they watch the film, I'd say the answer is obvious. Behind the glamor and the lip gloss and the slit skirt, Mrs. Smith is fighting to survive. Her heart is beating like a jackhammer, bullets are zipping past her head, the house is coming apart around her, and there's absolutely no guarantee she'll live to see the dawn. You have to write the action scenes that capture what she's going through so the reader and the audience feel what she's feeling. It's not filler, it's character.

Bill Martell's got an article called "Why Write A Fight Scene?" on his most excellent crammed-with-tips site, which says it better:

http://www.scriptsecrets.net/tips/Tip324.htm

-Derek
My Web Page - naked women, bestial sex, and whopping big lies.
Take the critiques you get with a grain of salt. Invariably, some of the critics will be kooks, bitter curmudgeons, or complete fools. ~odocoileus

I really enjoyed Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

1) because I AM a Smith and aside from the huge house and the unique jobs and the really hot husband, I saw quite a few similarties with my own marriage. (All right FINE, I'm no Angelina Jolie either.)

And 2) because the film combines a solid drama about a family in crisis with really cool action. It was an action flick dealing with what other wise would have been (to me) a boring subject to watch.

The thing with all those action scenes is you are seeing how the two work off each other. You're seeing character in the way they fight and they are hashing out their differences. And showing that magic spark that made them fall in love in the first place.
They had forgotten that.

Each blow they land, each shot they fire is a physical release of something inside them. It's all the words and feelings they've WANTED to express but couldn't.

And yeah, probably all the times they REALLY DID want to punch the other out but didn't because well, you know, you aren't supposed to smash your partner's head with a fire extinguisher. Or kick them as hard as you can over and over again.

Once they got all that aggression out and realized they cared enough about each other not to pull the trigger then they could start being honest with each other.

Now, here the writer could have had them sit down and have a tearful, heartfelt conversation. BORING, melodramatic.
SO, we get a car chase. A really funny, smash up, "housewife" drives a mini van (with two easy open side doors for your fighting ease) which adds whole new dimensions to the dialog.

They have to run away and they have to talk, so why not do it at the same time?

Now, take The Island as another example.
I would say a fair amount of that action, that car chase and the big sign on the building, and other things, was all fluff. Action for action's sake.
I enjoyed watching it because I like action, I like explosions, I like to see how many different ways you can come up with to destroy something.
But did it really improve the story, tell us more about the characters that we didn't all ready know? Not really.

Then there is a part in Revenge of the Sith that could have really used more.
In the opening sequence when Annakin and Obi-wan face off with Dooku Annakin says "My powers have doubled since we last met."

Well that's COOL! He's supposed to be the best there is.
BUT, do we see it? NO! Does he show us some new skills, new powers? NO.
Does he use his anger for more then just speed and strike force? NO!

This was a case where more action was needed. More development in the script. More details then just "They fight." It was a chance to really SHOW how Annakin had grown in power and how he is toying with using the dark and frightening feelings within him.

And it would have fixed that stupid scene where Obi-wan gets crushed by the plateform but is perfectly fine. Annakin, instead of just lying there, should have force countered Dooku, and stopped the platform. This would have been Dooku's first hint that he could be in trouble here.

This is where/how action scenes can really be used to reveal character.
Action scenes are actually GREAT for revealling character because we all know that actions speak louder then words.
We judge people on what they DO because talk is cheap.

I think that's my problem with such scenes; I feel absolutely nothing when they are long drawn out; I get bored the moment they start the car chase, and I just want to get to the end ASAP! Guess I have to do some rethinking...

The alternative is to come up with something that's equally thrilling but without the stuff you don't like. Don't write the expected clichés, write what you'd want to watch.

Yaaaaah! Insanity lies in trying to analyze George Lucas's "dramatic choices." Insanity, I tells ya!

-Derek
My Web Page - naked women, bestial sex, and whopping big lies.
Take the critiques you get with a grain of salt. Invariably, some of the critics will be kooks, bitter curmudgeons, or complete fools. ~odocoileus

I guess my short answer would be

you have to write what is vital to the story.


And I don't try to understand Lucas, I just really, really, REALLY enjoy pointing out how I could have improved this or that moment.

My take -- show vs. tell still matters in scripts. You have to take the script reader there. Just "there's a car chase and things are crashing" won't cut it.

However, that said, a script is just a blue print. How the director and 2nd unit are going to film the thing is up to them, but the script should give them a flavor of what, where, how to film the scenes.

maestrowork said:

My take -- show vs. tell still matters in scripts. You have to take the script reader there. Just "there's a car chase and things are crashing" won't cut it.

However, that said, a script is just a blue print. How the director and 2nd unit are going to film the thing is up to them, but the script should give them a flavor of what, where, how to film the scenes.

Click to expand...

I think it's important to consider both these points. You can't just say 'there's a car chase, Joe wins.' But you don't have to be an action choreographer either. Don't feel compelled to direct the camera, which is a lot of what action choreography is about.

You should describe the decisive/dramatic moments in greater detail, but efficiency overall is good too. When I read long-winded action scenes, they often bore me because you can only convey so much. To me, there's a difference between describing every detail and trying to paint the entire picture in the reader's head, vs. a generally briefer description but expanding on the key moments. If you do that well, IMO the reader will then fill in the blanks in his head. If Michael Bay ends up directing your script, he will end up replacing it with a freeway chase scene anyway.

I would STRONGLY suggest reading some action scripts. It will really help, maybe my advice is actually crap, who knows. Make sure you are not reading production scripts, which are totally different from spec scripts.

PS- I can actually enjoy relatively mindless action movies, but I do get your point. The best action movies are not necessarily characterized by the actual stunts, but by the motives, actions, and emotions LEADING UP TO the action scenes. For example, the lightsaber battles in the recent 3 Star Wars movies were technically great, but I never really cared who won or lost. The lightsaber battles in the original movies were not nearly as technically proficient (especially the original!), but because of the events leading up to them, were very dramatic and full of emotion IMO.

I feel very sorry for Jen,

and as a person I can't stand Jolie.
She's all right in the one trick roles she plays.

I enjoy all the things you don't like , so it may be hard for me to advise you or comment to you.

Action in drama and character films is different, can be different.
Action and adventure is just that, lots of action, lots going on. It's really, really powerful when it's all woven tightly together and well to establish character.
I think the Indiana Jones films did this the best.

It just seems like you know what you like, and what your mind accepts and how it works. So, you pick films that appeal to your nature.
And you write films that appeal to your nature.

You've got to find the balance in your work. Too much action and it will seem like fluff, like over kill. Too little and it will feel slow, like things aren't really happening.
So, you just read over it and try to feel the pacing.

I think really all the rest of this you are talking about is personal opinion.
And I think it's wonderful that we really do have so many types of movies.

I enjoyed Ray. Thought it was a great biography and very well acted.
Foxx was wonderful. He WAS Ray. Deserved that Oscar.

Action doesn't have to be mindless. Be careful in choosing what happens in your action sections. Great action relates to the rest of the story and also can have motifs of its own. As people have noted, you have to write action so that the reader feels it. There is nothing more important in selling a script than a well written script. A well written script, that doesn't have a terribly good story, will sell before a less involving script that is actually great just not written by someone with a great command of language.

But more or less as noted, you don't need every car flip, just every one that matters to the story. If the car flips and your character has a reaction to it, or dialogue associated with it -- of course it must be included. If two other cars flip in the meantime but your character is otherwise occupied then I wouldn't worry about it. You don't want to bog it down. Also, if the action you write in your script is too elaborate, that might deter someone from buying it due to costs. Flipping one car is a little cheaper than flipping 5.

I'm sure you'll know when the scene 'feels' right. When a reader can get a good sense of the action and it's the appropriate length. But they only get boring when you're not emotionally involved and the action doesn't relate to the characters or story.

I wouldn't characterize Mr. and Mrs. Smith or Red Eye as really great action films so perhaps you should look at something that tackles the subject a bit better. Die Hard is a classic as you note, and for good reason. But if you are writing a script that isn't an action script but has action in it, perhaps it would be best to look at similar works. A lot of war movies are not action movies but have action. Or even something like Seabisquit. How does the screenwriter make the 6th turn around the same track exciting?

Good luck!

Ohh Zep,

Nice comment about Seabiscuit!

I found two articles from Bill Martell about action.

http://www.scriptsecrets.net/tips/tip135.htm

http://www.scriptsecrets.net/tips/tip275.htm