Action, action, action.

D

DaveD

Active member
I'm typically a comedy writer, and I rely heavily on dialogue. I usually have extremely minimal screen direction.

But I'm currently writing a feature length action/drama, and I've realized I have no idea what I'm doing. Drama, sure, I can do drama. But I'm not sure what I'm doing with action.

1) Everytime I write an action sequence it seems hackneyed, but if I think about it, I can't remember another film that has done a similar sequence. Is this normal? Or am I just not writing exciting action?

2) Is there any action-rule-of-thumb about how much detail I should put in? This wouldn't matter if I was planning to produce it myself, but I plan to sell it. I know directors like wiggle room, but if I give too much leeway it's less of a sequence and more of a vague description.

3) Should I be walking the line between realistic and entertaining, or should I just write the coolest stuff I can come up with and let the production team sort out the physics of it?


Thanks.
 
It's hard to answer this without seeing the script. Wanna post the action sequence so all can comment?

Generally, as far as a rule of thumb for writing action sequences, if not screenplays in general, go with the "Less is more" maxim.
 
In filmmaking, perception is reality. If it feels hackneyed, then it is. "Trust your feelings."

Also: post, post, post!
 
seunosewa said:
I feelings."

Also: post, post, post!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I wish there'd be more of that here. I've posted stuff here and received a lot of great feedback. Some other guy linked his script, a freature length script at that, and lots of people read it and gave him some feedback that was hopefully useful. Or, we can post again about Final Draft and Celtx--Alvarez loves to discuss stuff like that.
:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:
 
What movies have great scenes similar to what you're doing? Grab scripts for those movies and take ONE PAGE from those scenes, then compile a few pages as a "style guide" to help you write your own scenes.
 
What do you mean by "action," and why is it separate from what you are calling "drama"?

It sounds like you have left the entire story for the dialog scenes, and left nothing of interest for the action. Of course it's going to seem hackneyed at that point, because it is completely irrelevant, and might as well just be left out of the script. Great stories do not take a time out for the "action" scenes.

Where does your story call for action, and where does it call for talk? If it is not calling for action, then it is not really an action film. If you really want it to be an action film, you have story trouble that you need to sort out before you continue writing.

Action without story is inherently uninteresting.

It's what separates a Steven Spielberg film from a Michael Bay film. They both like popcorn films with big set pieces, but Spielberg cannot help but tell interesting stories, while Michael has to make his audience laugh, or else surprise them with loud noises, in order to get them through the action sequences without falling asleep.
 
I pretty much agree with everything already posted.
Don't seperate your drama and your action.
The action should be filled with drama. The action should have consequences for characters that people care about, otherwise its just noise.

But then again, if you're just unsure about the actual technical aspect of writing the scene. Read some good action scripts. Keep it simple.

Post some of it here and get feedback, there are a lot of good writers here with valuable input.
 
As with all things: it depends...

If it is a fight scene then you might simply write: "A two minute fight between Good and Bad ensues. Bad manages to escape with Damsel " (Then you leave two pages blank to take up 2 minutes of screen time). The director will bring in a fight choriographer to do the actual fight scene. Same with a car chase, or running through the woods, or fighting with swords. If something specific happens during the scene then mention it (bad guy loses an eye).

If you have an action sequence that is specific to the plotline then by all means write it out in detail. But be careful to jam too much plot into a scene with a lot of kinetic energy...

Action movie producers and directors are looking for groups of blank pages (~25) held together by ~80 pages of really good storyline. If it is done right then each action sequence does what every other scene does: moves the story forward and/or reveals character.1 (When you see a poor action movie see if the action scenes do either of these two things.2) 20% Of this comes from the writer bookending the scene with the lead in and next scenes, while the remaining 80% comes from the director and his team.

An action scene or sequence will really take form while storyboarding, which is part of directing.

Bob
  1. Die Hard, Die Hard 2
  2. Die Hard 3, Die Hard 4, Van Damme Movies, Segal Movies
 
Bob Gruen said:
As with all things: it depends...

If it is a fight scene then you might simply write: "A two minute fight between Good and Bad ensues. Bad manages to escape with Damsel " (Then you leave two pages blank to take up 2 minutes of screen time). The director will bring in a fight choriographer to do the actual fight scene. Same with a car chase, or running through the woods, or fighting with swords. If something specific happens during the scene then mention it (bad guy loses an eye).

If you have an action sequence that is specific to the plotline then by all means write it out in detail. But be careful to jam too much plot into a scene with a lot of kinetic energy...

Action movie producers and directors are looking for groups of blank pages (~25) held together by ~80 pages of really good storyline. If it is done right then each action sequence does what every other scene does: moves the story forward and/or reveals character.1 (When you see a poor action movie see if the action scenes do either of these two things.2) 20% Of this comes from the writer bookending the scene with the lead in and next scenes, while the remaining 80% comes from the director and his team.

An action scene or sequence will really take form while storyboarding, which is part of directing.

Bob
Click to expand...
That sounds like bad advice to me. I have never seen anything like that.

The only time I would leave blank pages for the action would be if I were hired to write the script, and the producer had told me specifically to not write the action scenes.

Every action scene should be specific to the plot.
 
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