Action!: Writing Better Action Using Cinematic Techniques
Language: English
Pages: 60
ISBN: 0615637981
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
This book gives writers pointers and guidelines on how to improve their action scenes by implementing some of the same kinds of techniques used in film-making. Loaded with new terminology and definitions, an introduction to the basic concepts of an Action Scene, and application of the concepts, this book gives writers the tools to write their own expert-level action scenes! KAPOW! BANG! ZOOM!
Mano a Mano fight. So is the lightsaber battle between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars. Characters may use shields in a melee fight. Some shields are designed for the purpose, like medieval bucklers or modern riot shields. Others may be improvised, like when a character grabs a crate to block a blow from an opponent. When writing a Mano a Mano scene, the narrative can follow one character, either in first-person, third-person close Point of View (POV), or third-person omniscient. The
then, we've been obsessed with ranged combat in all its myriad forms. In fiction, there are three rather broad categories of ranged weapons, roughly equivalent to the past, the present, and the future: arrows, bullets, and lasers. Note that these are personal hand weapons as opposed to large siege engines requiring a crew, for example; those fall under a different style of action scene which will be discussed later. Arrows in this circumstance refers to any kind of pre-gunpowder projectile,
Bystanders: None Physical terrain: Concrete, parked cars, overhead fluorescent lights Important items in the set piece: Fire extinguisher Characters: Who: Big Jim, three mobsters Protagonist’s goal: Big Jim wants to survive the encounter and then apprehend/question the mobsters Antagonist’s goal: Mobsters want to kill Big Jim then get away. Equipment for each character: - Big Jim has his service pistol and a wicked awesome mustache - Two of the mobsters have a pistol, one has a
within that scene. Characters in action will always interact with their surrounding environment, and that can be crucial in the development and resolution of conflict. Crashing through a picture glass window in a frontier town bar is quite different from crashing though a picture glass window on the 43rdfloor of a Manhattan skyscraper. A set piece doesn't have to be a static location like a room or a battlefield. Think about car chase scenes, for example. The road itself becomes the set piece,
nearby ground-floor window and tumbled across the wooden porch into the street. They wrestled over the man’s pistol until Tarvy delivered an impressive uppercut to the man’s chin. The pistol went flying to one side as they continued to roll around. Giele took aim but didn’t dare fire with Tarvy so close to the other man. “Don’t shoot, Cianid!” She reloaded her shotgun barrels and nodded. Tarvy rolled on top of his opponent and cuffed the man across the face. The man’s struggles ceased. His