Anybody got any advice on writing action?
There are a few large battle scenes in a screenplay that I wrote that transcended into-
Mr. X ducks the punch, runs along the wall before falling to the ground as a bullet hits him. As he falls to the ground, the path is paved for three tall, muscular Judges to pick him up and toss him along the ground like a rag doll.
-okay, not exactly like that, but you get my drift. I don't want to fall into he punches, he ducks, someone else comes in, you know?
Can anyone help? I don't want tjhe script to end up being about forty pages long (it currently stands at 91)
Thanks in advance for any musings.
If all you need to know is that they fight- then the action could say;
They fight.
An example (not the best I know) is Billy Elliot, which has numerous action descriptions reading; 'He dances'.
Screenplays are not books! Be confident with that, it allows you to do keep your mind open and create a fight design later.
I'm with Kev on this one. The writer I work with generally does the same thing. The only details he adds to "Fight ensues" are details that are relevant to the story, such as "CHARACTER-X drops his keys during the scuffle" or "CHARACTER-Y is savagely beaten and mercilessly bitch-slapped by CHARACTER-X".
No, i disagree with that. I even think thats one of the most terrible things to do, it only shows the writers laziness, and if the writer's lazy why should the reader try hard and imagine a cool fight.
Read the last samurai screenplay, or the die hard screenplay. Those should give you fair examples.
What you did was ok I guess. What you want to do is come up with the fanciest fight possible, so cool and great and original that the readers continue reading because it's so absurdly thrilling. If you'd like to sell it one time the producers have great fights in their heads, and they might be changed when the filming starts, but if the fighting is so cool I doubt they're going to change much when filming.
In my opinion it's all a matter of opinion [img]biggrin.gif[/img]
if you are writing something for a specific director ask them what they prefer. otherwise like Kev O says you're not writing a book so keep it as simple as possible. I don't like "They Fight" (tho miker will tell you I do write it [img]smile.gif[/img] ) I prefer some description of what type of fight it is i.e. lots of hair pulling/biting/bitch slapping or rolling around on the floor wrestling etc etc - you know the sort of thing - then you can concentrate on the key details or plot points like sn-films says.
It takes a really good writer to write your fights like a novelist - and if we were all that good we'd all be selling the film rights to our novels, right? ;-)
when I'm reading a screenplay I don't consider "they fight" lazy or off-putting but I do loathe the bad grammar, excessive repitition and other hallmarks of poor writers trying too hard (I'm absolutely not saying you're a poor writer I'm just saying it's important to get it right and that's easier if you keep it simple)
are you writing about Judges as in 2000ad/Judge Dredd or are those muscular judges at a miss lovely-legs competition? Not all that relevant to your point of course I'm just interested.
Is there an echo in here???
yes. I still stand by my point though.
"They fight" could be the same as "Here the fight director comes in and arranges everything".
And another thing, not about action writing but about screenplay writing in general:
should the author of a screenplay express one point, or his vision? A vision can have many points without a real conclusion, it's more or less a certain way of looking at things. But a point is what a screenplay is trying to say, just one thing. A vision is also trying to say something but not in a 'formulable' manner.
Look, there are no set rules for this. Just as some people say 'never write camera directions in a screenplay', loads of (in particular American screenwriters) choose to do it. It's choice and opinion: Whatever works for you.
The original post asked how he could cut his script down, using; 'they fight' is a perfectly acceptable way of doing that.
Personally, I like (as you said) to add some detail in there. However:
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Why worry about the reader?! It isn't a book! Lots of directors and producers would appreciate having the complete control over what happens in the fight. Even if you describe a fight over a few pages, they will probably ignore it and do what they want with it anyway.why should the reader try hard and imagine a cool fight.
Remember, everyone will visualise your script different to you.
Hey,
U can do 2 things.
Write in the script "They Fight". Choose the wrods carefully, as an intense battle cannot be just a fight. But try keeping the actions minimum. Leave it to the Fight director.
Ask the Fight Director(If U are one urself, ask urself) to write the script of the fight or stunts.
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