CRASH! BOOM! BANG!: How to Write Action Movies by Michael Lucker

Author:Michael Lucker [Lucker, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Michael Wiese Productions
Published: 2017-05-14T22:00:00+00:00

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Exclamation points can hit diminishing returns, so use those sparingly.

Less is more in action films. Don’t get caught up in weaving prosy poetic literature. It doesn’t lend itself to the genre and it weighs down the read. And frankly, you don’t have time in action scripts to do deep dives into the nuances of the Roman architecture you’re about to destroy. Keep the action moving. Keep the reader reading.

Build, Build, Build

Like great stories, great action scenes are broken into three sections: a beginning, middle, and end. Of course, they will be bookended by the confrontation that leads to the action and a fulfilling resolution. But even the space between those should have escalation. A car chase that keeps going fast down a dirt road for three minutes doesn’t do much for anyone. Throw some cows and fences in there and you’re getting somewhere. Build to a school bus overturning and you’re halfway home. Rocket off a bridge across a ravine and smash into a barn sending chickens flying? Done. As Phil Alden Robinson wrote in Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will come.” But don’t ramble on too long or the audience will get bored. When action starts, plot stops. Not until the action is over and we see who won the fight or got away in the chase does the story resume.

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