TWS Tutorials - Action Scenes - Part 1

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TWS Tutorials - Action Scenes - Part 1
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Action scenes are great! They're dynamic, fun, furious, wild, exciting, scary and driven by our much loved heroes and villains, some of the best action scenes - whether in literature or film - make us feel like we're right in the middle of this adrenaline mess and its only up to us (and the -cough- conveniently -cough- sexy hero) to save this childrens' party of a day!

The knack - as painfully obvious it might seem for me to point this out - is to write the scene so its clear, logical and sensible to us, the author, but for it to read like its a sudden, unpredictable torrent of events that would have the average mortal running and screaming in fear, but not our noble hero (...or readers! )

I honestly think that a good place to start in writing an action scene is to think about how action scenes are portrayed in films; the chances are, we've all seen at least one full-on action scene in some film or another. Now, how does the overall sequence work in 'mechanical' terms? For a lot of them there tend to be a high number of one or two seconds shots before the camera (and thus the focus or angle) changes. Primarily, this gives urgency to the sequence and drags us in, emotionally speaking, by forcing the watcher to focus on more than one thing at once which gives the impression that we are actually present there - we can't be passive if we think we're in the middle of a battle!

This give us the first major thing to be bear in mind - keep to the short mini scenes and give the audience a number of related things to focus on at once.

The way I write action scenes is to 'play a movie' of the scene in my head, so I think about what I want to happen, then I imagine it as if it's playing like an anime or film inside my head, I find this helpful for two ways: one, if I can easily imagining it happening, then its going to be plausible for the reader to imagine (or at the very least, I know when something is completely ridiculous - like flying over the moon or the villain accidentally falling into a ditch, breaking a leg and being carted away to hospital before the fighting can begin!)

Secondly, when actions scenes are shown in anime for example, they have a great sense of urgency and dynamism to them: again this is because they use a lot of short shots and different angles - so when you're watching the little 'movie' in your head, you'll naturally incorporate this style into your imaginings because its how you've seen it done with me so far?

So the next step is transforming that 'movie' into the written word: the key is to keep this short sharp scenes, add in little details such as the impact point of a missed shot, or another favourite is to focus on the first splatters of blood that fall to the floor after one of the opponents had been hit (usually fatally). Of course, to use all the classics will quickly become trite and alienate the reader because they've seen it all before (or think they have) if you use them too often, but they're really good to practice with whilst you're getting used to how you want to write your action.

But these little snippets are particularly effective because they force the reader to become emotionally invested through the added urgency of not giving them the information that they desperately want too quickly: to know that the hero has defeated the villain. When the focus is on the side issues of a battle - like focusing on the fall of a missed pistol shot, a sudden noise that distracts the hero at a critical moment, the hero wiping sweat from his forehead in a tense lull of battle, a villain cocking his fully-loaded weapon for example - it forces the reader to think in a wider perspective (i.e. like they ~are~ the hero or villain, as though they are actually present in the fighting) so that they become a part of the battle and are not just passive observers!

I think its about time for an example, I'll write out a quick action scene between two enemies - to avoid alienating any readers not familiar with some animes or films, this will be something in real-world universe:

'Misaki holds her ground, hearing only her own breaths, she's still covered by the corner of the abandoned building and the dark of the night, her pistol fully loaded; all of her police training tells her not to give away her position until she absolutely has to - and certainty not before she has an idea of where her enemy is hidden. Her eyes flick down to the phone in her hand, displaying the inaccurate tracking feature, which offers a bright blob, ominously flashing, right next to her own: Hattou's close, definitely on the same rooftop...and bristling with the intent to kill.

She only just manages to clip her gasp as a flash of movement catches her attention almost before the deafening bang of the shotgun makes its presence known, barely missing her as it shatters the flimsy wall coating in a split second. Looking to the source, the sudden action finds validation by the man himself leaping off the mezzanine and flying down directly towards Misaki.

Two of her bullets find their way to a direct hit, which amount to little against his barrel-like chest, aside from jolting him back against the wall, he's no doubt coated with kevlar, she realises incredulously; the police officer restrains herself from wasting any more and she watches as him yank up the gun, just as the barrel points at her, a blinding light dazzles from the top of it.

Misaki grits her teeth and counts to three before flinging herself aside, only just missing the roar of pure power that seems to explode the second it comes into contact with the building; skidding over the rough ground, being forced backwards by the raw power of the discharge, she aims her weapon again to fire at the opponent that's proved himself so tricky to get around.

But Hattou is a skilled fighter and he's gone before Misaki has even managed to take aim; leaping to her feet and darting quickly though cautiously to cover - he might have missed his shot, but it's by no means wasted, for her eyes are now useless, momentarily blinded as she is by the light in the dark and Hattou wastes no time in using it to his advantage.'

This is a little rushed, but does it make sense by the use of redirecting the readers' attention to the little things? To me, detail is KEY in action scenes, of course too much will remove the sense of urgency you need, but not enough will confuse and alienate a reader. Giving them snippets to think about - such as the tracking device, the momentary confusion of Misaki for Hattou's body armour, and her blindness from the bright weapon light all help for encourage the reader to become emotionally invested in the fight and the characters - and ultimately: your writing.

So there you go - the flow-side of action scenes Next time, I will write up a tutorial on actions scenes in practical terms, e.g. how to choreograph a hand-to-hand fight - or a fight between ninjas - what would be most helpful to you? Let me know!