Screenwriting : Tips for writing chase and fight action scenes. by Wardaan T

I don't choreograph too much just the big elements. "Peter and George fight spilling across the room, both men using furniture and whatever they can grab in a scrappy brawl." You could possibly give the winner a line. "Peter stand blood to the elbows over George's lifeless body." I'd let the stunt people figure out how to hurt each other.

I wrote a screenplay where I made the mistake of being very descriptive with the action scenes, and as a consequence, it's too long and no one wants to read it. The difficulty I find in writing chase scenes and action scenes is it messes with the expected ratio of 1 page per 1 minute of film time. You end up with many pages of action, that don't actually represent the same ratio of page to time that people expect. For that reason, I propose to keep the descriptions brief and just cover the main touch-points of what absolutely needs to happen, functionally, with the story, in the scene. The details of the action scenes/chase scenes are better to be fleshed out in the story-boarding.

On the subject of action verbs. I like to throw in metaphors to keep it interesting. The pursuer haunts his steps like a spectre. His fist crashes down like a flaming meteor. It solves the problem of using a variety of verbs by making it more abstract.

Also, you can make uninteresting verbs, sound more interesting by changing the meter of your prose. For instance, instead of saying "She slammed the door and locked the deadbolt and the chain." You can use interesting prose like this: "The door slams. The dead bolt clanks. The chain rattles".

Chase Scene:

Then there's the (Build up). Make the goals important: freedom, rescue, justice, survival. Then start throwing obstacles in the character’s paths.

Lastly the ( Climax). Add emotional pressure. Up the stakes. Depending you know could be hostage situation, etc. Good lucK

Oh my god, got wonderful comments from Craig, Jesse and Maria! Thank you all for your precious advice. I will work it out soon.

Don't know. Read Born Identity.

ZURICH COP #2 has heard enough -- giving a sharp poke with

the nightstick -- into THE MAN's back -- and that's the last

thing he'll remember because --

THE MAN is in motion.

A single turn -- spinning -- catching COP #2 completely off

guard -- the heel of his hand driving up into the guy's

throat and --

COP #1 -- behind him -- trying to reach for his pistol, but

THE MAN -- still turning -- all his weight moving in a

single fluid attack -- a sweeping kick and --

COP #1 -- he's falling -- catching the bench -- trying to

fight back but -- THE MAN -- like a machine -- just

unbelievably fast -- three jackhammer punches -- down-down-

down and -- COP #1 -- head slammed into the bench -- blood

spraying from his nose -- he's out cold and --

COP #2 -- writhing on the ground -- gasping for air --

struggling with his holster -- THE MAN -- his foot --

down -- like a vise -- onto COP #2's arm -- shattering the

bone -- COP #2 starting to scream, and then silenced because --

THE MAN -- he's got the pistol -- so fucking fast -- he's

got it right up against COP #2's forehead -- right on the

edge of pulling the trigger -- he is, he's gonna shoot him --

Steal from the Pros. Use what you like from them.

Tony Gilroy (Bourne), Richard Wenk (Equalizer) are masters at one word action description. Print their scripts and you'll notice there is lots of white space on their pages.

It's really hard to do, write minimalist for 100+ pages .

And his brother Dan, at least what he had done with Nightcrawler

Dan M is absolutely on track. About three years ago, I wrote a war script and wanted to craft a scene where jet fighters destroy and enemy airfield. So I read Pearl Harbor, which has brilliantly written action sequences. I also watched parts of The Road to Perdition when I was looking for inspiration for a climatic scene in a gangster script. The rain scene where Hanks kills he mentor played by the late, great Paul Newman is visually spectacular.

I write only what the director needs to know.

Completely agree to Dan, directing is a creative job and they are smart and will do the right things - hence, let them breathe, let them live and use their own fantasy and creativity. ;)

I think it also depends on how much you actually know about fighting. This is a spot where a lot of people (especially males) have to check their ego. If you honestly understand and are competent in fight theory, AND know how to combine that with lean storytelling, then you can probably afford a few more details if those details are compelling and show character as well as the method of action. If it's not your forte, then going ultra lean and minimalist is probably your best bet.

The big problem is that at the end of the day, you aren't in charge of location scouting, you aren't in charge of stunts, you aren't in charge of cinematography or editing. However, if you make sure that the important parts are woven into the character and story as opposed to just "cool stuff" then you'll stand a better chance to see it realized.

Chase and fight scenes are tricky. Depends on where you are in the story and who you characters are. On foot is more suspenseful than cars. Fight scenes are hard and Craig gave you save advice. I am a Gilroy fan, he is just soo good.

Action-adventure films with lots of chases and fight scenes are expensive and difficult to produce... insurance, stunt actors, FX, post - on and on. I speak from the US market, not the Indian market.

Thank you all for such an overwhelming responses. Well Allen, I really don't know about the fight theory, never heard of it. I worked on my scene, and I think it is quite simple.

Dunno how "verbs" on the page is gonna be interpreted by fight & stunt coordinators. The stuff we write has to be acted and filmed by humans. Safety is a huge issue. Fights and car chases take lots of preparation, Time waiting, so is the budget$$$. Quality of skilled crew matters. Get what you paid for.

If you wanna see shitty guns & fight scenes, rent my movie , "Senorita Justice".

I wrote some action verb, adjectives, adverbs descriptions on the page. The Line Producer "black sharpied" the pages and verbally told the stunt guys to figure it out for the Director.

Fighting scenes are really cheap. Just go into a biker bar and call them a bunch of names and start filming. Just make sure you have 911 on speed dial.