Never "divorce the action from the storyline"

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  • Never "divorce the action from the storyline"

    I read a review of THE MATRIX RELOADED by a director (I'll keep his name out of this) who was very disappointed with the movie after being so impressed with the first one.

    His review read as follows:

    "I'm going to put a review of Matrix Reloaded here. I just want to get all that disappointment off my chest. Why oh why oh why oh why? It's so hard to make a film and I can't take anything away from their technical delivery this movie but I have to question the creative decisions the brothers made on the film. Why Zion and the bad Duran Duran video rave scene? Why did they let Laurance Fishburne do a bad parody of himself from the first film? Why did they divorce the action from the story telling? Why did they think that psuedo intellectual, impenetrable, static, dialogue scenes were going to work? I could go on but I can't. I'm too upset. It wouldn't matter but I thought the first one was so godamn brilliant and I was excited about this one. Here's hoping the third one justifies it all."

    I liked that one key line "why did they divorce the action from the story telling" as it sounds a very important point for a scriptwriter not to make this mistake but unfortunately I can't make out what he means.

    I thought the action scenes in RELOADED fit in with the storyline quite well (the freeway chase scene in particular) and none of it seemed like they tried to shoe-horn a fight scene in just for the hell of it.

    Can anyone expand on this phrase and maybe point to where I'm wrong and maybe other action films where the action has not been divorced from the storyline to make a comparison?

  • #2
    Re: Never "divorce the action from the storyline"

    Sure. An action scene is all about exploring character. An action scene is required to tell the story (not just part of the story). So in MATRIX all of the action scenes are character related - you can not remove them from the film.

    An example I use is the scene where Morpheus sacrifices himself so that Neo can get away between the walls. Morpheus believes Neo is the one, so he will give his life for him. Neo knows the Oracle told him he's *not* the one, so he hesitates halfway down the wall - wants to go back and rescue Morpheus. Hey, when Neo hesitates, Morpheus must keep getting pounded until Neo gets away. The scene is about showing their beliefs and lack of, and how these feelings cause danger to the other. The scene is all about character - and also a fight scene.

    The sequel had that endless car chase that was just a car chase - you coold have removed it and the scene before and after would cut together without any problem. That scene didn't explore character or change the direction of the story through a character's decision.

    An action scene is a character scene.

    - Bill
    Free Script Tips:
    http://www.scriptsecrets.net

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    • #3
      Re: Never "divorce the action from the storyline"

      Originally posted by wcmartell View Post
      So in MATRIX all of the action scenes are character related - you can not remove them from the film.

      The sequel had that endless car chase that was just a car chase - you coold have removed it and the scene before and after would cut together without any problem. That scene didn't explore character or change the direction of the story through a character's decision.

      An action scene is a character scene.

      - Bill
      except for the scene this reviewer is talking about in matrix reloaded

      so this is a good way to test your action scene... or any scene really. but i'm sure some people put fast cool action scenes in their stories just for the sake of having a fast cool action scene.

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      • #4
        Re: Never "divorce the action from the storyline"

        Originally posted by alexrpeters View Post
        I liked that one key line "why did they divorce the action from the story telling" as it sounds a very important point for a scriptwriter not to make this mistake but unfortunately I can't make out what he means.
        Have you seen Inception?

        Okay, so we had 3 hours of boring talking mingled in with special effects, followed by 3 hours of mind-numbing action sequences relying heavily on special effects. The film was BAD.

        So, what do we learn?

        Well, without action scenes, action films aren't going to work, so toss a couple of extra in for the sake of it, sure, but don't let them over-take the plot, which is where Inception failed horribly in its final third. But also, where information is needed to let a viewer know what the hell is happening (ever seen the mess that is Aeon Flux?), it's best off it coming out during car chases -

        cars smash together, passing vehicles over-turn, the baddies fire guns through their windows... the hot female lead asks the saviour hero-type dude, "What's happening?" And he explains in as few words as possible while things EXPLODE around him! -

        or after we've just been treated to some on-screen sex... and now we EXPECT a slower moment (while they get their breath back),

        OR, after a big action scene or initial escape scene where we again, EXPECT a slower moment.

        Too many films fall flat because they want to over-load our senses with MTV editing, bad, FAST music and no slow moments where things are explained.

        In the case of The Matrix 2, it was simply that they wanted to make a Bicardi Breezer advert with a terrible debate on theology thrown in.
        It was a mess and the film suffered for it. And rightly so.
        Cufk, Tish, Sips.

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        • #5
          Re: Never "divorce the action from the storyline"

          Originally posted by wcmartell View Post
          An example I use is the scene where Morpheus sacrifices himself so that Neo can get away between the walls. Morpheus believes Neo is the one, so he will give his life for him. Neo knows the Oracle told him he's *not* the one, so he hesitates halfway down the wall - wants to go back and rescue Morpheus. Hey, when Neo hesitates, Morpheus must keep getting pounded until Neo gets away. The scene is about showing their beliefs and lack of, and how these feelings cause danger to the other. The scene is all about character - and also a fight scene.

          - Bill
          Thanks for the clarification Bill.

          My only reservation with your point is that had you taken the freeway chase out of RELOADED you would have not had the Keymaster fall into the hands of Neo's group and furthermore he introduced the concept "We are all here to do what we're meant to do" which further continued the argument for freedom and destiny.

          But yes I agree with the concept that mundane fight scenes add little to a film other than eye candy and that the first film did this quite well.

          By the way, I noticed on your site that your book "Secrets of Screen Action Writing" is out of print, pending an update.

          Any news on when the new edition comes out?

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Never "divorce the action from the storyline"

            Originally posted by earthbound88
            I think the obvious example is the multiple Agent Smith fight. The fight scene is awesome and that's why it was in the movie, but when he flies off at the end pretty much everyone is just wondering "umm... why didn't he just fly away at the beginning?"
            exactly.

            I saw Reloaded 5 times in theater. I absolutely loved the setpieces. But even I knew at the time that the story was a little weak, and there were boring scenes.

            So that's the difference. In Matrix 1, nothing feels like a 'setpiece.' We know it's action, but it moves the character/story forward just like Bill pointed out.

            But in Reloaded, you know it's "insert fight/car scene." Now, the action scenes themselves are brilliant and some of the best ever filmed IMO, but still, they feel kind of inert because the story is inert.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Never "divorce the action from the storyline"

              Originally posted by wcmartell View Post
              Sure. An action scene is all about exploring character. An action scene is required to tell the story (not just part of the story). So in MATRIX all of the action scenes are character related - you can not remove them from the film.

              An example I use is the scene where Morpheus sacrifices himself so that Neo can get away between the walls. Morpheus believes Neo is the one, so he will give his life for him. Neo knows the Oracle told him he's *not* the one, so he hesitates halfway down the wall - wants to go back and rescue Morpheus. Hey, when Neo hesitates, Morpheus must keep getting pounded until Neo gets away. The scene is about showing their beliefs and lack of, and how these feelings cause danger to the other. The scene is all about character - and also a fight scene.

              The sequel had that endless car chase that was just a car chase - you coold have removed it and the scene before and after would cut together without any problem. That scene didn't explore character or change the direction of the story through a character's decision.

              An action scene is a character scene.

              - Bill
              Thank you. That was very insightful.
              www.silvercop.com
              If we don't get the information, and if we don't get the leads, we can't track down the killers.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Never "divorce the action from the storyline"

                I would imagine this is in reference to scene writing not specific to an action scene.

                Making the point that it streaches across the board, and as we change genres, actions/scenes are explored in different ways; it sorta breaks into theme in this way, IMHO.

                If I was to comment on Matrix specifically I would agree and say that it basically changed genres and most people went to the theater expecting something different or cerebral.

                Still better than Ironman 2...

                if you really want to think about this and how it applies to your writing I would assume it would be in scene building, anticipation... blah blah blah.

                An 'action scene' in a Thriller is going to be plot motivated

                ... in a Horror flick it will center around the mystery of the Unknown and explore what we already know

                ... Action Movie, already be discussed, but I would actually focus more on a constant war between the A&P


                I think there is also another great quote to add to this thread, "never ask the Director how to write your scene".
                But this wily god never discloses even to the skillful questioner the whole content of his wisdom.

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