When we\u00a0think action films, we immediately\u00a0think of the 1980s \u2014 the genre’s heyday. What made these films so great was the way the filmmakers approached the concept of how to frame the action<\/strong> they wanted to see. It was more calculated and specific.<\/p>\n It’s hard to pick the\u00a0ultimate action director of the 1980s. The list of possibilities is long and includes directors like John McTiernan<\/a>, Tony Scott<\/a>, Steven Spielberg<\/a>, James Cameron<\/a>, Richard Donner<\/a>, George Miller<\/a>, and others. Let’s look at what made them so great at framing action sequences\u00a0and look at the way they influenced the action films of today \u2014 for better or for worse.<\/p>\n Image from\u00a0Emma C McCormick<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Before you shout out action, you need to have an idea of what you’re filming. You need to go through the previsualization<\/strong> process.\u00a0This includes many things, but chief among them is storyboarding.<\/strong> By taking the scene from your mind to paper, you’ve given yourself a leg up when it comes time to choreograph the stunts. Storyboarding<\/strong> also makes the rehearsal process much easier.<\/p>\n Remember,\u00a0previsualization<\/strong>\u00a0is the part of the process where you make a bulk of the decisions on how the scene will go. So take your time storyboarding<\/strong> and know that there are two different ways to go about it. One way is to draw them, like The Matrix<\/em><\/a> storyboards above. You\u00a0don’t have to be Leonardo da Vinci<\/a> to draw storyboards… crude drawings are just as good to figure out how to frame the action<\/strong> and get the shot you want.<\/p>\n If you\/re not an artist, rest easy. You can replace the drawings with written text detailing your scene. Just place the text into squares. Either way, storyboarding<\/strong> ahead of time will make things so much easier for you, especially as we go into the next step.<\/p>\n Image from\u00a0Lucasfilm<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Now that you’ve got your scene down on paper, you can begin the process of rehearsing<\/strong> it. And believe me, no matter what type of action scene you’re putting together, you’re going to want to rehearse<\/strong> it before you frame the action. If it’s a lightsaber battle, rehearse it. If it’s soldiers exchanging gun fire with explosions around them… rehearse it. Even if it’s a simple fist fight, rehearse it. There are two reasons for doing this.<\/p>\n The first and most important reason is safety.<\/strong> You want your cast and crew to be as safe as possible, and you can do this by rehearsing the scene so<\/strong>\u00a0everyone knows where they need to be and how they need to play the scene out. Think of all of the lightsaber duels\u00a0we’ve seen throughout the years. If actors like Mark Hamill<\/a> didn’t rehearse<\/strong> those ahead of time, they wouldn’t have looked as good \u2014 and the chances of injury would have gone up\u00a0dramatically.<\/p>\n The second reason is artistic in nature.<\/strong> You may have storyboards and the scene in your head, but once you get the actors in place for a rehearsal<\/strong>, you may find that there is a better angle. If you didn’t rehearse the scene, you would have gone into production having to make those changes in the heat of the moment instead of\u00a0locking down and framing the action<\/strong>.<\/p>\nHow to Frame the Action<\/h3>\n
Previsualization<\/h4>\n
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<\/p>\nRehearsal<\/h4>\n
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