I was fortunate enough to hear Zak Penn (X-Men, Avengers) and Bill Martell (Black Thunder) speak about writing action movies at a Scriptwriters Network event on writing action movies.
Action is the most profitable genre for movies because it travels so well overseas. It can be dictated by both exotic locales and high octane action which movie goers love.
Ultimately, a good action movie is all about character rather than mindless action. Obviously, there need to be substantial action sequences to satisfy the genre, but writers must give the characters dimension. Give the good guy some negative traits (flaws) and the bad guy some good ones. Build character oppositions, contradictions and interactions. Give both protagonists and antagonists a weakness and vulnerability to humanize them.
Make your villains empathetic. They are not entirely the evil force of destruction, but rather the obstacle that prevents the main character from achieving their goal. Make your audience think, ?I?d to the same thing if I were them?.
Use the ?trailer moment? action sequences to reveal plot points that would otherwise be delivered by simple dialogue. Make these sequences self contained. Give them a three act structure to keep the audience engaged.
Give action sequences plot reversals or set backs for the heroes. Shift the balance of power and add additional villains so the heroes are battling on multiple fronts. Multiple characters pursuing the same goal dramatically function as a single character.
As with all good stories, avoid linear, episodic scenes so audiences don?t tune out. Add additional subplots to complicate the action.
When writing action sequences, write just enough detail for the reader to experience the scene. Don?t bog it down with too much detail or allow the reader to drift off with too little. Include action that changes the dynamics of a scene. Choices and actions that alter the trajectory of the story.
Avoid repeated scenes which don?t raise the stakes of the story, but rather give the same information in a different way. One car chase followed by another car case flatlines the story.
Action movies can be pure action such as ?Mission Impossible? or hybrids such as action/thriller which includes the Bourne series.
When writing your spec script, don?t always hold the action back. Make things explode, place your characters in deep danger. It?s always easier to pare back the action when economic or scheduling realities set in.
See if you can collaborate to enhance those ?trailer moment? scenes.? This is called elevating or heightening the genre.
The first thirty pages will help sell the script with a kick ass action sequence, but the last thirty pages will make it a success because the final scenes are what the audience will remember when they leave the theatre.
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Source: http://gideonsway.wordpress.com/2012/07/14/writing-the-action-blockbuster/
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