The action is the story.

In preparation for making AK, I did a lot of research.

You’ve read about some of it on the blog. I talked about looking at women in action scenes, and other visual references. (Most of that research was done before Jessica Jones, Ghostbusters, and the Wonder Woman trailer were released.)

But there was research on fight styles outside of movies, too.

I looked at a lot of different styles, arenas, and physical moves. MMA, UFC, WWE, muay thai, self-defense, karate, jiu-jitsu, street fighting, and tai chi were some. Karate and self-defense are the only ones I’ve practiced myself. I took classes in college and loved it.

Each fight style is nuanced and specific. I totally fell in love with the research, and wish I had more time to devote to studying the differences. (I also wouldn’t mind taking new classes to get in shape and learn some moves so I can better understand them.)

In pre-production, we also looked at weapons – specifically pistols.

But weapons of any kind got ruled out pretty quickly due to the lack of resources to cover training, props, insurance, safety on set, etc. Not having weapons on set made it a lot easier to get the locations secured, too.

I haven’t given up on that idea yet, though. I’m a tomboy in a lot of ways and really want to shoot something with cars, weapons, explosions, and action sequences. I’d like to tackle it one day.

What I’ve learned through all of this listening, watching, reading, and learning is that the action is the story.

Worth repeating again: action is the story.

A character in a movie – just like a person in real life – moves with purpose. If your character spends a lot of time in professional training, for example, he should fight like a pro. If he hasn’t been through training, he should fight like an untrained person.

It sounds like a “no, duh” statement to make, right? But it hadn’t really crossed my mind before doing all of the research. (That’s part of the reason I like to consistently switch things up and try something new. I’m a life-long learner.)

The newest Bourne movie recently came out, and his character is a great example.

Bourne is a trained professional so he knows how to handle weapons, vehicles, and situations really well. He moves quickly, calmly, and efficiently. He’s not bumbling around wondering what to do next; everything’s calculated.

While working on our movie, AK, these thoughts were constantly swirling around my mind.

How would our fight go down? What variables influence how it’d play out? What kind of moves do we need to use?

There’s a lot to think about.

You need the action to honor the characters. It should build the story, and carry the plot forward. The action is, ideally, more than decorative.

This was one of my big mistakes when we started. I thought, too simply, that it’d be a lot of fun to direct a fight scene. I skipped the emotional reasons why that fight would take place in the first place.

What came out of those conversations were the things you’ll eventually see on screen.

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