Few events seem as genre-mandatory in an action film as a 'fist fight'. These confrontations provide action, excitement and vicarious danger for the audience. Yet many fist fights quickly become boring and cliche. Part of it is because they are too predictable, both from a fight choreography and story milestone perspective. People hit each other, get hurt, move-countermove. Each take turns seemingly to become the winner. Early in a script, a hero may be defeated in order to provide a sense of danger or a motivation for revenge. Late in the film, the hero generally prevails to give a sense of justice, satisfaction and resolution. Predictable and boring. Unless you are showing off the athletic skills of the actors themselves, like Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon, Jackie Chan in Rush Hour,or using a new filming approach as in The Matrix,to get your fist fight accepted, you need to give your confrontation much more. You need to give your fist fight meaning and use it to advance the story.

One of the best examples (spoiler alert) of a truly meaningful fist fight is the final confrontation between Terry Malloy and Johnny Friendly in On the Waterfront. Here, Screenwriter Schulberg and Director Kazan force Terry to challenge the tyranny of Friendly. Terry must risk everything to gain his self-respect and freedom for his fellow dock workers. But it is not the outcome of the fist fight that is important; it is Terry's response that is the emotional heartbeat of the conflict. Terry is quickly defeated by Friendly's deceitful, cheating brutality. What Terry does though is emerge from the beating to demonstrate to himself, the dockworkers and Friendly that Terry, the person, is not defeated. Defiantly and in just a few memorable moments of screen time, Terry leads the workers into what is rightfully theirs - their jobs, dignity and freedom. This single act renders Friendly impotent and pathetic. The fist fight is beautifully framed by purpose and consequence. Without it, there would not have been a climactic confrontation and Terry's actions would have little meaning. This is perfection in screenwriting.

Some screenwriters enhance the meaning of a fistfight by elevating the stakes to an astronomical degree. Take Neo's climactic confrontation with Agent Smith in the Warchowski brothers' Matrix Revolutions for instance. What is at stake here is the survival of humanity itself. Other strategies can work too. In Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indy fights in his bedroom while Kate ponders whether to admit her attraction to him. This juxtapositioning of violence and affection creates humor in a classic Stephen Spielberg way.

Other fist fights leave a lot to be desired. When Dr. Richard Kimble confronts Dr. Charles Nichols at the climax of The Fugitive, they simply fist fight. There is little meaning to the fight other than an expression of Kimble's anger. Nothing is in jeopardy for Kimble or Nichols that is determined by the outcome. Specifically, U.S. Marshall Samuel Gerard already knows Kimble is innocent and that Nichols is guilty. A better approach may have been to write that Kimble had to fight Nichols in order to prevent Nichols from destroying crucial evidence that would establish Kimble's innocence. Failure would mean Kimble would be returned to jail and Nichols remain free. This would create more emotional involvement for the audience, and isn't that what makes Terry, Indy and Neo's fights so compelling?

So what can you do to prevent your fist fight from becoming flat? If it's just a highly entertaining fist fight you want to create, make sure your fighting actor is the quality of Jackie Chan or to be choreographed by someone like Yuen Wo-Ping of Kill Bill, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Matrix. Your fist fight will be expertly created and performed, and the entertainment will be in the skill, grace and power of the action. Pure entertainment.

But if you don't have such capable people available, focus on the context of the fist fight with the following questions:

* Why is the fist fight occurring? There needs to be a specific reason for the fight and not simply the result of a coincidental or gratuitous meeting between two opposing characters.
* Why are the characters fighting now? It is better to have your protagonist forced into the confrontation, unprepared or already handicapped. It sometimes works to have the protagonist try everything to avoid the fight altogether.
* What are the odds against the protagonist? Make them large, but not just by the antagonist having a weapon or superior physique or skills. That's too unimaginative. Another approach is to give the protagonist an additional problem, such as rescuing someone (Raiders of the Lost Ark) or trying to stop an atomic bomb from exploding Goldfinger).
* What is at stake in the fight? It needs to be important. Watch Cinderella Man, Rocky and Raging Bull for films about fighting where the confrontations take on monumental significance.
* Does the fight advance the story. If you omitted the fist fight and there is no impact - then cut it!

It's worth picking a few movies where you particularly like the fist fight and ask the above questions as you watch. The answers will help you in your own writing. Enjoy!




Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Melvyn_Heyes