The 25th James Bond film comes out this week, also the last film in Daniel Craig's historic 15 year run. And in celebration this week I'm going to look at some great storytelling techniques from Bond films over the years.
This first one is one of my favorites, and it comes from the opening of the first Craig film, CASINO ROYALE.
As with many if not all Bond films, CASINO starts in media res. After a brief black and white opening that establishes how James Bond actually became a "00", we cut to Uganda, where Bond is chasing a suspect of some kind.
The chase has specific stages--really any good action sequence does. A good action sequence, whether a chase or just a fight, tells a story all its own. You can tell when the creative team doesn't understand that or doesn't care, as those are usually the sequences where your mind drifts or things start to feel repetitive. A great action sequence has to do more than just keep upping the level of challenge for the protagonist, though of course it has to do that. It has to vary the nature of the challenge, ideally as a result of the protagonist's own choices.
I immediately think of Harrison Ford films like RAIDERS or STAR WARS. His characters tend to find themselves in a pickle, he makes some sort of bold response--like shouting and chasing stormtroopers to make them think they're up against superior forces, so as to distract them--and then eventually he finds himself confronted by them, and now he's being chased and fired against. And now he's also dealing with the fast-closing doors that could trap him with them. That's a story.
One of the things that makes that action sequence so wonderful and endlessly rewatchable is that Han's choices do such a great job of revealing him character. He's crazy, he's bold, he's a little bit silly.
In CASINO ROYALE's opening, the creative team accomplishes something by use of a combination of character choice and character contrast. In some ways the contrast is the most important part--the Bond chases is absolutely elegant in his actions, working with every possible obstacle to only increase his distance from Bond. He's leaping through window frames and pushing up and over things in his way, parkouring across rooftops and up the sides of buildings, and landing jumps across buildings with rolls that prevent injury and keep him from slowing down.
Meanwhile, Bond runs through walls. He barely makes some of his jumps, and when he lands he lands HARD.
And just those choices, especially placed alongside the other man's, tell us so much about Bond. He's not about looking pretty. He has no concern for his personal safety and much grace. He is a blunt instrument and he is 1000% determination.
I tend to think most great action sequences are not worked out on the page in a script. They're worked out with a director and stunt coordinator in preproduction and in rehearsal. Which is to say, as script writers I don't think we often need to go blow by blow through such scenes--though some do that very well.
What's key is that we hit those essential elements, the overall journey and character arc of an action sequence. Just a few key beats like BAD GUY runs up the wall/Bond throws himself off a roof tell the director and actor what they need to know (and can also help them fall in love with your vision of that moment).
YOUR TURN
Go through an action sequence in one of your scripts, with an eye specifically toward first labeling the key beats of the story--1. A stormtrooper stumbles onto Solo and his friends. 2. Solo creates a distraction, charging after him...etc.
Then look at the choices your character or characters make in each beat. Do those choices reveal things about the character? Are there ways to polish those choices to make them reveal more?
