{"id":1482,"date":"2023-01-16T23:43:26","date_gmt":"2023-01-16T23:43:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cliffnordman.com\/blog\/?p=1482"},"modified":"2025-04-18T03:32:10","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T03:32:10","slug":"keep-it-close","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cliffnordman.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/16\/keep-it-close\/","title":{"rendered":"Keep It Close"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Action and violence in a story (I use movies as my examples) can be fun, humorous, empowering, or spectacular. But I want to talk about action that makes the audience worry about the characters. How can we, as storytellers, maximize the apparent danger to the characters, and maximize the audience’s fear for their safety? Going bigger and louder isn’t the answer. It’s hard to keep track of 30 enemy soldiers, and blowing up the whole world seems abstract. No, for maximum peril, put the threat right in the character’s face and give them time to look at it. Keep it close.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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This kind of danger has three axes. I’ll provide examples of the extremes, but remember that they are continuums, not binaries.<\/p>\n

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  1. Intimacy:<\/strong> How close is the threat to the character?<\/li>\n
  2. Vulnerability:<\/strong> If the threat is not neutralized, how badly will it hurt the character?<\/li>\n
  3. Speed:<\/strong> Does the audience (and the character) have time to understand the threat?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Intimacy: Far<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The whole scene is a joke that the knight is not threatening at such a distance.<\/p>\n

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    Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Intimacy: Close<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Dodge This! There’s no room to dodge. No space between the threat and the character.<\/p>\n

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    The Matrix (1999)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Intimacy: OVERFLOW<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Body horror is especially potent because the threat is already inside, in a place that should be completely safe and under control.<\/p>\n

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    Princess Mononoke (1997)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Vulnerability: Safe<\/strong><\/p>\n

    She’s got a metal body and knows a secret martial art. She’d be fine even if she lost this bar fight, which she clearly won’t.<\/p>\n

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    Alita: Battle Angel (2019)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Vulnerability: Dangerous<\/strong><\/p>\n

    A point-blank shotgun blast will kill a normal human.<\/p>\n

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    The Terminator (1984)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Speed: <\/strong>Fast<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The opponent’s strikes are so quick that the character can either handle them, or she’s already lost.<\/p>\n

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    Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Speed: <\/strong>Slow<\/strong><\/p>\n

    This creature isn’t moving, so the crew has time to try various ways to remove it and realize that none of them work.<\/p>\n

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    Alien (1979)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Speed: Too Slow<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The soldiers and Jeeps can’t keep up, so the Iron Giant just leaves. If the threat has no effect for a long time, or gives the characters plenty of time to prepare, it’s less threatening.<\/p>\n

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    The Iron Giant (1999)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Combine these three axes to create especially intense moments.<\/p>\n