CHASE SCENE

A chase scene builds suspense.  It should never be filler.  It takes place within a time frame.  In Catch Me If You Can, the real life chase scene took years.  In the movie, the real life chase scene was condensed to less than 2 hours.  The story for any movie could be interpreted as one big chase scene.  Something happens and the chase begins. When the chase is over, the movie is over.

Chase can be metaphorical, as in chasing a dream.  What does the hero have to go through to make the dream come true and how long will it take?  The story might begin a few hours or days before the dream is about to come true.  Flashbacks might be used to reveal when the dream first began.  Or, the dream coming true could be told as a memory.  It could be the dreams of a pirate, the dreams of a general, or the average dreams of any ordinary person:  dreams of a home, a college degree, getting married, retiring. 

Physical chase scenes take the form of good guy chasing bad guy, either on foot, by car or other mode of transportation.  Other chase scenes include chasing or running from an alien, or a monster, or an act of Mother Nature.  Other chases include searching for a cure, finding love, and any form of discovery. 

We chase goals. 

We do not choose to be chased. 

Some characters are after something, others are trying to get away. 

Rarely in real life do we ever chase each other.  Husbands don’t chase their wives, employees don’t chase their bosses, certainly not in the physical sense of running after each other.  Turning such goals and desires into actual physical chases is a way to dramatize, and in a comedy, provide humorous situations. 

However, cops do chase criminals, spies chase spies, and governments chase terrorists.  Stalking is also a form of chase.  Hate groups hound their victims at every chance they can get.  Lobbyists relentlessly pursue elected officials.  Corporations endlessly pursue consumers.  Consumers forever want something more. 

Chase scenes usually end up disappointing.  They are designed as an obstacle to overcome and produce conflict and suspense.  Chases span across time and place.  A chase can take place around the galaxy, around the world or around the block.  It can take years, days or hours. 

WAS THAT SCENE IN THE SCRIPT?

 

One of the most frustrating aspects of learning how to write a screenplay was finding an actual screenplay that remained true to the final film.  The second most frustrating aspect was learning how directors inserted scenes that were never in the script, or how many scenes are improvised without scripts. 

Many improvised scenes are then later incorporated into the final script, but were never the creation of the screenwriter.  This created confusion as to how screenplays are written.  But I’m over this dilemma now and have no problems with producers, directors and actors changing scripts.  If a storyline or concept is destroyed, I’ll object, but for all intensive purposes, I trust
Hollywood’s ability to make commercially viable films. 

Another frustrating aspect of matching film with screenplay was discerning the difference between a shot and a scene.  Standards are such that screenwriters do not write shots and camera angles.  But a single shot—a scene or event—can happen in seconds, obscuring the line between shot and scene.  Was it the product of a screenwriter’s imagination or the result of an improvised director take?

The important thing was not to worry about what would happen to a script after it reached production.  There are too many variables that shape the final outcome of a movie, from money conscious producers to actors forgetting dialog. 

A script is a blueprint and must allow for a wide range of creative input from numerous talents before it becomes a living, breathing film.  The credits at the end of any film are telling enough when a 100-200 people are ultimately involved in making a film.