Stage Combat Priorities 3: Storytelling is Not a List of Events, Stupid

We all know that stage combat's first priority is safety, as we learned in Safety...Boring. We also know that many actors like stage combat classes because they learn cool-looking flourishes and how to look like a bad-a__ which we explored last time in Style and Expertise. Both of these are in service of our main goal, creating the Illusion of Violence, our overall effect.

One thing that is missing is the structure of the fight itself and how it fits into the story being told.

We'll consider storytelling from different scales, from the microscopic to the grandiose. My headings will be musical, because that's a good analogy, not because of the melody of "ting, ting, whoosh."

The Symphony

The overall fight has many considerations that a choreographer decides with the director ahead of time:

• The length of the fight in seconds or minutes
• The goals of each character
• The weapons, including whether there are disarms or exchanges
• Moments that are necessary for the plot (an injury that is mentioned in a later speech, etc)

If your character is a pacifist, then what would happen if your attack succeeded? Would you pull your punch?

If a character is disarmed, would they beg for mercy or bite and kick until killed?

If this is a minor henchman, no matter how skilled the actor may be, does this fight need to be more than 10 seconds long?

Too many fights are too long because there is not enough story content. Choreographers and directors feel that the fight isn't epic enough so they add hundreds of moves. However, an epic final confrontation has more to do with a story progression, and desperate words screamed in dying moments than in a catalogue of fancy attacks.

Consider Troy, below. Think about the length of the fight in time, and the (quite low) number of techniques. It is all about the story and the character choices.

The Phrase

A feature fight, such as the final confrontation between the hero and the villain, will be broken up into sections called Phrases. A phrase can be as brief as two moves, or a long sequence of attacks and reversals. What defines the phrase is a pause in the action.

These pauses are necessary to allow the audience to "catch up" in a sense. Too much activity can become confusing and sometimes even boring. The audience needs a breather to listen to dialogue and be reminded of the reason for the fight.

The pause often happens when the characters are separated. One jumps away from the other, and they take the opportunity to yell at each other, or straighten their tunic, or call for reinforcements. Sometimes, the pause happens in a corps-a-corps, when the two fighters have weapons locked.

Each phrase usually has some story decision associated with it:

• The hero is winning due to courage
• The villain turns the tables by cheating
• The damsel is threatened
• The hero is disarmed
• The castle is starting to crumble, so they stumble

Go back to the Troy video, and count the number of phrases and the number of moves per phrase.

The Note

Every move within a fight is a little story. It has a beginning in the form of a preparatory action (often a cue to your partner), which generates an inhale or anticipation. Then it has a middle, the meat of the action, the attacking move; an exhale. And finally, it has a brief ending, denouement or reaction, which is a kind of pause or transition to the next event.

For example: a slap.

1. Prep: pulling the arm back and upward so the victim and audience can see it
2. Action: the slap passes in front of the victim's face, and one partner creates the knap sound
3. Reaction: the victim turns and winces and the operator recovers

Many actors focus on step 2 and think that the prep is merely a safety feature, and they completely ignore step 3. But in a slap, the reaction is the most important part, not only for the victim but for the operator as well. Do you regret the slap? Does your hand sting? Did anyone see you?

The Music 

Music is neither a single note, nor sacrificing any note for the big picture. An actor should be aware of the overall structure as well as performing each technique with accuracy. The story elements are just as important as style elements and safety, though your fight director will make most of those decisions for you.

Your Story Starts Now

This Sunday is another chance to join the stage combat program at Academie Duello, our Slaps and Slashes workshop, also known as Introduction to Stage Combat.

A big announcement that may change the course of your training: We will be holding the certification test at the end of March, 2012. That means that if you take the January workshop, you'll have to attend 3 days a week in order to fulfill the required hours. However, if you join in this December workshop, you'll have the luxury of a little less time pressure.