How to do a battle/action scene?

[jgreene2433]

I think the best thing to do, rather than look at movies or clips of martial arts if this is a comic is simply to look up how other comic artists have handled fight scenes all throughout the wonderful history of comics. Studying the likes of Jack Kirby and Frank Miller are a few examples that immediately come to mind as both were great at conveying power and movement in their work. The problem with watching live action stuff is that there are all these little micro movements in live action fights that can get too overwhelming to try and capture and draw. Look at comic art you can Google that stuff.

[therosesword]

First of all, you're not a dumb-dumb because such a person wouldn't realize they need to research this.

I do my own fight choreography for close in sword fighting; not because I'm any good at it (ask the Christmas Tree... what a mess) but because it gives me a good "feel" for what is happening and what footwork works, etc.

Some of the most recent best fight scenes I've seen are in the Chinese TV dramas Ever Night (one is below) and Longest day in Chang 'an. Ever Night is magical, Chang'an isn't.

Although I don't have a Dao sword (I can't make up which one I want) I have about four different practice types to give me what I want by way of action. The Dao is my series hero's preferred sword although it's not specifically mentioned as being a Dao, that's what I think of when I'm whacking at the Christmas Tree.
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I've taken karate (sucked at it) but it does give you a grounding. And right now with the pandemic that might be a bit iffy.

For big battle scenes rooted in the non-magical get one of the Sharpe's Rifles books by Bernard Cornwell. No one writes a battle scene like he does. Sharpe's takes place during Napoleon era.

The Ever Night scene is 16 minutes. Hope you like it.

[therosesword]

Sorry, second reply... if you're doing the choreography all by yourself you're going to have to play both parts, offense and defense. It really makes a difference if you only do one person, you need to do both.

Chapter 15 of my Bright Morn story starts a fight scene between my hero and 10 men. Every second of that was rehearsed in my living room.

Bright Morn of Issareth | Tapas

[Rhonder]

My anecdotal advice for designing a clever or strategic fight is to try reverse engineering it if you're finding it hard to come up with cool or tricky uses of powers or interactions in sequence. I like to work with strategic uses of abilities over brute force as well, but also find that I have a hard time just coming up with cunning strategies for my characters on the fly. However what I was able to do for my first comic was to just figure out what I wanted to get out of the fight first, and then work backwards from there to put the rest of it together.

For example, the whole thing was built backwards from a team attack interaction that I wanted to explore: the first thing that I decided for my comic even before the plot was that I wanted the characters with the water and fire powers to defeat an enemy using steam by combining their magic. From there I worked backwards to piece together the rest of the details- not only for that particular climactic fight, but also the story as a whole. What type of opponent could be defeated with steam (and as opposed to Fire or Water alone)? How can/should I show that the water and fire alone are ineffective? Why are my characters fighting this person in the first place? What kinds of previous interactions between these characters can set the scene for the climax? In the end I don't think the fight scene I put together was revolutionary by any means, but reading it back I feel pretty satisfied with the outcome

In this way you can still make the characters react and get surprised in the way that you want, be it the protagonist realizing at a key moment what to do, or a character getting surprised by something, and the readers will be drawn in by those revelations as well. But as @Vibrantes mentioned,you the author will already know the key twist or move because you figured that out ahead of time and weaved the scene in a way to make that scenario work.

[therosesword]

Working backwards is always fun, it really pops out the weaknesses.

[Vibrantes]

I personally don't like to only look for inspiration in the same medium of my actual work because that may get your ideas into "copy cat" mode. When you look for inspiration from different sources, you tend to come up with things that are more uniquely yours. Not saying OP shouldnt check other comics, just that it would be better to not be limited to only that for inspiration.

[jensrichard77]

I’m just gonna tag my man @nathanKmcwilliams here

[Legendofgenii]

I'm in the same boat! Trying not to worry about it too much. I'm just diving in.

I've been to a few medieval reenactment days/festivals (there are plenty where I live as we have a lot of old castles) and photographed/filmed some battles.

Google is helpful too.

I second @nathanKmcwilliams on the action advice.

[ble]

I mostly look for references in manga panels/anime fights.

They have a way to portrait poses in a way i can't think on my own, and weird camera angles that look really cool.

[Puck]

What about watching some kungfu movies and take inspiration from that and combine it with their special powers?
I was drawing a mafia scene and watched movies like the godfather, paused the movie and copied the gesture
and expression of the characters, the angles how the director shot the scenes, the way they talked etc
I did the same with a date scene.
Use references for everything that you don´t know from memory, most of your work as a comic artist
is studying reference material and then transforming it into your art

[nathanKmcwilliams]

I have been summoned by the power of combat and
@jensrichard77 and @Legendofgenii (✷‿✷)

I love fight scenes. I write a Battle Shounen so it's imperative I know something about it!

Mostly my knowledge comes from a deep library of:
-Kung Fu movies
-Godzilla movies
-Comics and Manga
-2D Fighting games
-Martial Arts training

I just like reading/watching fights, so I seek them out. Its important to have an internal library to draw on, so I suggest watching or reading lots of fight scenes.
Then learn to break them down, choreography is important, fighting is kinda like a dance when you really think about it.
(As evidence, I present this scene from my favorite Kung Fu movie Snake in Eagles Shadow )

Someone above mentioned Frank Miller. One of his fight scenes between Daredevil and Bullseye from the 80s was absolutely visceral. Which is something else that needs to be present. I find the best way to illustrate that is in the impacts of hits.

I actually don't suggest using fancy angles for fight scenes at first. Keep it simple and make the flow visible. Only use tight shots for the impact of a hit. This is where watching classic Kung Fu movies comes in handy. They use wide shots so the fighters can show off their moves.

So...it's pretty important to break down the scenes you like. I also suggest trying to recreate comic or manga fight scenes you really like to see how those artists did it.

[therosesword]

Keep it simple and make the flow visible.

The flow is what it's all about, that's why you'll find me whacking around the living room doing choreography. Even thought I write the scenes and not draw them I want to know what the character is physically feeling. Also what leaves them open for attack front and back and, while they're in flow how they'll react.

Fun video of Chan (omg the dubbing......)

Not far from where I live we have brass dance steps in the sidewalk.
https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/50679#:~:text=Seattle%2C%20Washington%3A%20Dance%20Steps%20in,1979%20by%20artist%20Jack%20Mackie.

[Vibrantes]

I find very interesting that you actually react the scene, must be fun as hell lol I know animators do that, but I didn't consider it for writing material.

[therosesword]

I need to know what is happening physically with the character plus it gives me an idea if the sword arcs "this way and up" what will the negative arc be and in what direction if the opponent does something unexpected. Which I why I try to "play" both combatants (that's how the Christmas tree ended up on its side).

I don't do that with everything I write but with some things yes. I just try to get into the skin of the character.

[BitterBadger]

Just like learning anatomy, watching and studying good action scenes will help you improve the way you depict your own. That's why looking at the action of masters of the medium of comics like Akira Toriyama and Eiichira Oda helps a lot. You want to strive for clarity first and foremost, as it can take a reader out of the experience when there isn't a clear flow of action from one side of the panel or page to another.

Example:

Here's a vid on Jackie Chan that shows the superiority of his action movies as opposed to the usual Hollywood dreck:

Although I do emphasize that it's better to look at what's possible in the comics' medium as opposed to what you would see in a movie (though not exclusively), as no single art medium can truly replicate what's possible in another.

[jgreene2433]

Other sources can give you inspiration, but they can't teach you how to compose a page. The most important thing to be aware of when you're drawing an action scene is your composition. Where your figures are, how they move, how does that effect the page layout and etc and I'm sorry you only learn stuff like that from studying and drawing comics.

[Sethstiel]

Theeere you go ^^

Pinterest

Search for "Action Poses Reference" ^^
I'm in the same situation right now and I gotta learn all about these weapons;

[Vibrantes]

Considering OP asked for coreography, martial art moves and strategical use of power, I don't think their problem is only page layout or composition, but primarily the logic of how to choreograph their own fights in their head. And static images are not going to be enough for that. You may be good at drawing dynamic/fight poses, but not necessarily good at fight coreography or strategy. That's why you should look at many resources so you combine the information you absorbed into something you understand and can start visualizing yourself.

It's also important to at least try to be believable for certain characters (and I mean believable, not necessarily accurate). For example, if you have a sniper character that is supposedly the best sniper the world has ever seen, but you don't even know how to draw him holding a sniper rifle properly, it's going to feel really off to the reader. You need real photos and information for that. If you just copy another author just because their art and layout looks pretty, but they also don't know how to properly draw a character holding a gun, you will just be copying the same mistake they were committing. It's important to look at many sources and start being able to make these judgments yourself.

[Vibrantes]

I would say this is similar to the topic "don't draw only anime if you want to learn anatomy". At some point you need to look at the real thing to stylize it properly.

It doesn't mean you can't use anime references, it just means it shouldn't be your ONLY source of information.

[nathanKmcwilliams]

Definitely. Branch out when it comes to drawing action stuff. Anime only has so much to offer.