I've heard of pacing from the books I read, and I'm pretty sure what it is but not 100%.
What are the rules of pacing and what is the key to creating great pacing in your writing. Like are you supposed to say have a fast paced scene followed by a slow place scene, then have another slow paced scene etc etc...
Would you NOT want to do something like have 25 minutes of characters talking or 25 minutes of car chases?
So basically, what is pacing, and what is the key to doing it right?
Thanks
In a nutshell pacing is not boring your audience or giving them overload. 20 minutes of talking might bore them. 20 minutes of action might overload them so it is often wise to give the audience a chance to catch their breath.
I'll leave formal rules to wiser folks.
RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA
RJSchwarz
quote:
I'll leave formal rules to wiser folks.
Whats that supposed to mean?
quote:
I'll leave formal rules to wiser folks.
That means if there are formal rules I don't know what they are and I'd rather not guess. It also means a lot of folks on this board have been to film school and/or have a lot of practical experience and if there are formal rules someone else should be able to answer.
RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA
RJSchwarz
I'm not sure there are any formal rules. Generally speaking you want rising levels of action through the movie interspersed with slow parts that let the audience catch their breath for a while.
That's true even if it's not an action movie: a romance, for example, needs to keep raising the stakes throughout the movie if the audience aren't going to get bored.
And, as 'Matrix Reloaded' proved pretty well, even huge action scenes can get real boring if they drag on for hours without a break. At least the fight on the freeway _felt_ like it went on for hours, I don't know how long it really was.
