Screenwriting : Accessories for Action - Immersvie Action Writing Method by Till Olshausen

Hello Writers,

Following up on my last article entitled Fashion and Fighting, I’d like to talk about accessories now.

Being at least half Italian, I have to because hoping for sunshine is genetic and we never go anywhere without our sunglasses. Accessories are a must-have for a stylish character but they’re also an outstanding must-not-have for a totally not stylish character to tell your audience a little more about his/her values, beliefs, hopes, dreams… Almost every stone and shape has some kind of spiritual, psychological, or philosophical meaning, sometimes also varying by culture.

In one of my own projects, a martial arts thriller drama, I equipped the Italian protagonist Chiara with a Cornicello necklace. It translates to little horn and is meant to protect against evil influences and bring positive outcomes in life. While she is a lonely and frustrated woman who financially depends on her younger sister, the charm hints at her belief in change and her will to bring it about. And, you know, in part two of this unproduced multi-million dollar franchise, she develops superpowers… So, as you can see – accessories absolutely work.

But alas, this is IAW, the Immersive ACTION Writing Method, so I’ll focus on accessories as possible weapons to be used in hand-to-hand action. Remember the punch-mark of the Super Bowl Ring on Jim Carry’s face in Ace Ventura? That kinda stuff and then some.

The first accessory that comes to mind when talking about hand-to-hand action are gloves. In ancient Greek Olympic fights, the gloves were designed to hurt the opponent even more. This is still true for gloves meant for streetfighting, equipped with plating, spikes or sand inside to make them hard when you clench your fist. You may google tactical gloves here, a great accessory for a paranoid character.  

One of my favorite accessories for fighting is the textile fan. You can see them in action in old Kung Fu sometimes Samurai movies. It’s surprisingly useful for fighting. When opened, you can conceal your attacks and distract the enemies by blowing wind in their faces. When closed, it’s good for blocking attacks with weapons and it’s a strong close-combat tool for hitting pressure points. Just like you can do with a pen. Imagine your rather cute but frustrated grandpa scientist using his Montblanc Fountain Pen to kill his celebrated colleague to end his career after decades of peace and diligent work.

An umbrella is a great weapon that can change its form. Just like a fan, um… only different. It opens in all directions and some umbrellas can change in length just like an expandable baton. And when the lower end is shaped like a hook, a trained martial artist has even more funky options to save the world.  

Remember Lucchesi’s assassination in Godfather Part 3? There you have it – Italians and glasses. It was quite dark, so no sunglasses but still… That’s how we roll.

The belt is associated with husbands and fathers beating their wives and kids. I can’t watch a scene like that but sadly this happens all around the world probably every day. The belt is a possible weapon many of us “carry” without thinking about all the possibilities. It can be used like a whip, it can be wrapped around your fist to make it harder, you can block attacks, catch the opponent’s arm or leg and throw or strangle him/her. In that way, the martial use of a belt is similar to how Disney’s Rapunzel uses her hair. And I can watch that over and over!   

Here’s a simple Immersive Action Writing exercise for you:

Take a look at your accessories, think about how you would use them to defend yourself if you were attacked by (enter enemy of choice), then write a short fighting scene with you emerging as the winner. We have to respect our mental health here.

Kind Regards

Yours

Till