I've always loved action and martial arts films, so that was a big influence in the writing of No More Heroes. One of the things I really wanted to do was establish a wide range of fighting and movement styles in my cast and pit practitioners of different skill levels, styles and disciplines against each other – and with my female-bodied characters I especially wanted to give them movements that drew from more feminine-coded movement practices, like dance or gymnastics. That wasn't the case for them all, of course – I was looking for diversity in the way they moved as much as their personalities, ethnicity or sexual orientation.
I compiled a playlist with videos I drew inspiration from prior to/during my writing as well as videos I've found since – they come from films, series, animation, games and all sorts! Unlike in my selection, not every one of my characters is a martial arts superstar(!), but I was able to draw pointers on movement and fight choreography from them regardless. Check it out!
I compiled a playlist with videos I drew inspiration from prior to/during my writing as well as videos I've found since – they come from films, series, animation, games and all sorts! Unlike in my selection, not every one of my characters is a martial arts superstar(!), but I was able to draw pointers on movement and fight choreography from them regardless. Check it out!
Obviously this is a pretty punch-heavy playlist, but I'm working on creating other movement playlists as well, such as for parkour/freerunning and other movement disciplines. As you may have noticed, I've created an official No More Heroes YouTube channel, so feel free to follow for more content on that as it comes!
I'm also planning on writing a blog post at a later point on one of the creators I've highlighted above – the indomitable and forever unforgettable Monty Oum (Haloid, Dead Fantasy, Red vs Blue S08-10, RWBY S01-02). His direction and action/fight choreography (especially for the wonderfully girls-dominant RWBY) was by far one of the most profound influences on the way I chose to approach variation in body language and movement styles for not just my female cast, but all of the characters of No More Heroes.
If you'd like to see these characters of mine in literary action for yourself, you can get No More Heroes in print or eBook format from Amazon or Kobo.
I'm also planning on writing a blog post at a later point on one of the creators I've highlighted above – the indomitable and forever unforgettable Monty Oum (Haloid, Dead Fantasy, Red vs Blue S08-10, RWBY S01-02). His direction and action/fight choreography (especially for the wonderfully girls-dominant RWBY) was by far one of the most profound influences on the way I chose to approach variation in body language and movement styles for not just my female cast, but all of the characters of No More Heroes.
If you'd like to see these characters of mine in literary action for yourself, you can get No More Heroes in print or eBook format from Amazon or Kobo.