NY Chase Scene

May 24, 2005 10:33 PM

I'm writing a screenplay -- like an action/thriller type deal. Anyhow, like every other film and TV show, it's based in New York City. What I need from you guys is a few ideas about where to set a chase scene. Some place that sounds good on paper and looks good on the screen -- and hopefully some where that hasn't been used before in a movie, or at least not a well known one.
posted by JPowers to media & arts (37 comments total)

On foot, truck, car, motorcycle, helicopter, or horseback?
posted by Caviar at 10:40 PM on May 24, 2005

On foot: how about the highline?
posted by fionab at 10:41 PM on May 24, 2005

Good question. My hero has very little money and owns no form of transportation. The people chasing him have all the money and cool gadgets in the world. I'll leave it at that. Let me know if you need more...
posted by JPowers at 10:43 PM on May 24, 2005

Is your hero a student, an east village musician, or a hipster brooklynite?
posted by Caviar at 10:52 PM on May 24, 2005

An FBI agent who has just been kicked out of the bureau. He's in pretty good shape and he's pretty smart. Picture Matt Damon -- that helps me.
posted by JPowers at 11:01 PM on May 24, 2005

Well, if he's a smart guy and he's being pursued on foot by tech and human intel he'd go underground to the subway. The key idea here is to penetrate any sort of perimeter that's been set up. He wouldn't need to get on the train, just in the tunnels. If he's just hiding and doesn't want to be found he'd go to New Jersey. Nobody would think to look for him there.
posted by nixerman at 11:06 PM on May 24, 2005

1) Through San Gennaro on foot. Crowded is good for chase scenes.

2) Through the Ramble in Central Park on foot. At night.

3) On a motorcycle, down Broadway, across Fulton St., through the South Street Seaport, onto speedboats, then down across to Liberty Island.

4) Down the west side highway, dodging rubble from the collapsing retaining walls.

5) Across Canal St. Always busy.

Is the point here for the hero to get away by crossing a barrier, to lose them stealthily, or to get caught?
posted by Caviar at 11:24 PM on May 24, 2005

Another great question -- and I'm loving all the ideas so far.

The hero does get caught in the end.
posted by JPowers at 11:27 PM on May 24, 2005

In that case, you could do down one of the highways, and straight off the end of the island. There's not much place to go except into the water at that point, or maybe onto a ferry (which is totally a dead end).
posted by Caviar at 11:37 PM on May 24, 2005

In an ambulance, exploiting the fact the traffic parts to the sound the siren.
posted by ori at 11:51 PM on May 24, 2005

On a horse, chasing a guy who's riding a motorcycle. It would have a "man vs. machine" motif. Or "horse vs. machine."
posted by ludwig_van at 12:11 AM on May 25, 2005

On foot through tourist infested Times Square (imagine trying to find someone in that mess!). Or, down Riverside Drive, where somehow he could end up on or around the Endeavor. Battleships are cool and Riverside drive is a really busy street which goes all the way from the top to the bottom of the island -- past the George Washington Bridge.
posted by ebeeb at 12:38 AM on May 25, 2005

Whoops, I mean Henry Hudson Parkway, not Riverside Drive.
posted by ebeeb at 12:40 AM on May 25, 2005

Subway. The maze-like claustrophobia will help heighten suspense.

Or in another city, where someone could actually afford to cost to shoot a film/show because the the taxes and the permits won't choke the budget.
posted by Gucky at 12:43 AM on May 25, 2005

The subway would be good although it has been used before. Oh! How about the incomplete Second Ave. subway?

It would probably be risky (and I may get flamed) but I would be intrigued by a chase that comes out of the subway into the World Trade Center bathtub, down the parking structure, across the ground and through the Hudson tunnels.

Disclaimer: this is something like what I would imagine when riding the PATH train. When there was a building above it.

More realistically, perhaps a chase through the different levels of Grand Central Terminal -- all of them, including both train platform levels, the loop turnaround level, the tracks under Fifth Ave., the elevator shafts designed for the office tower that was never built, the taxiway ... I've seen partial use but never anything that used the whole complex.

The innovative thing to do here would be re-using a familiar location in an unfamiliar way -- a foot chase on a road, etc.

The writer doesn't have much control over the final product, of course (they'll film the big chase, um, where they can get permission to and afford to), but it would be good if you at least start to write the script with what I call "action logic", i.e. an understanding of why somebody is where they are and how that affects what choices they make in that situation, rather than just "we need a gun battle here". q.v.
posted by dhartung at 1:05 AM on May 25, 2005

Wasn't horse vs. motorbike used in some Guv'inator clunker a while back?

And I don't know New York pretty well, but if you guy is gonna get caught, how about thinking "up", rather than "along"?
posted by benzo8 at 1:07 AM on May 25, 2005

On the Staten Island Ferry: once you get on, you're trapped onboard for 10 minutes. But it's a big enough boat (two levels) that there are many places to run to and hide.

Inside the Statue of Liberty (Hitchcock did the outside, but I've never seen a movie show the inside -- and it's really odd in there. An endless spiral staircase.)

Central Park Zoo or Bronx Zoo.

New York Public Library.
posted by Evangeline at 3:59 AM on May 25, 2005

Museum of Modern Art! (says my fiance) Imagine a long Hitchcockian shot of everyone chasing each other down and around the ramp.
posted by amtho at 6:15 AM on May 25, 2005

One important factor is to consider scenes the bulk of which don't actually have to shot in New York. You use stock or an hour or two of skeleton-crew b-roll to establish the location, but the bulk of the action is actually shot on stages, backlots, or alternate locations in Toronto or Vancouver. A complicated chase scene actually shot in outdoor locations in New York can easily cost $1 million or more per on-screen minute.

One kind of chase which is NYC classic, and also doesn't require actual locations for most of the action, would be a vertical chase -- the stairwells of the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty (as Evangeline noted). Another classic chase idea with easy location substitutes is Chinatown.

Another thought, most unrelated, is to go outer borough. It helps with authenticity -- organized crime is a heavily outer-borough thing. There are lots of cool locations in Brooklyn or Queens which would have the added benefit of being pretty fresh.

You could do a cool combination of vertical, horizontal and intercultural (to mix concepts) with a chase at the 74th Street and Roosevelt subway junction in Jackson Heights, Queens. Not only is the surface level a thriving mix of echt-New York asian, middle eastern and latino retail and street scene, you also have the combination of an elevated train line (with cool views of the Manhattan skyline) and stairways and escalators leading down to conventional subways. It would be a bit more expensive .... the elevated train part would need to be on location, and there'd be quite a bit of b-roll to establish the balance of the action.
posted by MattD at 6:22 AM on May 25, 2005

benzo8: There was a scene like that in True Lies, but I think ludwig_van might have been referring to this.
posted by Johnny Assay at 6:24 AM on May 25, 2005

Well, if it were me, I'd use the subway as well.

You could interweave some interesting history in there, because several hundred miles of subway are no longer being used. I believe the area under 42nd street has something like 8 lines, all stacked on top of each other. Here is a pretty comprehensive list of unused subway tunnels (that are known).

Almost all the lines have something interesting to them, but I was always fascinated by the mysterious doors to nowhere.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 7:09 AM on May 25, 2005

Oh, and I don't think there have been too many chases through New York City cemetaries.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 7:11 AM on May 25, 2005

Wait a couple of years and set the chase in the new World Trade Center. There you've got your tranporation hub, some pretty buildings that haven't been used before, and the echo of the previous tragedy. (Is this exploitation? No, it's melodrama!)
posted by SPrintF at 7:18 AM on May 25, 2005

Inside one of the high rise buildings where different businesses lease different floors and are all full of different layouts of the same boring cubicles. Bad guys always know the layouts of those mazes, while average joe types always get lost. Theseus vs Minotaurs in pinstriped suits.
posted by Fuka at 7:19 AM on May 25, 2005

Pick up New York Underground. It's got a list of places that few people know about, that could maybe work for an escape on foot/chance to show a different side of the city.
posted by drezdn at 8:11 AM on May 25, 2005

My suggestion would be to have him acquire a scooter from one of the millions of delivery people that buzz around the city. It's not that powerful, but it's small enough to move thru traffic and get away from anyone in a car or truck. The fact that he has very little cover while riding it could add to the suspense. If you want to go with the many subway suggestions you could have him ride it down the stairs into a station, then run into a tunnel.
posted by splatta at 8:12 AM on May 25, 2005

Segway.
posted by dflemingdotorg at 8:54 AM on May 25, 2005

The abandoned atlantic avenue tunnels, the jfk monorail, industrial (hipsterified) "east williamsburg" (nee bushwick), how about some boat hopping from the si ferry to a water taxi or something?
posted by pinto at 9:22 AM on May 25, 2005

What about a rollerblading chase sequence? No one in Hollywood has had the guts to do this yet.
posted by AlexReynolds at 9:55 AM on May 25, 2005

The Brooklyn Navy yard is full of strange and unexpected buildings, and has a great living-but-decaying-industrial vibe.

And I can't say I've seen it on film before, although since there's always talk of turning it into a film studio lot, I could be mistaken.

Until Spiderman came out, I would've said Roosevelt Island, with the incredible, burned-out-castle-looking smallpox hospital and the tram to get there, but too late for that...
posted by dersins at 10:04 AM on May 25, 2005

I have to say Queens, maybe near the old World's Fair site? I can't remember any movies that used that, and its kinda sweet how its disused looking these days. But the thing is, he can run to/from there and like the main part of Flushing (where you have all the ethnic shops and the elevated train tracks).

Of course, he has to get away or at least think he gets away and like, just rest by slouching in an LIRR car and then like, one of the master bad guys says something totally smooth b/c he's already on the train. Here are several examples:

"Well played, Mr. [name]. But I'm afraid my boss still needs to talk to you"
or
"You're becoming quite the inconvenience" (which i know has already probably been used, but MAN does it kick ass)
or
"Bravo. I'm impressed. But the jig, as you might say, is up." (really, it helps if your bad guy is like, South African or something. Also, he could like slow clap three times as the bad dude starts saying this line.)
or
"It ends here, hero. This is your stop, and I have an appointment I can't afford to have you miss".

Then, your main character can just let out a sigh, and close his eyes b/c he knows he can't get away now and he lets his head fall back against the wall behind him and the scene fades into the next one. Man, now I'm pumped! This movie is going to kick the ULTIMATE ass.
posted by indiebass at 10:52 AM on May 25, 2005

Not sure how well it would work, but I thought I'd throw out Coney Island in Brooklyn as a possibility. The Subway goes there, it's iconic enough for everyone to recognize, but I don't recall seeing it used much in the movies.
posted by Inkoate at 10:58 AM on May 25, 2005

"What about a rollerblading chase sequence? No one in Hollywood has had the guts to do this yet."

Because, no offense, rollerblading is l4m3.

"I have to say Queens, maybe near the old World's Fair site? I can't remember any movies that used that, and its kinda sweet how its disused looking these days."

It was used at the end of Men In Black. Not quite a chase scene, but it was quite conspicuously used.
posted by splatta at 11:05 AM on May 25, 2005

I second Evangeline's choice: the New York Public Library.
posted by Asparagirl at 1:17 PM on May 25, 2005

Through New York's huge, historic, and relatively unknown water tunnels, which stretch from Manhattan all the way to the Adirondacks. The chase could take place in the inoperative portions of Water Tunnel #3, 800 feet underground and still under construction, or in one of the other two tunnels while it is shut down for inspection. The battles could take place in the gargantuan valve chambers and flow control housings for scenic effects. The hero could emerge from the tunnel to run atop the arches of Manhattan's distinctive High Bridge carrying the New Croton Aqueduct, with beautiful shots of Harlem and the East River, or he could climb the castle-like lookout tower above it for more amazing views.

By far the craziest NYC chase scene I ever saw was where a guy gets chased, on foot, in the middle of the night, down deserted streets in Brooklyn by a Mister Softee (TM) truck playing its infuriating jingle. Does anyone know what that was from?
posted by purple_frogs at 1:47 PM on May 25, 2005

I think the water tunnels were done in Die Hard: With a Vengeance (Die Hard 3) in which Die Hard drives a dump truck thru a water tunnel.
posted by splatta at 2:01 PM on May 25, 2005

I'd second the highline... great visual potential either with buildings as a backdrop, or the hudson river if the buildings aren't in the way. plus, you're going through interesting neighborhoods like chelsea, and you can easily switch from street level to being raised above pedestrian and automotive traffic. it's also nice and run down, and there are a number of places on the actual highline where the tracks abruptly (and sometimes with a blind turn) end in a brick wall where the tracks enter a building.
posted by anildash at 1:24 AM on May 28, 2005