I rewatched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) the other night, & then I went & looked up the (unfortunately obscure) writers, because not only does it keep holding up as well as I remembered, but the writing has a remarkable economy and pacing. I'm serious. (1/3)

The first three or four scenes give us *everything* we need to know about the status quo. Where each character is in their journey, what they want, what the problems are, what the landscape is.

After that, EVERY subsequent scene changes the status quo in one (1) way. Until (2/3)

The dramatic fight at April's, which changes the status quo in 1 way every time the characters descend one floor in the building. It's a master class, HONESTLY, the equal of that famous David Mamet "scene or a piece of shit" essay. I really think it passes the Mamet Test. (3/?)

Later in the movie, approaching the climax, they don't start changing multiple things per scene - they start cutting between the two locations that center the action more frequently. The pace speeds up, but the *clarity* of the writing remains.

For a technique so simple, it's

Honestly stunningly effective in moving the action along in a brisk, exciting way, while leaving the nuance accessible to a grade school audience.

I'm really tempted to try it. I tend to work more by character mood, lots of back and forth, slow evolution, & I'm not knocking that

But DAMN it seems like it would really ground the plot.

Even the slow, second-act sequence at the farm, with its character exploration, has voiceover narration that unites it in one long meta-scene until Raph wakes up & things start to change again.

I think I want to try a novella like that. Something that, like a movie, could be consumed in one sitting.

I recognize that "change one thing every scene" and "change ONLY one thing at a time" are not exactly high-level craft, but the purity of the execution is what gets me.