Conveying action

Aside from writing, another one of my hobbies is 3d rendering. One of my friends was in the middle of creating a scene with a tank. He wanted to show the muzzle flash, but it would be terribly difficult. I suggested showing some smoke trickling from the end of the barrel which would make the scene more dynamic. I thought about this for a few minutes and figure out that it related to my writing.

In order to convey action in a story we write in the past tense. The phrase "John punched Bill in the face." conveys more action than "John is punching Bill in the face." The same holds true for single frame drawings. The image of a main character in the act of throwing another shows action, but showing the end of that scenario where in the background the main character is bent over in half with arms outstretched and the poor bastard who was thrown flying through the air upside down towards the camera. Showing the end of the action is always preferable in writing, and as it turns out that translates well into art too.