Sex scenes

koan · Post by **koan** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 8:00 pm

As a writer, especially scripts, these are necessary from time to time.

I take the Hitchcock approach, less is more. Do you think modern films are too graphic? Is it better left slightly to the imagination?

guppy · Post by **guppy** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 8:30 pm

I would prefer it left to the imagination. it has gotten so graphic and it is so totally blown out of reality. that is my opinion.

koan · Post by **koan** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 8:49 pm

It seems writers think creativity in sex scenes means unusual positions.

koan · Post by **koan** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 9:03 pm

flopstock;464668 wrote: Definitely less is more. It's the anticipation of two characters doing the deed rather then the deed itself, that captures the imagination of the reader or viewer - in the case of movies. Once it's happened, they are just like the rest of us.

A perfect example is the old TV show 'moonlighting'. Once Bruce Willis and Cybil Sheppard did the deed, the interest shifted away from those two and onto the goofy co-workers... they were just a couple like the rest of us and the arguing and bickering no longer reeked of sexual tension.

Good example. A series is tough though. They went for a fairly long time without engagement and the viewers were getting antsy. imo.

it's kind of like wanting a Starbucks mocha really bad then getting it and realising it tastes just the same as all the others. Wait. That's what made them good. Make it something else. You know what I mean.

weeder · Post by **weeder** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 4:04 am

I got hooked a few months ago on The Sopranos series. I rented and watched all 6 seasons. The main character is a womanizer. In the beginning I was attracted to him. By the end I had watched him ( graphically) fornicate so many times he was reduced to the level of a dog to me. Graphic sex acts are so over used... any appeal that might have ever existed is gone.

I get offended to think that writers continue to believe that this is what will draw viewers to watch. Actually their brains are so uncreative that they fail to come up with any scene that is out of the ordinary.

Post by **spot** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 4:12 am

weeder;464765 wrote: Actually their brains are so uncreative that they fail to come up with any scene that is out of the ordinary.Oh, Gene Wilder and the perfectly primped ewe in suspenders, surely.

koan · Post by **koan** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 5:18 am

weeder;464765 wrote: I got hooked a few months ago on The Sopranos series. I rented and watched all 6 seasons. The main character is a womanizer. In the beginning I was attracted to him. By the end I had watched him ( graphically) fornicate so many times he was reduced to the level of a dog to me. Graphic sex acts are so over used... any appeal that might have ever existed is gone.

I get offended to think that writers continue to believe that this is what will draw viewers to watch. Actually their brains are so uncreative that they fail to come up with any scene that is out of the ordinary.

It was similar with Buffy and Spike in the second last? season of the Vampire Slayer. It got to be the most boring part of the show and they wasted whole episodes on the relationship.

chonsigirl · Post by **chonsigirl** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 5:38 am

I agree, less is more. You illustration of Hitchcock is great-North by Northwest. You knew everything that was going on, and they didn't have to show a thing. Leaves much more to the imagination.

koan · Post by **koan** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 5:53 am

A really great screenwriting book that have has some really good comments and advice about writing sex scenes.

You would think that writers, inevitably male, all consulted the same muse. The hero comes across 1) the most beautiful woman in the world. She has 2) a perfect shape, 3) perfect clothes. She is usually 4)wealthy 5)drives a new car, 6) is willing, nay anxious, to scramble her brains between the sheets, and 7) she's better at it than any other woman in the universe.

This is regarding the majority of scripts that readers have to sort through at the submissions phase.

beautyful · Post by **beautyful** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 8:34 am

I totally agree with the less is more theory and like someone said if we wanted full on graphic sex we would just buy porn, its not necessary and only used in films to draw in bigger crowds because as the saying goes 'sex sells'

YZGI · Post by **YZGI** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 9:18 am

I think it all depends on your target audience. If your target audience is 16-25 yr old males then some gratuitous sex would help in the selling of your particular product. I f your target audience is say 25-50 yr old women then romantic non-gratitous sex would be the seller i would think.

koan · Post by **koan** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 9:24 am

The pottery scene from "Ghost" was extremely well written and filmed. It's a good example of sexy.

Then there are ones that stand out for their time. Like the end of "Wild Orchid". That scene added to its cult classic status. Not the first film of its kind. Last Tango In Paris certainly crosses some conventional boundaries and somehow gets away with it.

weeder · Post by **weeder** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 2:24 pm

I will never remember the name of this movie.... but it was very underground, and incredibly good. Two men held prisoner in the most horrible place for years and years..... fall in love with each other, in the purist way. They never have any physical contact. They are sick, emaciated, hungry, and completly without hope. They are also totally emmotionally dependant on each other. Their work each day is to move rocks. From one pile to another, For no reason. There is this unbelievably powerful sex scene. They are standing shoulder to shoulder in the yard, in the sun... as a punishment. Their bodies, their souls, their hearts and their minds join together. You are led to know that they are feeling passion by the looks on their faces and the tears in their eyes. By the silence and their lack of movement alone. I will never forget it. I experienced physical sensations myself from watching it. They wind up in the end giving up their lives each for the other..... over medicine that one of them needed to live. Kind of the the concept of the Gift Of The Magi.

koan · Post by **koan** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 2:37 pm

That sounds like an amazing film.

weeder · Post by **weeder** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 2:47 pm

I am reminded that it was so good..... that I am going to try to find out the name of it for you. It would also be a great film for those who have a fear of love having no gender boundries to watch. They might learn something. Although I do recall that the homophobic male that I was watching it with, felt absolutely nothing.