Article / Writing Love Scenes
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Updated 10/16/09
‘Their lovemaking utilizes the entire expanse of the king bed’, is plenty of information for a film crew and performers. If you want to express other character attributes, such as fear, aggresiveness, raw desire, or timid uncertainty, then write brief action or supporting dialogue. Most important, love and nudity are NOT mutually inclusive.
In truth, actors do not like to do these scenes, so make sure it belongs in the film.
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In the following scene, I wanted to establish that the lead female is very self confident, and knows how to use her body to get what she wants, as this plays out later in the film.
Excerpt, title withheld.
INT. HALL – CASINO HOTEL – NIGHT
Sue and Jack look strait ahead as the doors close.
ELEVATOR
Silence, then …
JACK
First time in New York?
Sue pushes the hold button, leans against the far wall with her gown pulled up, hips thrust forward, her legs apart. A feminine offering. Jack steps forward.
JACK
I’m — not here to wallow in …
Sue pulls down on his lapels.
Jack drops to his knees, leans forward and inhales her.
JACK
… to wallow in your charms.
A brush of his lips across her mons as he kisses the exposed flesh of both thighs. He’s a master lover. Her body jerks.
SECURITY ROOM
An elevator hold alarm has been triggered. Pierre and Yves watch as …
… Elimu kisses Sue’s swaying, teasing body, puts her PANTIES in his pocket.
PIERRE
Wowwy!!
ELEVATOR
Sue’s eyes are heavy. She smiles and giggles.
SUE
How’s the Brazilian cuisine this evening?
Her body trembles, she clenches her lover as she reaches a quick orgasm.
Finished, Sue takes the panties from Jack’s pocket.
SUE
These were expensive.
Sue pushes the elevator release and the doors open. She steps out, puts her panties on as Jack pouts. She gives her mons a little pat.
SUE
Thanks. That always helps her sleep. Sweet dreams!
The doors close.
When this is filmed, it may very well be the audience never sees much beyond Sue’s face, maybe a shot of the panties coming off around the ankles. Again, write it how how see the scene playing out, and leave the rest to the actors and director. In the end, it is 1000% the actor’s decision on limits.
Here is a short excerpt from my someday book …
His girlfriend, a babe with long dark hair with some that tumbles down in her eye and past her nose where there is a diamond stud, and she’s in her underwear and bare feet and laughs when she sees Joe.
First off, we have no idea she is Joe’s girlfriend just by looking at her. The fact that she is in her underwear is not a definitive indication. Could be his sister, a one-night-stand, a roommate, a neighbor, etc.
Next, why is Becky in her underwear in the first place? I see this A LOT; women walking around in their underwear for no apparent reason other than eye candy for hormonal miscreants. I even see it in HW films – gratuitous panty shots sprinkled throughout, like some kind of subliminal message to get laid.
I think most men, gay or straight, like to see beautiful women, as do other women. Both sexes appreciate the pulchritude of the fem mystique. But use it sparingly and with class, not to make up for a crappy story, which in my opinion is often the case. Let the girl have some pants.
As a side note, the film “Scent of a Woman” was brilliant in its portrayal of the fem mystique, without ever going the ‘cheap shot’ route.
Sometimes it works. Geena Davis’ love scene with Brad Pitt in Thelma and Louise was very tastefully done. I can’t imagine the film without it.
Choose your panty shots wisely. Avoid the tacky.
Enough about that.
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Lovemaking scenes from favorite films.
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Meet Joe Black
Brad Pitt and Claire Forlani
Quite possibly my favorite love scene in a film. Sensitive and sexy, and no nudity!
Joe comes closer, takes a deep breath.
JOE
I love your smell.
SUSAN
– I guess you haven’t.
Now Susan, close to Joe, leans closer, her nose in Joe’s
neck. Joe holds himself very still.
SUSAN (cont’d)
I like your smell, too.
JOE
Thank you.
SUSAN
It was everything.
Silence, the TICKING of the clock.
SUSAN (cont’d)
When I was little, my mother used to
say, “Darling, you could set your
heart by this clock”.
JOE
– Could you?
SUSAN
Never tried, ’til now.
(suddenly)
Joe, may I kiss you?
JOE
Why, yes. Thank you.
A moment.
SUSAN
You’re welcome.
Susan reaches out for Joe, they kiss, he is awkward but his
very awkwardness endearing. Susan pulls him closer, they
linger now, mouths on each other’s, then separate.
SUSAN (cont’d)
Thank you.
JOE
You’re welcome.
The clock TICKS on. A sense of foreboding falls over Joe’s
face, his fear that he is passing through some barrier, a
point of no return.
SUSAN
Joe?
The apprehensive expression on Joe’s face fades away.
JOE
Yes?
SUSAN
I don’t know who you are.
JOE
Well…I’m — uh, Joe. And you’re
Susan. And I – uh – have this weak
feeling in my knees –
SUSAN
And is your heart beating strangely?
JOE
Faster. And I want the scent from
underneath your ears and the taste
of your lips and the touch of your
tongue to stay with me — forever.
An intake of breath. She is about to speak.
JOE (cont’d)
And you don’t even have to say a
word.
Their faces inches from each other’s.
SUSAN
I have to go home.
But neither Susan nor Joe moves.
SUSAN (cont’d)
Don’t I?
Her question makes Joe, almost involuntarily, smile. Susan
takes the opportunity to step back from him. The SOUND of
someone at the door, it is Parrish, Susan turns, comprehends
immediately how the situation will appear to him.
Second scene
JOE (cont’d)
You must be hungry?
Susan sits on the couch.
SUSAN
No, not anymore. Are you?
Joe hears the question but doesn’t answer, sits down on the
couch beside her.
SUSAN (cont’d)
(after a moment)
Are you cold?
JOE
…No.
SUSAN
Maybe it’s the draft through the
door.
She gets up, closes the door, sits back down again next to
Joe. A warm, awkward silence, they move closer to each
other, now they fall into a foreplay which Susan recognizes
as such, Joe, on the other hand, participates hungrily but
has no knowledge where it is leading. His movements are
instinctive, the smell of her hair, the shape of her fin-
gers, odd things about her seem to interest him. This
excites her because she senses his untutoredness and the
very sense of that stirs her, their reactions to each other
are intuitive and spontaneous; even though Joe has no know-
ledge of how to make love to a woman, ironically his actions
are such that they never beg the question — has he done it
before.
Strange territory for Joe, not to be ‘in control’ and exert-
ing his power, but his inventions and responses in lovemak-
ing are so real that an emotional exchange between he and
Susan builds. Joe has found himself in an unexplored land
of feeling and passion, he loves what is happening and yet
at the same time, is terrified by it. He feels himself being
lured by some power he has not only never been aware of, but
is deeply dangerous to partake of; he knows what he is doing
is putting who he is at great risk, yet he goes right on.
The powerful contradiction is transmitted to Susan, and in
the end there is the knowledge they have together made a
journey, they both have been swept away in a stream of events
they have created; and they don’t care about the consequences.
Spent, they lie in silence. Finally Susan speaks:
SUSAN
It’s so wonderful to make love to
you. It’s like making love to some-
one who has never made love before.
Joe senses an opportunity not only to admit to what she has
said, but to tell her more, even the truth about himself.
He weighs, then resists, the impulse.
JOE
Thank you.
Her head nestles underneath his arm, she has a sense of his
comforting her without knowing that he is doing so.
SUSAN
Did you like making love to me?
JOE
I loved it.
SUSAN
More than you love peanut butter?
JOE
Yes!
She laughs at the earnestness with which he answers.
Joe seems to drift away now, they lie together as one but for
the first time, she feels separate from him, sensing him gone
to some distant, distant land.
SUSAN
Where are you going?
JOE
Nowhere? I’m…here.
SUSAN
For how long?
JOE
Oh, I hope a long, long time.
A moment.
SUSAN
Me, too.
Another moment.
JOE
What do we do now?
She smiles.
SUSAN
It will come to us.
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U Turn
Sean Penn, Nick Nolte and Jennifer Lopez
Completely the opposite. Aggresive and not real sexy. And, IMHO, the film could have done without it, at least as written.
Bobby tenses himself. Sweat forms on his brow as he stands
directly behind Grace with his hands extended before him. They
hover just below her shoulder blades ready to push forward.
Suddenly Grace wheels. Startled by Bobby she almost falls over
the edge. Bobby grabs her, her weight still going back.
Grace’s life is literally in his hands. She looks down at the
ground far below, then up into Bobby’s eyes. She shows no fear,
but instead wears a curious smirk.
GRACE
Hate’s a funny thing. Right now I bet you
don’t know if you want to kill me, or fuck
me.
Bobby hesitates, then pulls Grace close and kisses her with
great ardor on the lips.
EXT. APACHE LEAP – DAY
On a blanket on the ground, BOBBY and GRACE make love quickly,
hotly, her dress pulled up, his pants down. But Grace is
troubled and pulls out, further frustrating Bobby.
GRACE
No…Stop! I can’t!
Her eyes withdraw into another dimension, as she hikes her dress
back up. Bobby comes out of his own head, feels the distance
between them.
BOBBY
What’s the matter?…Grace?
GRACE
Nothing.
BOBBY
Don’t feel like nothing.
He finishes relieving himself behind a tree, puts his pants back
on.
Second Scene Sample
INT. MCKENNA HOUSE/BEDROOM – SIMULTANEOUS
We start close on GRACE — a KEY slapping against her buttocks
as bedsprings groan. We reveal Grace copulating on all fours
with JAKE from behind.
JAKE
Ya little bitch, you like it don’t you! You
like it this way — rough and hard. Gotta
go fuck around on me, like your Mama, but
you always gotta come home to Daddy, don’t
you, cause you know Daddy’s the best.
GRACE
Yes, yes, hit me…beat me, please.
JAKE
You been a bad girl, Grace. You took my
heart from your Mama, didn’t ya? You
betrayed her! Like you did me. There ain’t
no forgivin’ ya, girl!
GRACE
Oh no! Oh please forgive me, Papa!
JAKE
You broke her heart! You broke your Mama’s
heart. You stole me! That’s right. Fuck it
away. But it ain’t ever goin’ away, cause
your Mama — she’s like a hungry ghost
baby, she won’t go away, she won’t leave ya
alone.
GRACE
No! No! Please!
He hits her. Harder.
In a strange flashback of his mind, he now sees Grace’s MAMA
beneath him, receiving his punishment.
He stops, abruptly. He can’t go on. Fear coming into his eyes.
He starts to whimper, begging for his punishment and/or
forgiveness.
JAKE
Oh baby, I’m so sorry… I’m so sorry…
(he starts to cry)
I didn’t mean to hurt you so bad. It
just…got away…
He drops down, burying his face between Grace’s legs.
JAKE
Forgive me, baby, forgive me!
He hides there from the world that he has created, crying to
himself.
Grace has an unreadable expression, but that’s certainly not a
new occurrence in their strange relationship.
_______________________
Pulp Fiction
Bruce Willis and Maria de Medeiros
I like this scene because it is cute, and again, no nudity.
Fabienne rolls over and Butch gets on top of her. They kiss.
FABIENNE
We’re in a lot of danger, aren’t we?
Butch nods his head: “yes.”
FABIENNE
If they find us, they’ll kill us,
won’t they?
Butch nods his head: “yes.”
FABIENNE
But they won’t find us, will they?
Butch nods his head: “no.”
FABIENNE
Do you still want me to go with you?
Butch nods his head: “yes.”
FABIENNE
I don’t want to be a burden or a
nuisance -
Butch’s hand goes out of frame and starts massaging her
crotch.
Fabienne reacts.
FABIENNE
Say it!
BUTCH
Fabienne, I want you to be with me.
FABIENNE
Forever?
BUTCH
…and ever.
Fabienne lies her head back.
Butch continues to massage her crotch.
FABIENNE
Do you love me?
BUTCH
Oui.
FABIENNE
Butch? Will you give me oral pleasure?
Butch kisses her on the mouth.
BUTCH
Will you kiss it?
She nods her head: “yes.”
FABIENNE
But you first.
Butch’s head goes down out of frame to carry out the oral
pleasure. Fabienne’s face is alone in the frame.
FABIENNE
(in French, with
English subtitles)
Butch my love, the adventure begins.
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