“Writing Sex, Violence and Hooking Your Audience”

by
Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films +, LLC
Writing/Filmmaking/Consulting
http://michaelc.nextmp.net/wordpress
dvasicek@earthlink.net

You need simply to watch the first ten minutes of “The Sixth Sense”
to learn how to get your readers hooked. A supernatural thriller
that was one of the box office surprises of 1999 primarily because
of its appeal to a large demographic that spanned families to adult
viewers, shows sex and violence in the opening five minutes of the
movie.

I use “The Sixth Sense” as an example because it depicts well what
producers look for in screenplays, and editors look for in novels and
short stories. M. Night Shyamalan, the writer/director of “The Sixth Sense”, was
able to begin the movie with sex and violence and still attract kids,
parents, teens, couples, and marrieds with the storyline of a boy
who sees dead people. This approach to writing screenplays or
novels or short stories because of its wide audience appeal, and thus,
a better opportunity to sell tickets, books, etc.

If you’re serious about getting produced as a screenwriter, or
published as a fiction writer, you would serve yourself well if you
studied movies and books that do well at the box office and book
stores. Look for what happens in the first ten minutes of the movie,
or the first few lines of the novel or short story. Look for how sex
and violence is incorporated into the storyline and theme(s), particularly
for a wide audience, and how tastefully. Blend sex and violence with
the theme and you’re on your way to being successful.

See you next time. Be sure and bring a refreshment. A glass of
spring water, perhaps, some carrots, and a tuna sandwich. Experience
what that does for studying and reading how to successfully write.

Pax.

“The Zen of Seduction”

The Touch of Love The Touch of Love

“Come, come closer to me.
I want to smell your hair.”

Her eyes blinked challenge.

“Here, let me…”

I reached for her sharp-bridged nose.
Just as I posied my finger, to slide it
down her face just west of her nose…

“…No, no…”

I passed my finger gently down
the west side of her face. Ever
so gently.

“Marble smoothness, tight, flawless,
taut,” I said.

Her eyes watched my eyes. We
were microsms of fire. Explosions
marred an otherwise boring night.

“Your finger competes with time,”
she almost moaned.

“What do you mean?

“If you don’t kiss me soon, I will
let someone else share my fire.”

I really smelled her then. Lavenders
in Spring. Her eyes, prisons of love.
Her hair, silk dreams. Her mouth,
full with cherry-colored lipstick,
boiled into mine.

A volcanic eruption stilled the blazing
night. Her breasts, grapefruits, soft,
but hard, pliable but firm. As I moved
my mouth and tongue over her tight
stomach, a fragrance, nearly misty-like,
entered my senses.

It was then, at that time, that time whizzed
past me to a time where I felt safe and
comfortable and happy.

Afterwards, she nuzzled me and said,
“You’re just the man for whom I’ve
been searching, my soul mate.”

With that, she hugged and kissed me.

As I fell backwards into a field of daises
growing out of water. this feeling
of tremendous relief swept over me.
There was no splash, but a lot of other
things.

“I don’t believe in soul mates.” My
heart thumped against me like a
stick hitting a drum.

“Well then, we’ll see about that.”

We were off, talking then, as though we
had waited and saved everything up

we wanted to tell each other for
years for a moment just like this one.

THE END

“Action, Sex, Violence, Hollywood Zen”

To write a box office hit screenplay, you
should do some research first before you
decide to write a screenplay. Passion for
your subject matter plays an integral role
in the writing of your screenplay, but
common sense dictates that you put certain
elements in your screenplay if you want to
sell and get your screenplay produced.
Otherwise, it will be an exercise in futility
as far as getting optioned, selling and/or
getting produced.

If you research the kinds of genres that
have been the largest Hollywood box office
hits, you will see that action,
violence and sex, however subtle these
elements may be in these films, dominate
the box office.

According to FilmSite.org’s listing, the all-time
greatest box office hits are:

1. “Gone With the Wind” (1939)
2. “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope” (1977)
3. “The Sound of Music” (1965)
4. “E. T. The Extra-Terrestrial” (1982)
5. “The Ten Commandments” (1956)
6. “Titanic” (1997)
7. “Jaws” (1975)
8. “Doctor Zhivago” (1965)
9. “The Exorcist” (1973)
10. “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937)
11. “101 Dalmatians” (1961)
12. “Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back” (1980)
13. “Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back” (1959)
14. “Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi” (1983)
15. “The Sting” (1973)
16. “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981)
17. “Jurassic Park” (1993)
18. “The Graduate” (1967)
19. “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace” (1999)
20. “Fantasia” (1940)
21. “The Godfather” (1972)
22. “Forrest Gump” (1994)
23. “Mary Poppins” (1964)
24. “The Lion King” (1994)
25. “Grease” (1978)
26. “Thunderball” (1965)
27. “The Jungle Book” (1967)
28. “Sleeping Beauty” (1959)
29. “Shrek 2” (2004)
30. “Ghostbusters” (1984)
31. “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1969)
32. “Love Story” (1970)
33. “Spider-Man” (2002)
34. “Independence Day” (1996)
35. “Home Alone” (1990)
36. “Pinocchio” (1940)
37. “Cleopatra” (1963)
38. “Beverly Hills Cop” (1984)
39. “Goldfinger” (1964)
40. “Airport” (1970)
41. “American Graffiti” (1973)
42. “The Robe” (1953)
43. “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (2006)
44. “Around the World in 80 Days” (1956)
45. “Bambi” (1942)
46. “Blazing Saddles” (1974)
47. “Batman” (1989)
48. “The Bells of St. Mary’s” (1945)
49. “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2003)
50. “The Towering Inferno” (1974)
51. “Spider-Man 2” (2004)
52. “My Fair Lady” (1964)
53. “The Greatest Show on Earth” (1952)
54. “National Lampoon’s Animal House” (1978)
55. “The Passion of the Christ” (2004)
56. “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith”(2005)
57. “Back to the Future” (1985)
58. “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” (2002)
59. “The Sixth Sense” (1999)
60. Superman (1978)
61. Tootsie (1982)
62. “Smokey and the Bandit” (1977)
63. “Finding Nemo” (2003)
64. “West Side Story” (1961)
65. “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” (2001)
66. “Lady and the Tramp” (1955)
67. “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977/1980)
68. “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962)
69. “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” (1975)
70. “Rocky” (1976)
71. “The Best Years of Our Lives” (1946)
72. “The Poseidon Adventure” (1972)
73. “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” (2001)
74. “Twister” (1996)
75. “Men in Black” (1997)
76. “The Bridge On The River Kwai” (1957)
77. “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” (1963)
78. “Swiss Family Robinson” (1960)
79. “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975)
80. “M*A*S*H” (1970)
81. “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” (1984)
82. “Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones” (2002)
83. “Mrs. Doubtfire” (1993)
84. “Aladdin” (1992)
85. “Ghost” (1990)
86. “Duel in the Sun” (1946)
87. “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” (2003)
88. “House of Wax” (1953)
89. “Rear Window” (1954)
90. “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” (1997)
91. “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” (1989)
92. “Spider-Man 3” (2007)
93. “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” (1991)
94. “Sergeant York” (1941)
95. “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (2000)
96. “Toy Story 2” (1999)
97. “Top Gun” (1986)
98. “Shrek” (2001)
99. “Shrek the Third” (2007)
100. “The Matrix Reloaded” (2003)

Examine each one of these films for sex,
action, and violence. They are present.
Locate these elements in each film.
Utilize what you discover for your own
screenplay and you will enhance your
chances for success. Otherwise, find
another job, or write simply for the
sheer pleasure of writing.

It’s that basic.

Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
http://michaelc.nextmp.net/wordpress
dvasicek@earthlink.netsbox o