Seducing The Heart and Mind
My apologies for the delay in my post. I COULD NOT get the YouTube clips to embed. Argh! Hopefully one of the Odd Shots ladies will help me so I’ll know how to do it for future posts.
The other day I was surfing blogs when I ran across an interesting question posed by the blogger. She mentioned thriller scenes and horror scenes, but I zoomed in on the horror scenes specifically based on her question, which I’ve adapted here: Why does it seem that when it comes to these scenes (horror), that they seem to work best visually (ie, on screen (TV, movies) than in a book. I can’t remember when I actually jumped while reading a horror scene, but boy have I jumped while watching one.
I absolutely agreed with her assessment. Watching scary stuff affects me FAR more than reading about it. Of course, I immediately started thinking of examples where the opposite was true, ie scenes that work best in books over the screen. And here’s what I came up with…
Heart-wrenching, declaration scenes can work GREAT on screen. Here are a couple of examples:
The porch scene from The Village between Ivy (who’s blind) and Lucias. They’ve never talked about their feelings for each other until this scene.
Oh and for a cool tension/scary scene that incorporates emotional trust in the face of fear. In this scene, something has just broken the fence perimeter and the villagers are terrified, but Ivy waits to run and hide. She trusts Lucias will come back to them. Er, yeah, I know the words are slightly out of sync with the scene, but it’s a good one to show tension (and at this point in the movie Ivy’s undeclared love for Lucias).
And when it comes to GREAT heart wrenching and declaration scenes, you can’t beat Pride and Prejudice.
But, I believe nookie scenes work FAR better in the written form than on screen. Of course, I’m fully expecting most guys to disagree with me (heh), but I think most women would agree. Women would rather read a steamy love scene than to watch one on the screen. because they can feel the emotion and connect with the characters. Somehow most nookie scenes on the screen just come out kind of wooden, imho.
Does that make this phenomenon a guy vs a girl thing? I dunno, probably when it comes to an personal subject like falling in love and acting upon it. But that still leaves the horror scene question unanswered. I would think most would agree that horror/nail-biting terror scenes are far more effective on your psyche when watched vs read. And sure, I’ll admit there were certain authors whose books scared the patootie out of me when I was younger. So maybe for me it’s a preference thing…ie, that as an adult I prefer to be scared visually (bring on the sound effects, fantastic makeup, special effects and chase scenes), but when it comes to my heart, I prefer to be wooed via the written word.
What do you all think?
I enjoy more nookie scenes in books then on screen. But the Pride and Prejudice where Matthew Macfayden comes out of the mist is just as romantic as reading it on the page. And of course the ending.
I agree that the heart wrenching moments work well on film. That scene was SO romantic!
I like the nookie scenes in books rather than in movies…I was just thinking while reading the dark-hunter series how awkward it would be to see the love making scenes on screen it would be like watching a Porno….I don’t know that’s just my opinion….but def it’s better reading it than seeing it on screen there’s more of a connection while you read a nookie scene..
I think we the scenes get REALLY intimate…they work best in books.
I have to agree with Nini
I think the lead up to the nookie can be really well done in a movie/tv show. I am a very visual person, and when it is real chemistry between the actors I find that it can be better than reading the whole shebang. A favorite of mine is the love scene in The Notebook. Grabbing! Rain! Walls! Carrying! Oh yeah, good stuff. I do prefer the fade to black once things hit a certain point if I am watching. (It’s awkward seeing the umm… penetration. Ahem.) Whereas fade to black in books usually leaves me feeling dissatisfied.
Yes, I almost wrote about this in my post, but it’s good to point it out here. The hot love scenes in movies that seem to work best are the very INTENSE ones…angry/fight and make up scenes, or where the characters have had SO many obstacles and can finally be together. TONS of sexual tension unleashed, so to speak. Then, I’m cool with fade to black. But, er…not in books. LOL!
teehee Yeah, I think the act of sex works so much better in books because we are experiencing it through one of the characters instead of viewing it as an outside observer like in a movie. Experiencing sex through a character’s perspective is a totally different feel than observing two characters having sex. I always feel like a voyeur when I see sex – not just the foreplay – in a movie, that’s why I feel awkward and all ‘omg I should turn away now’.
Yup, horror scenes have to be visual for me…except for Stephen King’s “The Shining”. Holy crap that book scared the stuffing out of me when I was younger.
Yup, sex scenes are better in the book…except for the scene in the first Terminator movie (the uncut version, not the version they show on TV) between Kyle and Sarah in the motel.
Stephen King is one of the few who can really scare me in a book!
Hmmm, don’t think I ever saw the uncensored Terminator love scene. Must go check it out.
I was told back in college, (the first time around) that girls give sex to get love, and guys give love to get sex. That would suggest that for girls the emotions are of major significance, which I think comes across better in a book. Not to mention, reading a book makes the scene a more private event as opposed to sharing that sex scene with a hundred or so strangers in a theater
Then, too, guys are more likely than girls to view porn, which doesn’t require an emotional engagement in the sex act.
As for my tastes, the buildup can be great on-screen, but I have to agree that after a point it just doesn’t work for me anymore. Much prefer a book.
(Horror scenes? I won’t go there. It’s awkward being the only member of the audience laughing.)
=A
reading a book makes the scene a more private event as opposed to sharing that sex scene with a hundred or so strangers in a theater
I think this is part of it definitely.
I love watching romance scenes and reading about them. Nookie is better in writting.
I personally dont get scared by horror movies i find them all to funny but i have gotten the shivers over a freaky/semi-scary scene in a book but i think i only got the shivers because I was sat on my own, no one was in and the lighting was dim lmao
I’m ALL for tons of sexual tension visually, especially if the actors have the chemistry (Mr and Mrs Smith comes to mind).
(nods) I love the tension! On screen or in a book! but nookie is better in writing its like you said you connect more with the two characters because in stead of watching them grow together you have been permitted a sneak inside their heads and hearts so your happier for them to be at this point together. And then you naturally celebrate when it happens if its taken a while.
Like the long waiting for Curran and Kates tension to finally explode and devour them…
runs off and hides while shouting “I love you ilona. I tease!”)
In my defence as an avid reader of ilonas blog. An a fan of her writing. I love kate and curran individually and together. They are strong/bold characters that you just feel for on so many levels and I love reading about them and its be wonderful to go on this humoros and at moments very painful (emotionally) journey with them and I can’t wait for the fourth book.
But my point is I prefer sexual tension in writing because its more personal and you have mentally and emotionally gone through every step with the characters. So when nookie happens you cant help but think “awww or yay or finally!” happiness is all around even if it isnt for long!!! lol
ps. did I mention I love you Ilona?? 0:D <—- Angel…. thats me hehe
I read a lot of Stephen King as a teenager and spent many a sleepless night with the light on. I agree that movies have the startle factor going for them, but a book sticks with you. I tried to reread The Shining a few years ago…couldn’t so it. *shiver*
As for the nookie…I much prefer a book. As someone mentioned earlier, you watch the scene as one of the characters in a book. In a movie, you’re more of a voyeur. Of course, if the guy’s really hot…
Ooo, Pride and Prejudice. *sigh* I haven’t watched the 2005 version (might have to check that out), but the 1995 BBC/A&E miniseries is my favorite of all time.
2005 is good (hard to go wrong with that story) but 1995 is definitive
=A
Ah, very good point. If a book does scare you…it really sticks with you long after you’ve read it. Though…the movie that I walked out of kind of in a daze and I still remember it to this day was SEVEN.
*spoiler alert*
I think I was so shocked by it because as far as I know it was the first movie I’d seen where a MAIN character is one of the victims, which was shocking!