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Q&A How do you make a scene "tasteful"?

Nudity can be implied: a dress hitting the floor or a woman shown topless from the back. (Those are TV Tropes links, you've been warned.) If a character walks in on another undressed character (or...

posted 6y ago by Galastel‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-12T21:57:30Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/40121
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T10:10:52Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/40121
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T10:10:52Z (almost 5 years ago)
Nudity can be implied: [a dress hitting the floor](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DressHitsFloor) or a woman shown [topless from the back](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ToplessnessFromTheBack). (Those are TV Tropes links, you've been warned.) If a character walks in on another undressed character (or two), camera might focus on his embarrassment, rather than on whoever is naked. Or the camera might pan away from a nude character or couple: show faces, hands, the rain outside the window, cut to when they're getting dressed again...

But those are visual elements. I'd say part of the "tastefulness" comes from how the scene is framed within the story.

[![Mal in trash](https://i.stack.imgur.com/sqoQH.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/sqoQH.png)

This image is from a _Firefly_ episode: the MC has been robbed of everything, and stranded in a desert. The scene is framed as being a comical episode. We don't get to see "naughty bits", but it's not just that - the story never frames the situation as particularly sexy. Only a little. Notably, as @Ash points out, the MC pays no attention to his lack of clothes, continuing to act normally, and his crewmembers act normal as well. His Romantic Interest is seen actively not looking.

What makes a scene not tasteful is excessive focus on gratuitous titillation and sex. It can be a long scene of darkness and sex-sounds. It can be shots that focus on anatomy, and characters touching said anatomy, even if the anatomy is covered. It can be nudity put out for display.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-11-13T20:34:27Z (almost 6 years ago)
Original score: 6