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Jag Garcia, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, PhilippinesAbstract
This paper presents a practice-led validation of a functional screenwriting framework derived from an analytical study of the typical VivaMax film. VivaMax (aka VMX) is the Philippines’ leading producer of softcore erotic cinema. My earlier VMX Study analyzed fourteen films and proposed a Screenwriting Framework and Female Sexual Agency Rubric grounded in recognizable patterns of theme, narrative structure, sexual behaviors, and representations of female sexual agency. In this paper, I use a practice-led research approach to evaluate a speculative screenplay originally written for submission to the VMX Film Festival against that Framework. Because the screenplay was completed before the framework was finalized, it functions unintentionally as a control text for validation. Results reveal the screenplay organically aligns to the earlier study on narrative structuring and pacing, sexual behaviors, and character development trajectories. The screenplay features a female lead who exhibits high female sexual agency on the aspects of initiation, consent, choice, and narrative consequence. These results suggest that the Framework and Rubric can effectively guide the development of softcore cinematic works that are mindful and character-driven while retaining the eroticism expected of the genre. This study contributes to the discourse of Philippine Cinema in how it reinforces the potential of softcore cinema and erotica as a platform for scholarship and inquiry on the interrelated concepts of authorship, agency, and representation, among others. Despite its limitations, this validation exercise reveals the clear potential of the Framework and Rubrics’ replicability in future studies and exercises in erotic screenplay development.
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Conference: KAMC2025Stream: Film Studies
This paper is part of the KAMC2025 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Garcia J. (2026) Hot Scenes, Steamy Words: A Validation Exercise of a Speculative Script Resulting From an Analytical Study of the Typical VivaMax Film ISSN: 2436-0503 – The Kyoto Conference on Arts, Media & Culture 2025: Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 235-244) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2436-0503.2025.21
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2436-0503.2025.21
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