Sex

[Gillvane]

I was watching a bunch of short films the other day at Cinnebarre.

http://www.cinebarre.com/

It's kind of cool because this is a movie theater chain, and you can submit your short film and if it's accepted they will show it on the big screen. How cool is that, to see your film on the big screen, no film festival fees or anything!

Anyway I was thinking about entering a short film, so I watched a bunch of them, and noticed they seemed to be almost devoid of sex.

So I was wondering what's your opinion about sex in short films? Have you ever done a sex scene? I'm not talking about nudity necessarily. There's all sorts of ways to do a sex scene, including the under the covers shot all the way to the steamy R rated nudity scenes which usually mean showing some T and A.

And I don't mean porn, which I'll for this discussion I'll call anything that would go beyond an R rating, although we are seeing lots of penis in the movies these days, including the big blue penis of Dr. Manhattan, and Bruno's singing penis.

Generally I'm not to enthralled with sex scenes in movies. It's very choreographed and about the time I might be actually interested they have to cut, so generally as far as I'm concerned you can establish the characters are having sex if you need to for the story, then move on. Some memorable exceptions are Choke, which had some quite steamy sex scenes because they were so raw, and Crank 2. Amy Smart having sex in the middle of a race track while a giant horse penis flies over her? I hadn't seen that before.

Maybe a short doesn't have enough time to set up a sex scene, or do you think producers of shorts just shy away from that sort of thing? It is a lot to ask of your actors on a low or no budget set.

But considering some of the examples above, shorts seem relatively tame compared to mainstream fare at the movies these days.

[KingDucky]

Not again.

I have no comments as far as this thread goes except: Were like asking if you should put sex in Your short film or just about the subject in general.

[Gillvane]

Not again.

I have no comments as far as this thread goes except: Were like asking if you should put sex in Your short film or just about the subject in general.

Thanks. I take that thread to mean short film makers leave sex scenes to the big boys. Short films can concentrate on drama, horror, and comedy I guess.

I was asking if anyone has shot a good sex scene for a short film. I take the answer to generally be, no.

I find it disheartening. no one pushes the boundaries these days as much as main stream film makers. It used to be the other way around.

Where's the new John Waters? I think everyone has to watch Pink Flamingos before they are allowed to buy a video camera.

[Ian-T]

Thanks. I take that thread to mean short film makers leave sex scenes to the big boys. Short films can concentrate on drama, horror, and comedy I guess.

I was asking if anyone has shot a good sex scene for a short film. I take the answer to generally be, no.

I find it disheartening. no one pushes the boundaries these days as much as main stream film makers. It used to be the other way around.

Where's the new John Waters? I think everyone has to watch Pink Flamingos before they are allowed to buy a video camera.

I'm not sure why this is even questioned...but the answer is no...not really (meaning there are those types of scenes in many short flicks). Some are very creative while others try to mimic the gratuitous Hollywood style. Take the classic short done by McGregor (I think back in 2006) on a DVX.."Similo." What I loved about this short is the outdoor scenes where he took advantage of shooting during the "Golden" hour. The DVX looked HD. Anyways...this guy is a great cinematographer...and he somehowm manages to get his actors to take their clothes off . There's at least one other short he did where it gets a little more ...um..steamier. But you get the point... It's not quite exactly how you put it. I don't particularly think it's necessary in ...most films. There are ways to make a point and give a feeling of intamacy between two people. But...that's the way of the world.
(*Warning...some brief scenes of nudity*).

[ame="http://vimeo.com/3163904"]Similo on Vimeo[/ame]

[Gillvane]

I'm not sure why this is even questioned...but the answer is no...not really (meaning there are those types of scenes in many short flicks). Some are very creative while others try to mimic the gratuitous Hollywood style. Take the classic short done by McGregor (I think back in 2006) on a DVX.."Similo." What I loved about this short is the outdoor scenes where he took advantage of shooting during the "Golden" hour. The DVX looked HD. Anyways...this guy is a great cinematographer...and he somehowm manages to get his actors to take their clothes off . There's at least one other short he did where it gets a little more ...um..steamier. But you get the point... It's not quite exactly how you put it. I don't particularly think it's necessary in ...most films. There are ways to make a point and give a feeling of intamacy between two people. But...that's the way of the world.
(*Warning...some brief scenes of nudity*).

I didn't really like the story. I'm not a big fan of the voice over, unless it's used sparingly and brilliantly, like in Raising Arizona.

But WOW! did it look gorgeous! The outdoor shots at golden hour, the camera movement, all the white in the interior scenes, the very tasteful sex scene that lasted just the right amount of time. Very nice.

http://www.godamongdirectors.com/scripts/raising.shtml

More and more my thoughts turned to Ed, and I

finally felt the pain of imprisonment.

The joint is a lonely place after lock-up and fights

... when the last of the cons has been swept away by

the sandman.

But I couldn't help thinking that a brighter future

lay ahead-a future that was only eight to fourteen

months away.

[cgbier]

It is most likely harder to get amateur actors out of their clothes than "stars" who get paid a couple of millions for a flick.

[1]

I'm not a big fan of the voice over, unless it's used sparingly and brilliantly, like in Raising Arizona.

Never was there a statement I agreed with more!

[antman]

Im not a big fan of sex scene's in movies, But Im getting ready to shoot one for a Feature im doing. It's a dream sequence where the lead is having dreams that his fiancee is cheating. I talked with the actress about it today and worked it out to use her own boyfriend to be the guy in the scene. Im not calling for nudity, implying can be better.

[Ian-T]

I didn't really like the story. I'm not a big fan of the voice over, unless it's used sparingly and brilliantly, like in Raising Arizona.

I agree in this case especially. I always tought of voice overs as a sort of cheap way out...if you know what I mean. but I did like the story. Looks like it could be something that can be expanded on. Reminds me of that Spielberg flick where the mother substituted her dead child with a robot.

[Shigeta]

Artificial Intelligence?

[Ian-T]

Artificial Intelligence?

Thank you.. I wanted to say I-Robot but that was the Will Smith movie. But yeah....that's it.

[drapeama]

I'm not sure why this is even questioned...but the answer is no...
[...] Take the classic short done by McGregor (I think back in 2006) on a DVX.."Similo."
[...] this guy is a great cinematographer

Nice one thanks for the link. I agree with you, the cinematography is awesome.
But the nudity in 1-2 scene could have been avoided...especially for a short. Just them "having fun" or "playing and laughing" on the bed could have been enough.

[debuys]

Nice one thanks for the link. I agree with you, the cinematography is awesome.
But the nudity in 1-2 scene could have been avoided...especially for a short. Just them "having fun" or "playing and laughing" on the bed could have been enough.

I disagree. Combined with the narration the nudity isn't about sex at all. It is what frames the irony that there is no intimacy without vulnerability. Thanks for sharing that.

[drapeama]

I disagree. Combined with the narration the nudity isn't about sex at all. [...] Thanks for sharing that.

The main question, leading to my answer is : Would you do it? (no only debuys).

[debuys]

it?

[drapeama]

it?

Would you appear totally naked in the frame? I wouldn't.

[debuys]

don't tempt me. It would be kinda weird for a guitar lesson.

[drapeama]

don't tempt me. It would be kinda weird for a guitar lesson.

I agree!!
But hey, that's just my point/opinion...!
enough said.

[Gillvane]

Nice one thanks for the link. I agree with you, the cinematography is awesome.
But the nudity in 1-2 scene could have been avoided...especially for a short. Just them "having fun" or "playing and laughing" on the bed could have been enough.

I'm torn. On the one hand, I agree. Would the last scene have less of an impact with the girl says she sees something in this new version of her boyfriend, but doesn't really know him, if the nude scene were missing, and we actually didn't see a nipple?

I don't think so.

On the other hand, you have this beautiful cinematography, and a pretty actor willing to get naked. Is the shot merely gratuitous?

I don't think so. It's not as if the shot ads Zero to the movie. I am definitely drown in more to the film after the nude scene. I take the film a bit more seriously and I want to know what is going to happen, where are we going? And if you manage that it definitly ads something to a film.

It's not as if, for example, you're in a strip bar, and you decide to show some strippers in the background naked. Would the scene work just as well if the strippers were in bikinis and hadn't taken it all off yet, or if you see their legs and nothing more?

In most cases the answer will be yes, and the nudity is just for the sake of adding some nudity. Not that I'm against gratuitous nudity, on the contrary I'm all for it.

The best use of gratuitious nudity I've seen is Crank 2.

They don't make any excuses, they just throw in nude people anywhere and everywhere. It really ads to the film, making it feel like a no holds barred free for all roller coaster ride, which it is.

[Ian-T]

But the nudity in 1-2 scene could have been avoided...especially for a short. Just them "having fun" or "playing and laughing" on the bed could have been enough.

Yeah, that's kind of what I was saying. Some sort of intimacy needed to be in those scenes to help give us an idea of their relationship. But was the nudity necessary? Maybe not. But the frolicking (couldn't think of a better word) around in the bed would have sold it the same to me. I guess I look at it sort of like how we see shows on "regular" television... How do they do it....without "fully" displaying their birthday suits and still convey a sense of intimacy? Why do many features today have to continually take it one step further? But that's a whole other thread discussion I guess.

[RoosterMcCauley]

There is something inherently more vulnerable about nudity, so, no, I don't believe you can always achieve the same feeling without it.

Also, whenever I have sex in real life, I don't put the covers around all the girl's naughty-bits.

So I think, of course, there are times where the intent is merely to raise eyebrows (and that can work in its own way), sometimes the director and the writer are treating the audience like big dumb animals, and plenty of other times it's just showing something the way it is.

I've always been of the opinion the argument is just as valid in the direction of : "Why wouldn't you show nudity in a sex scene?"

The question is not the nudity, it is the sex scene itself, most likely. The sex can be gratuitous. A nipple during sex, not so much.