This letter arrived to my inbox and I found it pure gold, so I’m sharing it with you (with permission of the author of course):
“I lost my porn virginity when I was 12. I didn’t even know I was gay by then (or at least I didn’t knew what it meant).
For years I would sit in front of my computer and Google a random combination of things I knew would get me a boner, just to jerk off as quickly as I could and feel guilty immediately after. For years my self induced orgasms were part of a diminishing psychological pressure that made me feel just as crap as it’d feel good.
I accessed porn sites on a regular basis, with an obvious pick around my first time having real sex. I was so nervous about it that I might have watched 6 uninterrupted hours of blowjob action, praying to not look lost when I finally had a love muscle pumping blood above my tongue. It was hypnotizing, it was absurdly informative, but still – it would feel wrong.
Like everyone else, I stumbled upon this “6 reasons why you should quit porn” articles an infinity of times. They were scary as hell and promised that I would ruin my love life and would never have pleasure with real sex ever again. Just by clicking the X play they’d make me feel like I was on for a 666 route of loneliness, sexual disfunction and just a step away of becoming a pedophile, a murderer or – god helps – a satisfied cummer.
As horrifying the side-effects would sound, I never quit. I just pretended I wasn’t into it for long enough, even to my gay friends. Especially to my gay friends. I grew up in this small town in Sweden and gay porn was the devil turned into pixels: ugly, violent and completely out of tune from our aesthetic preferences.
But then internet proved to be God again, and a suspicious link in a comments section brought me to an article about this new wave of porn films, mentioning some sites that would look more like an indie nordic fashion shop than a dirty lust gateway. And oh wasn’t that heaven!
Finding other people with interests similar to mine, eager to see sex but also struggling with the old boring xvideos brought a fresh breeze to my lonely porn closet. I wasn’t feeling guilty anymore – instead Ì started to feel like a sexual explorer.
A little more time down this road and I found works like Noel Alejandro’s. Not only I would masturbate to actually attractive people but I could also feel proud to show it to my friends.
Alternative porn actually have something to say beyond the regular dick-in-the-butt business. I would find people interested in talking about it, and they would tell me if they liked it or not and why. The conversations made me feel more critical about what I was seeing.
I would start recognizing the directors, their interpretations of sex, their tastes… and I also started recognizing myself. Is threesome something I would really like to try? What about bondage? How would the perfect situation be for me? What if I say all this to my boyfriend? Maybe he wants to watch “Call me a ghost” with me?
When you have the guts to talk about untalked stuff with the people around you, magic happens. You start verbalizing what you like and what you don’t, you think about your preferences and what you would like to try, you learn what turns you on and finally accepts your inner carnal beast.
Cause we all have one inside.”
If you ever thought about making a porn film on your own but were wondering if you’d be capable of pulling off something decent, the answer is yes. Desire is what it takes. And if you’ve already done a couple, but they didn’t turn out quite like you had imagined in your head, don’t desperate: try again. Glory can be waiting right around the next hole (cause it’s definitely not in this pun).
Just the fact you want to film a porn scene already means that you might have something different to say – and this alone should be a huge step into “fuck yeah I’ll do it!”. You might need a tip or two, of course – and that’s what I’m here for. I would never tell you what to do – the true value of a good erotic production is the uniqueness in it; and that’s only possible when the director thinks freely to do whatever he feels it’ll work better. Still, practice precedes perfection, and there are a few useful tricks to know prior.
1. Have a cameraman
A backstage picture for Noel Alejandro’s Doing Elliot
Or camerawoman or any gender of your choice (how long until we replace all this “man” with “person”? Cameraperson, handyperson, salesperson, for Maura Pfefferman’s safe). Anyways, have someone to actually film the movie while you take care of everything else. Sometimes subjective takes (when you do it in first person) can be great for the story and print a much more emotional aesthetic – just make sure that you have someone to help you when deciding to use this method. It’ll make your life much easier.
2. Don’t underestimate lighting
Lightning was a must on Noel Alejandro’s Trivial
Everyone knows natural light is always my first choice, but sometimes it isn’t an option. In those cases, make sure to have a strong focus to your scenes, or you might end up with a blurred footage – or super dark, which is something that not even the best colorist in the world can fix.
3. Resist the “over-editing” temptation
It’s likely that performers will say things to one another during the sex, or in between scenes. Do not cut those lines when you’re editing! There’s a huge value in those, and their verbal expression will make the viewers relate a lot more with the scene. If you think it might confuse the scene, a good option would be not to subtitle it – but always think twice before cutting everything off. Same thing goes for those moments where there’s no explicit sex, they can add a whole significance to the story and you would miss a lot by cutting those.
4. Drink in the “camera-power” moments
Being in front of the camera makes everyone feel empowered. That makes you do things that you wouldn’t normally. And not because you don’t want to, but because you want it too much! So bring toys, accessories, or anything that would help your performers manifest their fetishes. Nipple clips are just the beginning.
5. The KISS rule
Kissing is mandatory for a satisfactory sexual encounter, why would you skip it in your porno? A caption of Noel Alejandro’s Call me a ghost
The cinema productions in Hollywood (and everywhere) follow this rule, which turned out to be real gold in the porn world as well: it’s called KISS and it means Keep It Simple, Stupid. Don’t overcomplicate things. Think of a simple edition and make sure to execute it like a pro – at least until you’re ready to play David Lynch.
6. Delete the whole thing
Or it WILL end up in someone else’s screen. Although… that would be the real glory, wouldn’t it?
The other day I was scrolling down Facebook when I ran into this Buzzfeed article asking what things from gay porn annoyed me the most, and I realized it was time to break free from all my inner hate. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy other gay porn than mine, but have directors never heard of lube before?
So here we go:
When the actors suddenly make eye contact with the camera and you feel weird as fuck.
When they know each other for half a second and jump straight into it using no lube at all. Like, that’s gotta hurt.
When actors would have sex in any given position, would make all the pleasure faces that a human being is capable of, but still won’t kiss or show any sort of affection.
Or when the editors add some random soundtrack that has nothing to do with the story, and it’s just there to avoid some uncomfortable silence. By the way, silence in pornos are almost always mind blowing.
Everyone is always wearing some Italian underwear.
Actually, there’s always something Italian in every mainstream gay porno. What is that even about?
Actors who look more like sex machines than human beings. I’d much rather see some vulnerable, imperfect characters, instead of a sex god who is as deep a leaf.
“seriously, what’s this all about?”
Flat light. That white flat light showing each and every muscle in their bodies, but that makes the whole thing feel like we’re all inside a dentist’s office. Who the hell is turned on by that?
Pierre Emö and Bishop Black’s performance is being edited and will be available in a few weeks. In the meanwhile, check all my other films here.
After a few days of shooting – there’s a new film coming soon and it has Bishop Black in it, so you know it’s gonna be wild – I’m back with some pretty insightful info for us to comment on.
Have you seen Pornhub stats on Gay Porn from this year? They did a data dive in honor of Gay Pride Month and for the first time ever they focused their research in people looking for gay porn that’s exclusively non lesbian – that is, with two or more men active on the fucking.
The first info didn’t really break my brains: 37% of the watchers revealed to be women. I mentioned it briefly in my post on what gay porn could learn from feminist porn, and I’m pretty sure it has to do with the fact that, better or worse, gay porn always escape from that horrible misogyny that rules the mainstream pornography that sexualizes women and don’t give a damn about their pleasure. Which makes that percentage pretty understandable.
What really shocked me (ok I might be overreacting a little here) is the high rates of searches in the “straight guys” category. Yep, lots of people want to see videos of “straight” men having sex with other straight men, which got me wondering: are you guys into that? Or is that another sign of the reticence still found by those who are clearly into it but still too deep inside the closet?
Other stats also woke up the sociologist in me. Young people’s fav category is Japanese, while 65+ gay men are all about “massage”. Possibly the cutest thing in the entire report.
Now real talk here: 35’s people are really into “groups”. Ever since Trivia i’ve been thinking a lot about how can sex life become better and better for long-term couples and now I realize – is that a contemporary dilemma of all of us liquid society human beings?
Watch Trivial HERE
Last but not least: “big dick” shows in very low numbers, or it doesn’t show at all. Is that people realizing that there’s more in porn than a huge member detached from the body? Big win everyone.
Full report is here, but for some more interesting fun you may want to go here.
So… you watched Trivial and were immersed by that vibrant threesome action, and now you want to try one yourself? Feel yourself embraced by angelic wings of lust. Threesomes are one of the best things you can ever do in bed so let’s dive in the subject together for a second, shall we?
First things first, we need to accept that real life isn’t as easy as porn. Just answer this: how many times did you go flat hunting and found Yann André as your landlord? Yep, exactly. But there’s no lost hope: there’s always a kinky explorer out there wishing to join a party with you and your boyfriend, or a hot horny couple who’s eager to put all four hands all over your body.
Threesomes normally live in underground bars down the street, but not only. They can be hiding at the library, fully exposed on Grinder, or just chilling at that dinner party where you really didn’t know everyone. You can hunt the threesome and set the snare, or you can be haunted and just voluntarily fall into the trap. Ooops! you’ll think, and that’s it. Hopefully you won’t think anymore until the three of you are lying down, exhausted and satisfied.
So here’s a survival guide for when the moment comes (always useful, even if you’re a pro at this):
1- Don’t do it with friends. I repeat, don’t do it with friends
You know that one friend of yours whom you think is super hot, and you always imagined that a threesome would be the perfect the way of tasting him while still keeping your boyfriend? Or that friend who seems be willing to take the idea and would make your life happier? Leave them alone. Occasional sex can really f*ck up a friendship. Sexual partners are blossoming everywhere, friends not so much. Keep yours.
2- Roommates: good for porn, not for life
Unless this is a temporary thing for you and you have plans of moving out soon, don’t get into bed with your roomie. Sex can be wonderful but you’ll be looking at each other every morning – not the ideal post-threesome situation
3- It’s gotta feel natural
A chat & a glass of wine should be enough for you to tell if there’s chemistry going on or if you’re better off as friends. If there’s electricity when you touch each other (actually, a little seducing skin touch is the starting point of every good threesome) and if flirtive gazes start to happen, you’re in the right track. If you feel it’s being too difficult, just pretend you have to urgently return a book at the library and set yourself free from a possible embarrassment.
4- Drugs aren’t everything
Despite being quite common in the threesome world, there shouldn’t be a need for them. There’s nothing like a good fuck with 100% present selves.
5- Double penetration: the marvel, and the myth
Because that’s the whole point of a threesome, right? Wrong! Double penetration is like anything else in sex: if you feel like doing it, forget the fear and just go for it. If it’s not your cup of tea, decline politely and go do whatever else arouses you. If there’s one thing that’s mandatory, that’d be sense of humor: spice it up with fun and you might have the night of your life.
Still haven’t watched Trivial? Download now!
Flat hunting can become quite an experience when the house of your dreams is inhabited by two terribly seducing human beings. Trivial is a about a music student (Valentin) who goes visit a flat to rent one of its rooms, and is welcomed by Renault (Yann André) and Pierre (Gaspard), who are roomate with benefits. Things start to spice up when the house’s cat bites his hand, and while one of the hosts goes get a tissue from the kitchen the room is taken by a powerful sexual tension – from which no one will escape untouched.
Trivial is Noel Alejandro’s seventh production, and his first threesome film. Shot in a beautiful natural light (which has become Noel’s trademark), Trivia is a smooth, uncomplicated film that will fill your eyes with the most erotic and inspiring sensations.
Starring Valentin, Yann André and Gaspard (newcomers in porn).
Trivial was filmed in Brussels. Directed by Noel Alejandro.
The other day I was talking to a friend of mine about a few clips from the past that really opened the Pandora box to the way I’d understand online pornography. Excited with that flashback I went straight to Google to watch them again, and voila! Even after a few years, they are still true jams.
Come and join this trip to the center of online gay porn:
1. In Their Room: London (2013)
Directed by Travis Mathews
A few of you must know this film, as it’s became a reference within gay cinema worldwide. In Their Room was an on-going multi-city documentary series about gay men, in their bedrooms. As simple (and brilliant) as that. Travis (whom happens to be a brilliant mind and a wonderful person) did a pretty impressive job in getting all characters so comfortable in being naked in front of the camera. The result is a sensitive mosaic of male sexuality that is so inspiring at the same time as it was groundbreaking.
2. Córrer 2 (2013)
Directed by Eloi Biosca
This video is the closest clip to perfection I could ever think of. It’s so basic, and still so hypnotizing: a guy running naked, and alone. The photography, the soundtrack, the edition, everything is so amazingly synchronized to make perfect sense. Take a look at the long list of festivals it has featured in. Hats off.
3. Fractal (2011)
Directed by: Daniel Castillo Reynoso
This is a Mexican experimental film produced by Anal Magazine. They took risky chances creating a sort-of-surreal atmosphere. I’m a big fan of the milk scene, I actually remember thinking “ok so this is a new way of showing something without being corny”. And all that natural lighting! There’s something about gay pornography that makes it look wonderful under the sun.
4. Gay Buddies Making Out
Directed by: Not sure
Probably the most mainstream, traditional porny film of this list, but the art direction really captured my attention. What are those colors? Bright t-shirts + bright walls = excited Noel. Also, I really like the way they smile at each other and the playful feeling of the clip. I never really digged into it to find more about the director, and I kind of have a feeling that the clip is about as good as it gets. But still a cool, inspiring clip.
5. Hairy (2011)
Directed by: Noel Alejandro
Is it too presumptuous that I’m adding a film of my own to this list? Hairy was my very first go with erotic cinema, back in 2011, and it’s only here for the fabulous things that happened since: it was watched more than 1 million times. These numbers were the push I needed to understand that there was so much to do in eroticism, and so many people wanting to watch it.
I’ve made 7 films since Hairy, and you can watch them here.
*Hairy has been taken down Vimeo twice due to its erotic tone.
The first time I heard the term sex-positive I didn’t really understand what it meant. “Sex is good, therefore sex is positive”, I thought, and that seemed to make enough sense for me to nod my head and say yes. That was a long time ago and at that time I wasn’t even thinking of making my own films.
Today, I don’t think there’s a more representative term to describe my interest in the industry. It turns out sex-positive is so much more than acknowledging sex as a good thing. It speaks about the importance of accepting sex as part of the daily life, and as something that actually shapes people’s relationships and self esteem.
In short, “sex-positive” refers to a movement that embraces sexuality as healthy and pleasurable as long as it’s safe, and consensual. To feel good about your own pleasure. It respects our unique sexual profiles at the same time as it fights the dinosauric education that keeps damaging and ignoring sexual differences.
Is sex-positiveness present in my work?
Yes, at every second of it. When I shoot a porn scene, in my head I’m thinking “how can this be THE most hot and pleasing experience?” And that’s not because I want you to buy it (of course that too, as I film for a living). But mostly because I want every gay men (and women and queers and everyone that’s out there) to be able to have something beautiful and relatable for them to feel aroused with. Something that evokes pleasure and self discovery, and give them ideas to make their sex lives better in the real world (be that through good self love, or as a couple, or in an orgy, or however their dirty minds take them to).
Also, because I feel the need to fight against this type of nonsense that tends to think that sex-workers (and everyone who is sex-positive, basically) have no idea of what they’re doing, and that everyone in the porn industry got “trapped” here for money and can’t never leave because they ain’t no good for anything else. Oh please shut up. Many of the people (performers, producers, directors) I’ve worked with in the indie porn production are the brightest and more eloquent people I know. There’s some serious thinking behind everything we do, just like there’s some serious sex-positiveness behind every one of my scripts.
The majority of mainstream porn that is online suck big time (in the bad way), but that should be no reason for sexuality as a whole to be hidden and locked behind misrepresented concepts. A lot – a lot! – of the best things in the world happen during sex (intimacy, pleasure, body fullness, orgasms for christ’s sake!). All we have to do is to leave behind all the hypermuscularity and sloppy contexts of shitty pornography and put on our best “I enjoy a good fuck” t-shirts.
In this article on how sex positive transgender porn is helping people there’s a particularly good quote that sums up everything:
“There is currently no other format where we can privately explore such diverse bodies and sexuality, porn has the potential to bring up both questions and answers about our own identify. If we can view it as a starting point for discussion, it might uncover aspects of our desire and identities we were too afraid to examine otherwise. Be a conscious consumer and find porn you like. Do as much research as you need to feel good about what you’re watching. Whether it’s porn that reflects your own identify or not, be an active participant in your own self-reflection around it.”
Condoms, yes or no? A simple question that any porn filmmaker will have to face at their very first movie. It may sound simple at first, but the truth is that with this question comes a much bigger conversation – from safe sex to the role of porn in today’s society.
Should all porn performers use condoms during shootings? Should this be mandatory? What are the real effects of showing a condom on a porn film?
In my films I don’t ask performers to put on condoms. If they want to use it and it fits the script, that’s great, but in general I’ll always look for some free, naked skin touch. Why? Because I’m making pornography, and not a sex education book. Just hear me out before you call me rude.
First things first: when it comes to safety, it’s important to know that everyone is tested. If you have sex with a porn performer, chances are you’ll have the safest sex of your life. These guys are constantly checked for everything – exams are required for each and every casting process. If tests don’t come out fine, it’s a problem and they’ll have to fix that first. Porn producers and filmmakers just won’t take the risk of getting anyone sick.
The most annoying part of the discussion, for me, doesn’t have to do with the safety of the people involved, but in showing to the viewer that using condoms is the right thing to do. Yes, that might be true, but I don’t see how a porn director should be entitled to teach this message.
I don’t believe that porn has to be educational. I don’t think porn needs to tell people what to do. Porn is fantasy, is entertainment. It’s a manifestation of eroticism, pleasure and sexuality, and as an artistic product it shouldn’t be put in a place as to follow protocols.
Of course porn films have become a big part of sex-ed, specially after the red tubes and so. But it isn’t and shouldn’t be the only source of information. Come on family members and educators, a little more effort in this area please!
I’m not saying that porn doesn’t have influence in people’s lives – as we know it does. (And I’d love to write more about this later if you are interested.) I’m just saying that, if I am able to make a film in which the sex is beautiful and pleasurable, and makes you feel good when watching it, then that should be good too.
Main picture is a caption for my next film, still with no title.
The other day I was filtering possible locations for my next production (to be released in May) and it’s so much fun that I thought it’s worth a post.
For the ones who still think that the only thing you’ll need to make a good porno is a big bed: you poor thing! Choosing the right place can be super challenging, but it’s also one of the most creative parts of the whole producing process. Take it from someone who has had shootings in the most unbelievable places, from a boat in the middle of the ocean (with Erika Lust) to a mountain lost somewhere in the middle of Spain.
So here it is!
1 The bigger, the better
When it comes to locations, the size is the real deal. A good set needs to comfortably accommodate at least 8 people, including direction, crew and cast. Plus, it has to have enough room so that the camera operator is able to walk around (with the camera of course, and cameras aren’t exactly small) and reposition as many times as needed to get a variety of perspectives. It also needs to have room for dressing and make-up, and water and snacks. Let’s say we’re shooting at your place: we’ll use every inch of your bedroom, and your kitchen/living room/hallways will be filled with clothing, technical equipment and two or three boxes of donuts.
2 Its gotta have personality
Rooms with standard furniture, white walls and no personal objects are often boring to watch. The same with hotel rooms. I’m on this to portray real sex between real people, and real people have history! When I see a room, I need to believe that someone is actually living there. Objects, walls filled with frames, curtains that tell a story: that’s what I’m looking for.
3 Coloured walls: the secret revealed
Ever noticed how on TV & films the walls are almost always coloured or decorated, it doesn’t matter the character’s status? That’s because if the walls are clear and white there’s a good chance your character will look like they’re floating on some deep bright void on the screen. Creepy.
4 Cold blue office lights? No, thanks
I might be speaking for myself here, but as a director I always go for big windows, with lots of natural lighting coming in. In my opinion, one of the things that most differentiates a mainstream porn film from an alternative production is the lighting choices. Mainstream producers are normally shooting in empty commercial sets where there’s only a sad stiff couch and some artificial light. This is why every mainstream film looks fake and impersonal. Unless you’re a doctor and you live inside Grey’s Anatomy, you’ll probably never fuck under lights like that. Plus, sunlight always bring the best out of skin tones. And hair. And sweat.
5 You gotta hear the moaning!
The worst surprise you can possibly expect when arriving to the set is that there’s a construction work going on at the floor above yours. Or across the street. Or the building’s façade down the block. The noise will make it impossible for you to catch the yummy moans from sex.
But sometimes unforeseen moves can come for good: when we shot Roomies, from the set we could hear voices from a street protest that were going on that day in Barcelona. It was actually a pretty interesting moment and we were quick enough to get images and make it the whole reason why arousal started. It turned out pretty well.
6 Showers & hygiene
This might not be an issue for films with no explicit sex, but porn actors need to have a place to shower and freshen up before and after the shooting, obvious reasons.
7 Pay attention to the surroundings
Sometimes I choose the location before finishing the script. This way I can incorporate elements from it in the plot. When we shot Eloi & Biel, we decided to place the set in a countryside house in the mountains. It was fantastic as we could use the super romantic surroundings – a forest, the trees, the views – to depict their intimacy, their moment of “falling in love”. I think we would hardly get the same effect in an indoors, more traditional place.
Still from Eloi & Biel
8 No ordinary sheets
Favorite part! I’m a huge fan of sheets, I think they’re the material version of heaven. No coincidence they set the place where the most exciting part of the action happens. The most surprising the sheets are, the more interesting the sex will feel. And this goes for on-screen or real life, trust me! Of course in a porn shooting sheets are a big responsibility, considering everything that can happen to them… If you know what I mean 😉
Interview with Noel Alejandro by Gareth Johnson, Journalist and writer. Original interview can be found here.
Filmmaker Noel Alejandro creates gay porn that is a long way removed from our traditional perception of cheesy storylines and bad acting, or rough and ready footage of hardcore anonymous encounters.
Alejandro is a storyteller, giving us fully realised characters and erotic scenes charged with emotional connection.
His latest release is Call Me a Ghost – a psychological drama that thoughtfully explores human melancholy, and the roles of sex, pleasure, and intimacy in the life of a man who is losing hope.
I spoke with Alejandro to talk about porn and sex:
How did you get started as a creator of porn?
In 2012 I started to work with Erika Lust, the most important feminist adult filmmaker we have now, and I realised the lack of variety we had in porn?—?not only in straight porn but also in gay porn.
In the last few decades, porn has become something completely flat and fake – most of the actors seem to be more worried about showing off their perfect bodies, instead of having a nice experience with their partner.
It hit me first when I filmed Eloi & Biel back in 2013?—?the task of portraying a sex situation with two people that also were in love, and a real couple. In the moment it seemed terrifically easy, and I couldn’t understand why nobody else was trying to give a different look to adult films. So I decided to do it?—?to fill that gap.
As a director of gay porn movies, does that make you an expert on sex?
I give my actors all the freedom they need to get into the situation?—?I don’t like to interfere with directions because, for me, the most important thing is to film natural sex.
I guess that’s an indication of the kind of sex that I like. I’ve had encounters with some people who had sex as if they were in a bad porn film, and you could feel that through their fake attitude, their showing off, the lack of any real connection with what they were doing – it was definitely bad sex.
I’ve watched a lot of gay porn over the years, and I tend to watch it by myself as my boyfriend isn’t that interested in watching someone else having sex. Why do you think that porn appeals to some guys more than others?
I have a theory that most people can only be themselves when they’re completely alone, and porn is a good tool to help us to explore pleasure with ourselves – to masturbate.
Maybe your boyfriend is one of those who prefers to watch porn alone than in couple.
What sort of porn appeals to you?
Porn is only interesting to me if the people on screen are really having a good time. Most porn features people who are clearly faking pleasure and that’s not interesting. So if porn features real chemistry between the performers, then it’s not difficult to connect with the audience.
We generally talk about porn as potentially having a negative effect on gay men?—?that it can create unrealistic expectations, or that we can become addicted and lose our ability to connect with real people. Can porn have a positive role to play in our sex lives?
Maybe the unrealistic expectations might come when we expect to have sex with the guys with those incredible bodies that we see everywhere in mainstream porn. At the end of the day, sex is about making a connection with your partner, so porn might be empowering the wrong values.
Mainstream porn often offers an unrealistic vision of sex and the male body, and that’s something that could have a negative impact on you if that’s the only kind of porn that you consume.
In the interests of storytelling, or keeping the action moving, porn often glosses over some of the practicalities and logistics of sex. From your experience in working with guys who are having sex, what are some insights that might help me improve my sex life?
I would suggest that you forget everything that you learnt about sex from porn.
I always think of lube as being one of the essentials of good sex. Do you have a particular brand or type of lube that you tend to use on set?
I don’t use any specific brand, but I would suggest to use water-based lube when there’s a condom involved, and an oil-based lube when there’s not.
Are there any hints or tips that you’ve got regarding lube? How much do you use? When should it be applied?
Penny Flame used to say: “When it comes to anal sex, the wetter the better.” If it hurts it’s because you’re not doing it right.
Whether you’re the top or the bottom in an encounter, really pleasurable anal sex can take a bit of practice. What sort of preparation do the guys that you’re filming undertake before anal sex?
The professional actors that I work with have a lot of control over their bodies?—?they’re capable of forgetting everything around them and just concentrate. They come to the set clean, and they take some time in the bathroom before shooting. When I’m filming I always offer a comfort area, with lubricants, condoms, and towels for anything that they need.
Do you think that guys are naturally either a top or a bottom, or is that a bit of a myth?
I can’t understand why some people would reject being penetrated, unless they’ve had some bad experience and aren’t capable of relaxing.
Wanting to be penetrated is not exclusively gay, or about being a bottom. Straight, gay, and bi people experience the same need to be penetrated to achieve that level of intimacy.
I’ve spoken with straight men who’ve had their girlfriends use dildos on them, and they don’t think for a moment that their virility has been tested.
I’ve never really had much success with dildos. Partly I think it’s a confidence thing, maybe I just haven’t practised enough. What role do dildos play in the sex scenes that you film?
I don’t like them either. All my experiences with dildos have disappointed me. I really need that dildo to be stuck to a man?—?I need a person to be in me, not plastic.
But a lot of people love them, so I guess we just need more practice. Everybody needs to find their own way to pleasure.
I haven’t ever shown the use of dildos in my films, but maybe I’ll give it a try.
Noel Alejandro, photo by Filip Vanzieleghem
Do all the guys that you’re working with use something like Viagra to ensure that they can perform when required?
In mainstream porn the use of Viagra, or other medical stimulants, are completely normal. You need to understand that this is an industry, and the actors have to deliver. An actor who isn’t capable of having a boner on set is putting the whole scene at risk.
In my films normally the actors don’t need it?—?I know a lot of tricks, we might focus more on the foreplay, we might use some clever editing, or maybe it’s not all about someone being penetrated.
What advice would you give to a younger guy who was just beginning to experiment with sex with another guy?
Don’t take stimulants to have sex. Use protection always, and always look for somebody you can really connect with?—?so you make it an incredible experience.
What advice would give to someone who’s a bit more experienced on how to improve their sex life?
If you are in a couple, I would suggest to start your foreplay with some porn – whether that’s mainstream or something a bit more sensitive like mine. It’s a really good starter and often you’ll only resist five minutes until you get excited enough.
Depending on your confidence, and the current situation of your relationship, you can include somebody new on the menu. If you and your partner don’t feel ready for this kind of situation, then I really recommend you focus on kissing a lot. To me, kissing is one of the hottest games you can start sex with.
If you’re not in a couple, then it’s simple?—?improve your sex life by having a lot of sex with different people. But always, always have sex with people you really connect with in bed, and that you trust.
Photo by Renaud Duc
First of all, wow! It seems everyone really enjoyed Call Me a Ghost. I’m amazed by the feedback guys, seriously. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out here.
I want to introduce you to Pierre, the performer who plays the mysterious ghost from CMAG. Pierre is a French actor and amazing model who have become a dear friend to me.
His gift for eroticism isn’t an everyday thing (if you watched the film then you know what I’m saying). He has the voice, the presence, the body. But more than that – and that’s what you should know- he’s wise and creative, and his insights were super inspiring for me as a director. His performance with Valentin Braun is a consistent part of Call Me a Ghost’s success.
A few days ago, we published Valentin’s interview on his thoughts about pornography and sadness (read it here). Today it’s time for us to know more about Pierre’s life and what he thinks of porn, cinema, and working in Call Me a Ghost 🙂
Can you introduce yourself to us?
Hi! My name is Pierre Emö. I’m french and 26. I moved from Paris to Berlin last summer. As the situation in France has become quite disenchanted – and the worst seems yet to come, I was evidently appealed by Berlin’s inspiring sense of freedom and tolerance. I received a catholic education and discovered quite young that I had to go beyond the imposed boundaries by my education. It has always been a game, an ideology, and later on, a foundation of my personality.
Then, I’ve been a cinema lover for all my life, as well, and this has been my professional background so far. My taste in films are the same. I like a type of cinema that is radical, blended and that pushes boundaries as well.
What’s your history with porn?
I’m quite new in porn. So far, I essentially worked with independent photographers and filmmakers, and intend to keep it this way. I’m not trying to get into mainstream companies where I could feel that pornography would be too standardized. I like not to go on the path straight ahead. It’s a bit less productive, of course, but so far, it has always been the way I found my position in life, off the beaten track. I wanna stay off anything that might look like an industry.
What do you like the most, and hate the most, about gay pornography?
What I hate about porn is that it became – as everything – part of consumerist culture. I love the idea of a pornography that would be aesthetic, political, ideological and still, enjoyable as fuck. I’d like to feel more free to think, admire and wank at the same time. I’m still looking for an equivalent of Marquis de Sade in contemporary pornography.
Otherwise, I don’t have much problem with anything in pornography itself. I believe that there’s an audience for anything, that all the tastes and fetishes are part of nature. They deserve to exist and to be able to build their own community, in the respect of the external world that might not share them. It goes without saying that on the other side, I’m expecting the external world to tolerate this difference of fetish and lifestyle.
Photo by Chris Philips
What do you think about the blending of art & pornography? Are there special cares to take into consideration?
I believe art has always been, and especially nowadays, an amount of references, personal, cultural, artistic put together by an artist in his work. Meanwhile pornography is somehow considered as something that is not pure either honorable by a lot of people, I believe it’s urgent to reconsider this situation, and that’s what a few people are already doing at the moment. And they’re actually very stimulating people.
You’re the star in Call Me a Ghost. How was the experience of working with Noel?
Working with Noel was a bless. He has an extreme and precious care for his actors. He knows how to shape them into their characters. He watched my performance in
“While the Unicorn is watching me” by Shanti Masud, a short movie that’s an homage to vintage porn and experimental directors such as Kenneth Anger or Derek Jarman, and immediately understood my inspirations in matter of eroticism. That’s a bit how he had the idea of the character of the ghost of the vintage porn actor.
Noel really takes actors into consideration. It’s very flattering to realize that you directly inspired someone’s work. As I know as well that the character of Valentin could not have been written for someone else either, cause the complexity of feelings of his character was directly inspired by Valentin’s deep and mysterious gaze. We could almost say that this approach is the same as for a documentary.
Photo by Melanie Ziggel
For you, is there a convergence point between sadness and sex? If so, what is it?
Of course. It’s not a coincidence if we call the after sex sensation “la petite mort“. There’s a part of sadness in it, as there is a great part of ecstasy in making love, having sex, fucking. But not only sadness. Sex is the greatest mystery of human being, it’s everything. It’s exhilarating, it’s obsessive, it’s pathetic, it’s anything you might put in it. Sex is according to me the redemption of all passions – with all the ambiguity that those two words can contain.
Is there a film you like especially within Noel’s filmography?
More than the films themselves, it’s Noel’s sense of cinema that impresses me. I like his sense of detail. For example when the character in “The Cable Guy” finds the bottle of orange juice and, from this very common object, his mind gets into a fantasy about the cable guy who forgot it. It is pure genius to me. It’s super sensitive. Details in Noel’s films carries something. It might be emotion, melancholy, dream or whatever. The universe of each movie is build into a significant line.
I would say I prefer “Call me a Ghost” cause even though I knew a lot about the film and pictured it in my head so many times before I saw it, when I did, the movie remained a surprise. I believe this film is a step further in Noel’s filmography. The narrative is more ambiguous, the editing is more abstract. It’s the most ambitious of his work.
A few years ago you worked in While the unicorn is watching me, a delightful homage to vintage porn. What are for you the favorite aspects of experimenting with eroticism? What would you say is missing from contemporary porn?
I’m quite fond of vintage porn from the 70’s. I feel like at the time, people in porn were as naive (in the best definition of the word) as fearless. Films like “Bijou” by Wakefield Poole which dares porn in such a baroque vision totally impressed me. Last but not least, the soundtrack contains Igor Stravinsky. How odd. How unexpected. How daring. I’m not trying to say that it was better before, but we all know that society evolves in trends, where everything’s that fresh and new will end up standardized. And for now, I feel like porn sorely lacks of a sense of unexpected and creativity.
We have to break this boredom and propose some alternative porn. It does not have to be new, but it has to push on the present margins. That what Noel does. He’s absolutely not afraid of being on the edge of art house drama, precious romance and explicit porn. And still, he does not belong to any of those categories… His films are the synthesis of them.
Still from Call me a Ghost
You can follow Pierre on Tumblr, Instagram and Facebook!
Photo by Manuel Moncayo
He’s recently answered an interview about his life and our work together, and I thought you’d like to check it out. Good reading!
Hi, Valentin 🙂 Who are you and what do you do?
I am Valentin from Germany. 27 years old, dancer and performer. I mainly work for theaters and dance companies. At the moment I work for a dance ensemble called Company Thor in Brussels. Besides that, I am also an actor in erotic movies . It’s been 2 years and 5 movies.
How did you start in the erotic world, and what were your impressions on it back then?
Out of curiosity I guess. I didn’t really plan on it, it happened almost by accident. It all started when I met a guy from Pornceptual, the art/porn collective from Berlin. We got to talk a bit and when he found out that I am a dancer, he asked me if I would be interested to collaborate with Pornceptual sometime. Curiously I said yes – I hardly knew about their work at this point – and a few weeks later he invited me to see their studio and told me about his idea of making an erotic movie. At first I had concerns, I didn’t know if I would be comfortable. I guess I expected my first acting to be something more artsy and less explicit. But then I just thought ‘Why not?! Give it a try!’, and agreed.
I remember being very nervous and doubtful about what was about to happen when I was on my way to the shooting. But then, the more time I spent in front of the camera, the more comfortable and confident I felt, and eventually I was able to let go completely and focus on the scene.
Later on, the film got picked by the Berlin Porn Festival curatorship, and I went to one of the screenings to watch it for the first time. That was quite an experience. It’s rather bizarre to watch yourself masturbate and orgasm on a big cinema screen, together with a big audience full of strangers. I have never seen myself having an orgasm before, and it was a little bit of a shock, but I also remember being very proud of the movie and of myself for doing it.
Since I first worked with Valentin Braun in Thank you…, I’ve been wanting to tell you more about him. He is a German actor, dancer and performer whose talent and expressivity really leave a marks in his works. He is the star in our upcoming release Call Me a Ghost (you can watch it here), and we’re currently working on our third film together (I won’t tell you much but I’ll tell you this: a threesome is coming!), which means you’ll be seeing his face frequently around here. And this makes all of us very happy, yes sir. Valentín is perceptive, passionate about art and history, a delight to work with and to talk to. We share a lot of thoughts about art, cinema, life, porn, which just makes our collaborations more and more interesting.
How did doing porn affect your daily life? Do people recognize you on the street now?
First of all I want to say how happy I am that I found porn, or that porn found me, because it really helped me to become a better and stronger person.
I used to struggle with a lot of anxieties, which stem from my early teenage years when I struggled with my body and sexuality, and with being social. My years of being “in the closet” were horrible. I used to be terribly scared of how the rest of the world would see me. I was very reserved and insecure, living in a bubble of fear. To express myself and my sexuality seemed just impossible for me. Getting involved in porn definitely helped me to get to where I am today. It has been a long journey and things are much better now.
I’m aware that doing porn is the opposite of being in the closet, and to me this means freedom and empowerment. It has helped me to discover and understand myself much better, it put me very much in touch with my sexuality, I overcame inhibitions and in general it gave me a lot of confidence.
And no, people don’t recognize me on the street (or at least they do not approach me if they do). I am not a porn star, after all I have only done 5 movies with small alternative porn studios so far. The only thing that has noticeably changed for me is my Facebook: I suddenly started to receive a lot of friend requests and messages. There has been everything from fan art, dick pics, invitations to dates, compliments and video calls from masturbating strangers from every continent. It’s been fun.
Still photo from “thank you…”
You’re already a familiar name in Noel’s films and you’re the protagonist in his next release. In your opinion, what is interesting about Noel’s work?
This was my third time working with Noel and we also got to hang out outside of work as we are both based in Brussels. I am very happy to have him as a friend, he is super fun and I admire his courage and passion for his work.
I find that porn nowadays isolates horniness too much from all the other emotions. It shows sex for the sake of showing sex and most likely there is no other emotion displayed. Noel’s approach is exactly the opposite: In real life, sex comes from somewhere. There has to be a build up, since sex is a result of multiple events. There must be a context. Also, having sex makes you go somewhere, it brings you closer to or further away from your partner. Sex will always affect your relationship with your partner. I don’t think that you can have a sexual interaction with somebody and then walk away from it without it having changed the way you relate to this person. This is the context that Noel is interested in. He wants to show the journey that leads up to people sharing sexual intimacy, and how it continues after that.
You just came from shooting a new explicit film with Noel Alejandro. How was the experience? Can you tell us a bit about the film, and your favourite parts of it?
It was fun day, but quite exhausting. The shooting was in mid December, and the days in Belgium are quite short then, so we had to be very time-efficient in order to finish before sundown. The film is about a guy who needs to find himself a new room to rent, and goes to check a potential place in a flat share with two other guys. It talks about the blurred line between being flatmates, friends and lovers, which is something I can relate to, as I tend to mix up all three…
I think my favorite part about the shooting was that there was a cat in the set. I love cats, and this one was quite curious and loved to walk around. During the sex scenes we put him away into a separate room, but during all the other scenes he was free to run around while we were shooting, and he did, so we got to improvise with him. I hope his scenes make it into the movie as well.
What do you think about mainstream porn?
I grew up consuming gay mainstream porn from my 14 years on and I still consume it today. In a way it helped shaping me into the gay man I am today. I never got the sex talk from my parents and during sexual education at school we would only learn about heterosexual stuff. I was the only gay in the village and was completely left alone with growing up gay, so I don’t know where I would be today -or rather who I would be today- if I hadn’t had access to gay porn. It is hard to say if or not I would have been a better person, had I grown up without consuming porn.
Before my first movie I knew very little about the porn business. My only knowledge of it came from my daily jerk offs to free porn videos. It was after my first shoot that I started to actually think about it, and gathering information about porn became my hobby, but still I don’t know enough about the universe of pornography to give a clear or final statement here. This is such a complex topic. However, there is one thing that I can say: I believe that porn is very often misunderstood as something inferior, dark and perverted. There are a lot of groups, movements and institutions worldwide denouncing pornography, without knowing what porn really is. In my understanding, porn is an art form which intends to celebrate the human sexuality and document it for others to share, inform and of course pass on the joy and pleasure. Porn, and sexuality in general, can be just as loving, constructive and enlightening as it can be dark, scary and destructive, yet all we ever seem to be talking about is the negative side of it.
Picture by Manuel Moncayo
So what is good about porn?
This might sound sad and pathetic, but when I grew up, porn was there for me when nobody else was. It helped me to understand that I am neither alone in this world nor perverted and very much normal. It also helped me to discover my sexuality and made me curious enough to eventually reach out to the real world. I know that’s just my personal story, but that’s exactly why it’s important to me.
Porn is an art form that focuses on the human sexuality. It reflects our approach to sexuality by turning our sexual realities and fantasies into visual works for everybody to see and share. In theory, porn is as diverse and inventive as our imagination is, although in actuality the diversity of porn is limited by the market, the rules of supply and demand apply here. Besides its obvious purpose of sexual arousal, porn has the power to teach and educate us about sex. The world of porn will show you how diverse human sexuality is and will help you to figure your own sexuality out. Of course you will encounter a lot of things that are not going to be your cup of tea, but that will also teach you something about yourself, and as long as nobody gets hurt against his will (I had to phrase it like this because of all the S&M porn), we all should just live and let live.
Erotica remind us of the fact that we are sexual beings. Today’s world still declares sex as a sin and is still ignorant and repressive towards sexual needs. Talking about the most natural and for the survival of our species indispensable thing is something that still offends people. In my opinion, the concept behind porn can be seen as one of the antidotes to this hostile mentality.
Does your family know about your movies?
Yes, my family knows, or at least my close family does, and so do all of my friends. My mum even met Noel when she came to visit me in Brussels last year. I think it was more awkward for Noel than for my mum.
When I started to prepare for my second movie, I made the decision that I will not try hide my ‘little side job’, as my mum calls it. I didn’t want to be in the closet all over again so I told everybody about it, which turned out to be no big deal.
What do you think about the blend art + pornography? Are there special cares to take into consideration?
This genre has existed since thousands of years – just think of the prehistoric cave paintings, ancient Greek mosaics or the Renaissance painters – but I think the new media give us a whole new perspective on it and offer new possibilities for us to explore, which is very exciting. Think about all that virtual reality technology that has just come out recently for example.
Generally I think it is very important in the arts to blur the line and work interdisciplinary. I would say that if you want to blend art with pornography, then your two main concerns should be: make good art AND make good porn. Other than that, just express yourself, freely and uninhibited.
What would you say it’s missing in contemporary erotica?
I am not sure if there is anything. Actually, I think there are already a lot of exciting things happening today, it’s just not that easy to find them. It’s a bit like finding new music that’s not on the charts. There are lots out there, you just have to know where to search.
Still from Call Me a Ghost
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Call Me a Ghost was made to tell us that sometimes feeling blue is fine – even in the porn world
Somewhere in the city someone wakes up with the chest as heavy as a sad white whale. His room is orbiting a thousand leagues from Earth, his eyelids weigh a thousand tears. From everything he owns, nothing is in place. He is sad. And that’s alright.
Sadness wasn’t my first emotion choice when writing Call Me a Ghost. The original inspiration was about doing a good explicit film about the supernatural, something with ghosts and a good dose of mystery. But the more I thought about the plot, and the more I explored the details, the more I saw this sad atmosphere surrounding my character. At first I thought it was presumptuous (or even just wrong) and started to hysterically shake my hand over my character’s head trying to dissipate the dark clouds. But they just wouldn’t go away. And then I understood.
My character is sad because I am sad. Because we’re all feeling a bit lonely and insecure. It’s not that his life is pointless and everything sucks, it doesn’t have to be so desperate. It’s just that sometimes life can be hard, and we strive to push through and keep moving and cling to what we can in order to get up. In my character’s life, the climbing hook happened to be a ghost. A ghost! Like Casper, but for gay adults.
You see, connecting with a ghost is a lot easier as, unlike humans, ghosts don’t wear armours. Their soul is right there, asking to be touched. They’re not hidden inside themselves (or their houses, their job titles, their favorite songs at the nightclub). In a very delicate dialogue in the film, the ghost patiently explains that he doesn’t need a job, or money, or acceptance – so he doesn’t have to feel bad about any of that. Human life asks a lot. Human life offers a lot of gears for us to dig holes inside ourselves.
Life is tragedy. Speaking of it openly isn’t just a way of breaking with the illusory rules that oblige us to be happy and forget all that’s bad, but it is also a liberation from the laziness of not dealing with it. To talk about depressive feelings in an erotic film is an attempt to stop trying to eliminate sadness from our lives. Experimenting sad emotions, talking about them, or portraying them are a part of our constant struggle to overcome it – even in this happens in an adult explicit film.
A fuck with sweat and tears
Often, when trying to give adult films a more serious approach, directors tend to take negative paths. Feelings like sadness or depression are constantly linked to heavy conflicts like drugs, crime or social rejection. Even the most sex positive porn directors have a position of “sex has to be happy by all means”. I believe merging blue feelings and sex can be extraordinarily liberating, just as much as it is liberating in our most human, individual level.
Call Me a Ghost is a short film about sex in a dramatic and introspective context, a vindication of feelings in the peculiarity of the pornographic genre. It is a personal bet, trying to converge both things. It is also the result of a personal year of adaptation in a new city, Brussels, where feelings of loneliness and sadness are quite frequent.
Good news from Berlin! Call Me a Ghost, my newest film to be released on Friday, Feb 17th, was premiered last Saturday on an exclusive private screening at the Soho House Berlin.
Call Me a Ghost was selected to be a part of a special night celebrating sex positive cinema. I couldn’t go, but Pierre and Valentin (starring in the film) were there for the presentations. What an honor to know that the screening was a hit!
Also in the program was a very interesting documentary about the collective Pornceptual, as well as two other short films by sex positive directors Jan Soldat and Yann Gonzalez. It’s amazing and gratifying to witness the rise of new perspectives for the production (and the consumption!) of erotic adult cinema.
Thank you @Pornceptual and @SohoHouseBerlin for the invitation!
Call Me a Ghost is already available for pre-order 🙂
