Both directors spoke eloquently about their craft and addressed a plethora of narrowly focused topics such as lighting, choosing the right camera, editing, DVD authoring, selecting locations, piracy and digital rights management.
Addressing the crowd first, Digital Playground co-founder and director Joone primarily spoke about his latest two releases, “Pirates” and “Island Fever 4,” which played on the theater’s large projection screen. Digital Playground has been shooting, mastering and editing in high definition for four years and has the largest library of titles shot in hi-definition in the adult industry.
“We began shooting in HD so we could transfer our library over to the new formats,” Joone said. “You get a better image, color, contrast, ratios and sharpness from shooting in HD and that’s what we wanted. This makes HD an unforgiving medium. You have to tweak colors and skin tones in post. You have to pay more attention to makeup and wardrobe. You just can’t pick up a camera and shoot.”
Joone said he prefers to shoot in natural light as often as possible, saying his philosophy is that “the world is lit with one light.” He used sunrise and sunset to maximum effect while filming “Island Fever 4,” which was shot entirely on the tropically lush island of Bora Bora. Joone used a Vericam to shoot the footage in natural light along with a reflector to get the brightness just to his liking. He also addressed the importance of scouting locations, especially in outdoor settings.
In total, “Island Fever 4” took nine days to shoot and spent two months in post-production before it was released. “Pirates” took 17 days to shoot and needed five months in post because of the ambitious nature of the project, including adding a multitude of CGI special effects.
“‘Pirates’ was a big challenge because we had to blend the elements of live action with CGI and with some scenes that were shot using actors in front of a green screen,” Joone said. “Not many porn actors are used to shooting this way.
“We used test filters in low light situations in ‘Pirates,’ so what you see on the monitor isn’t necessarily what you get, especially when it’s dark. From camera to camera, these low light situations depend on the device’s compression, so make sure when you shoot, the image is exactly the way you want it to look.”
Joone explained that his whole philosophy in creating Digital Playground was to create an entertainment company, not a porn company, which allows for a different approach. His goal with each movie is to create something that’s worthy of people paying for it. With so much free content on the Internet, you want to create product that stands out with high production values, he said.
Legendary filmmaker Andrew Blake is one of the few adult directors that shoots entirely on film. Blake has his roots in the underground film scene in New York during the 60s and 70s.
Blake uses a Super 16 millimeter Bolex camera, which has to be wound up before filming. Blake’s releases through his Studio A Entertainment production house combine visually arresting aesthetics with a sensual erotic touch. All his films since 1999 have been mastered in hi-def.
“Film is a magical medium,” Blake said. “Film is not going away, but video will overpower it. Each one of my films starts with a vision; then I need to be inspired by the model.” Blake said he prefers shooting tall, leggy brunettes with natural breasts, joking that the “only special effects you see in my movies are natural breasts and real pubic hair.”
Blake’s stance on lighting is, “if you need more light, move closer to the window,” he said. Blake said he shoots all his films with no filter on the camera, adding all effects in post-production.
While Blake spoke, a large projection monitor played his film “Valentina” starring Valentina Vaughn. Blake took attendees through his creative process in making the film, explaining the lighting, camera positioning and his desire to use his models as a means to play to men’s fantasies.
However, Blake’s most poignant comments came in response to a question posed regarding piracy. As a result of widespread international DVD pirates, Blake changed his entire distribution model to the Internet. Studio A Entertainment is no longer releasing DVDs, but is now distributing Blake’s films, wrapped in DRM, through Internet pay-per-view on AndrewBlakeHD.com.
“I switched everything to the Internet because I was tired of being ripped off,” Blake said. “The future is on the Internet, and that’s where I want to be. I never wanted to create something that relies on the conventions of porn. I want it to be art and withstand the test of time.”
