The Starlet

[rm]

I have, for obvious reasons, been avoiding this program. I dislike most reality TV for a number of reasons, and something called this, about girls and acting could only push bad buttons as well.

Flipping channel jsut now I stumbled on it, where the following has transpired:

1. Girls go to an acting class to work on love scenes and how to seduce someone on camera
2. Girls are given a challenge wherein they have to seduce a teddybear (a funny and difficult exercise)
3. Girls then have to do a scene with a guy.
4. Girls then find out that their elimination challenge this week involves a screentest of a lovescene with a another woman. This challenge in announced as more difficult than seducing a teddybear (are you kidding me? i prefer my scene partners sentient) and they are reminded over and over that all sorts of famous successful actressed have had to kiss other women on screen. (really, is Angelina Jolie an example that's going to make uptight straight girls feel better?)

This is all tremendously annoying.

Because romantic and sexy scenes are really hard, period. And honestly, this may be my own pricklyness with the human species but gender has nothing to do with it. It's just difficult, difficult stuff, that's invasive, potentially embarassing etc. No actor likes these things, and no actor likes these things especially when they've been set up especially to cause irritation and stress.

Ugh ugh ugh. *flails about*

[Poll #452404]

Comments

[ladypeculiar.livejournal.com]

If I could throw something out there . . .

Often, yeah, it's not really sexy. And while I've never made out with Nicole Kidman, I've certainly had some hot hot love scenes with people I'm attracted to onscreen. But the thing about shooting film is that it's really, really BORING. The way most love scenes work are, "Kiss, turn head 3 degrees to the right, adjust light, wait for three hours while they reload film, okay go and KISS, hold on the light broke, wait another 4 days until we come back to the scene." The technical details are always much more important during lovemaking scenes because of the delicacy of how light and shadow in that moment. Digital film is changing this somewhat, not necessarily for the better, but often times you don't even get to film an entire kissy moment in one day.

On the other hand, of course there are intimacies you can share on a set, it's just not always during the bits when you're naked and writhing on another person, because you're probably worried about how your butt looks under that lamp, etc. And chances are it's probably really, really cold, so that your skin will appear tingly onscreen.

I suppose if there's a point, is that with film, the lovemaking and kissing itself is often far too technical to be hot, so what becomes erotic are the emotional scenes, where you usually get more time to actually be "in love" or "attracted" or what-have-you, with your scene partner.

In theater, where you're less likely to have actual lovemaking scenes, things have a tendancy to get much more intense, because you have the luxury of working through an entire emotional moment with someone. When you kiss another actor it comes at the climax of an emotional moment, and not after the tech guys are done fiddling with the lights.

On the other hand, if you're just not into your scene partner than yes, it's just about the work.

Maybe that answered a question . . . thanks for indulging me.

[wurmwyd.livejournal.com]

Hi There!

Okay, yes. That's pretty much exactly what I was looking for. I guess I thought that actors pretty much filmed the whole sex scene, under direction, and then just had multiple takes until they got it right. I didn't realize that it was so broken down into ... "fragments".

I mean I realize that anything would be less intimate with an entire film crew looking on, but I've kissed girls that would have no less passionate if the entire NYSE trading floor had been watching us and taking notes.

But then, I'm no actor. :D

[rm.livejournal.com]

Also, what feels good and what looks good are waaaay two different things most of the time.

[ladypeculiar.livejournal.com]

Heheheh . . . though the funniest applications of that sentence almost always involve petroluem and/or fake blood (did I tell you about the time I was on 12-hour per day shoots covered in a mixture of coffee, food coloring, and Karo Syrup? It looks fantastic, but ew. Way ew.)

[rm.livejournal.com]

Was this the chainsaw yuppies with real, actual crack?