Straight Videographers Shooting Gay Porn

[drakerock]

My primary videographer, John, is straight. How that came to be is a long story that I'll skip for brevity. Since opening the site many of my gay members have written saying that I need to fire John and hire a gay videographer.

Granted, the first time I told John that I needed butt hole footage, when he turned in the video there was literally only 2.5 seconds of the butt hole.

Now he usually announces on cam "this is my least favorite part" when setting up the shot, but he's come a long way.

For my first action video I deliberately hired a gay cam guy to second. I will preface this by saying that I fully realize there are different styles, levels of experience, and techinical/professional abilities when it comes to videographers.

The most overwhelming observation when viewing the footage from my first action video is that John was right in there, getting the action. More often than not with the footage from the gay cam guy, the camera drifted away from the action to a hip or elsewhere, then suddenly jerked back to the action. The only thing I can think of is that he started watching the real action instead of what was happening on the LCD. John, my straight cam guy, doesn't get distracted.

Any other producers ever use a straight cameraman to shoot gay porn (I've heard that there have been a couple with the big studios)? Do you notice that your gay cameramen occasionally get distracted?

Just out of curiosity, have any of you ever hired a female to shoot gay porn (I've heard of two in the industry)?

[basschick]

it seems to me that you could continue to use john effectively in one of two ways - don't let him speak on camera at all, or give him things he's not allowed to say, including "this is my least favorite part". there's no real reason your members should have any awareness of the camera man at all.

second, format the site around the concept of a straight guy camera man, a sort of twist on gay for pay.

but the first is simplest and would mean no changes, which is always easier.

btw, i know of a couple women who shoot gay porn and there's a famous female gay porn director - karen something, i think.

[marcjacob]

btw, i know of a couple women who shoot gay porn and there's a famous female gay porn director - karen something, i think.

Are they straight though? If not, maybe they get good results because their into men so know whats hot.

[dzinerbear]

I can certainly see the problem of shooting your own content. If I were shooting Butch Dixon content, the camera would probably end up on the floor. Kidding really, I think I'm professional enough to handle that, but I imagine it still could get distracting.

I agree with basschick though, I don't think your cameraman should be saying anything negative on film. The cameraman in Treasure Island videos is always telling the guys what to do and it gets kind of irritating. I don't really care for it. And I think those comments or directions should be edited out unless you're really going for a specific POV niche kind of thing.

Michael

[gaybucks_chip]

Ryan, my former business partner, was always distracted, and his video work showed it. Which is why he mostly did stills.

Our primary videographer is in his early 20s and gay, and likes twinks, but he manages to stay totally professional, both in the way he interacts with the models and the quality of what he shoots. He is very focused on the technical aspect of the content, framing the shot, thinking about the movement, pans, etc.

We have some new editors who are straight but seem very comfortable with gay content... but it will be interesting to see how they work when they start shooting content.

I do think that a gay videographer probably has an advantage of knowing at least what appeals to him, but what appeals to one person isn't necessarily appealing to the next, so it's hard to say if a gay videographer is inherently better equipped to do the job. I should be able to answer that question better in a few months once we've worked more with these guys.

[tombarr]

second, format the site around the concept of a straight guy camera man, a sort of twist on gay for pay.



That's IS a really good idea!

[tombarr]

...... If I were shooting Butch Dixon content, the camera would probably end up on the floor.


LOL! Would we also be seeing a few cameo performances by the cameraman as well? But then, maybe not, with the camera on the floor and all..

[AnthonyDeAngelo]

Any other producers ever use a straight cameraman to shoot gay porn (I've heard that there have been a couple with the big studios)? Do you notice that your gay cameramen occasionally get distracted?

The vast majority of our films have been shot by an extremely talented "straight" man - his work is superb and he's on target at all times - he never lets the camera run needlessly and always jokes that "all of my footage is usable" - his photography is unparalleled as well

He IS a professional in a business where the term is loosely tossed around.

I personally think on-camera remarks should be limited to brief notes to the editor - our guy does make "straight" jokes from time to time and they're always off camera

By comparison, our "gay" videographers are also professionals but tend to want to "direct" as well - I find this to be a distraction for our performers... we're the cooks in our bareback kitchen...

I remember being on a large number of sets with "gay" videographers which always had more talking and less focus - that was always a huge distraction for us as performers - I thought that was very "unprofessional" at times - but that's another story...

[MatthewVieques]

Both our cameramen are gay. I think it may also depend on who is on the set and in serving in what roles. With a small 1-2 person crew, I believe a gay videographer probably has an advantage esp if he/she is also helping direct and coordinate the scene. That said, I think if they are disciplined with the camera work, that is more important than if they are gay or straight. I think other attributes may perhaps be more important. If your camera person is also savvy with editing, or will in fact be editing the footage, they are probably going to be extremely focused and disciplined on capturing the angles, segments and frame that is needed up front. Good coordination between who is capturing, and who is later editing, makes life much easier and is more productive all around.

On the audio comments, i'd agree with basschick and dzinerbear, comments generally are probably not helpful, i think they will be distracting if they appear on the final edit--and negative ones perhaps seriously so.... unless you are going for some really different kind of POV approach with crew intereacting with the performers by design. My 2 cents.

[gaybucks_chip]

A skilled editor can nearly always replace the audio comments made by a crew member (or even a model) with a little bit of work. We occasionally have to give vocal stage direction during shoots, but it's never in the final edit. Ditto flash photography. It's painstaking and annoying if there are a lot of them, but they can definitely be removed (along with the sound of the camera) if the editor is willing to put in the time.

But... in both cases, it's a heckuva lot easier to not have it in there in the first place :)

[ManSitesMike]

I guess I have always thought that the basic techniques of videography wouldn't differ between a professional straight videographer or a professional gay videographer.

[AnthonyDeAngelo]

I guess I have always thought that the basic techniques of videography wouldn't differ between a professional straight videographer or a professional gay videographer.

and they really don't - its that word "professional" again and that's what makes for a good vieographer at the end of the day and as they say in the biz... our content has legs and wouldn't if we hadn't invested the money in an outstanding videographer

[basschick]

you would be right. the catch is that word "professional". a lot of people complain about their video people, but tend to work with amateurs due to either price or lack of knowing where to find someone or a bit of both.


I guess I have always thought that the basic techniques of videography wouldn't differ between a professional straight videographer or a professional gay videographer.