When you watch a music video from a top shelf act, nothing is an accident. Nothing. Every little product placement, fetish item, gesture, look etc. is planned and usually has a reason for being there. “Sex sells” is a truism, but that’s not the full story. There’s some off-the-wall, even kinky stuff that just stands out. It’s meant to shock. Lady Gaga videos (and her appearances) might be some of the more obvious examples. Think the fact she is wearing pantyhose (really, all kinds of hosiery) in nearly every appearance is an accident (think ‘Love Game‘) ? No. She (and/ or her producers/PR team) understand the power of fetish.

Pay close attention and you notice some subtle audio ‘easter eggs’. People love easter eggs. And if you do ‘em right they will help you sell better. Remember: your viewer’s subconscious is always on. You have to sell to it, too.

People LOVE pop culture references. This video has tons of them. Do you ever do that?

Notice how her branded earphones make an appearance? How about the ‘Beats Br Dr Dre‘ logo? How about the Virgin Mobile logo? Wonderbread? The product placement in this video is not very subtle, but it can work. Even if you don’t do product placement, there are lots and lots of other aspects you should study. Lady Gaga/Beyonce’s Telephone video isn’t the only video that incorporates symbolism, fetish visuals, product placement, etc of course. It’s just recent example with some obvious stuff happening. So even if you’re not very good at spotting these things yet, this video will be a wonderful training guide for you.

If you are shooting porn you may think this doesn’t apply to you. What does a top act’s music video have to do with your work, right? No, it’s much deeper than that. For right now, forget about anything but ‘getting into the consumer’s head”. Think subtle, even subconscious symbolism. Think about the way you shoot/edit and the way they shoot/edit. Think about how fetish items (in Lady Gaga’s case, pantyhose, piercings, latex etc) are introduced in an almost teasing manner. It certainly draws attention. Think about those barely audible audio easter eggs. Some naughty stuff is going on there. If your conscious mind doesn’t hear it, your sub-conscious mind does.

Think about…well, you get the point. Now think about  your trailers.

How can you make your trailers be more appealing? Stand out? Be remarkable? Entice without giving everything away? I’m not saying every one of your movies or trailers needs to be a overly complicated piece of avantgarde video art. Far from it. Even if the source material isn’t totally off the wall, your editing can make a huge difference. You can take vanilla material and make it sizzle. You can make people click through to the join page after seeing your trailer, and they don’t even know why. Your viewers should have images from your movie/trailer in their head when they’ve already moved on from your site. Which might make them come back. Believe it, I’m doing this every day. It is possible.

Watch Lady Gaga and Beyonce’s Telephone video for some inspiration.

Here are 6 things about porn that are kind of gay when you think about it. As Seinfeld would say “(gay)…not that there’s anything wrong with it…”. Of course there’s nothing wrong with being gay. But if you shoot porn for straight consumers you should watch out for some stuff – like the following six ‘gay’ things. If you don’t think of them as gay, you’ll probably agree that they could be considered ‘gross’ or at least ‘not visually appealing to most male consumers’. Just because your competitors can’t be bothered to watch out for this doesn’t mean you should be like that too. Personally I’m always amazed how this doesn’t seem to bother a lot of shooters/editors. They figure, ‘well, it sells anyways’ so that’s good enough then apparently. No, it’s not. Not anymore. Oh you’re just doing your job? Your boss didn’t tell you specifically about this and you just want this to be done with? Well, that’s a valid excuse then. For those who wish to grow, and strive in this market, let’s ponder some things:

Six gay/gross/unappealing things:

1) More naked guys than girls. Gangbangs are the worst. One tiny porn girl and five huge sweaty fat guys covering her up for the entire scene. Yuck!

2) Guy jerking off for an hour standing over/next to the female talent before he can jizz over her face. Editors, please start noticing this stuff. Consumers do not like it.

3) POV-guy behind the camera somehow manages to include the phrase “my COCK!” every ten seconds.

4) Double Penetration scenes (DP) with one dick constantly brushing up on the other guy. Ewwww! I know, hard to avoid but please fucking TRY.

5) Cutting away from the girl and doing a closeup of guy’s face when he “orgams” (usually a pick-up shot). Instant boner loss.

6) Not really gay, but excessively long “man blanket” shots. (Man blanket = male talent covering up girl with his body)

Am I being petty? I don’t think so. My most successful content is that where I (or my content producing client) is careful about not having ‘too much man’ in the picture. Some of the best selling content doesn’t even show the male talent’s face or most of his body much at all. Might not always work for you depending on your style but try it.

Quick side note, I’m certainly aware that there are  shooters who incorporate this type of stuff on purpose to appeal to the hidden homo-erotic fantasies of  straight consumers.But if you aren’t doing this on purpose, and you are supposed to be shooting/editing with as little “dude stuff” in front of the lens as possible, then take those points above to heart and try some different angles and approaches. Yes, it might mean you’ll actually have to start thinking about shit on set again but hey, wouldn’t making more appealing content be worth it?

And yes, I’m writing this somewhat tongue in cheek. Having been a shooter and editor myself I understand that sometimes you just don’t have the time or attention to notice  these things. Or you get just a little too comfortable, especially if you’ve been shooting/editing for a while. After all, the “other guys” are doing it that way too, right? Or maybe you want your male talent to be as comfortable as possible so you let them run the show. And who knows, maybe there’s actually a big percentage of straight consumers who like watching that type of stuff, right? Well, don’t bank on it. Consumers have become more vocal over the past few years. Read their comments on review sites, or (gasp!!) tube sites and you’ll notice trends. More and more of your potential customers are basically telling you what they don’t like. This type of  insight into consumer preferences is unprecedented and something we couldn’t have dreamed of just a few years ago. You just have to pay attention now. If you want every edge possible then start seeing those trends and do your research – or be left behind.

Time for an adult industry related observation. It’s something most of us don’t really think about but should. As I’m helping clients get their adult business to the next level I’m looking at lots and lots of adult video and photo content. And while the types and quality of videos and photos range from glamor to ultra hard amateur porn one thing I see over and over again is something that, if you really think about it, doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Naked men. Tons of them.

Are you running a gay site? If so, disregard the following. If not, read on.

Still with me? Good…

What I’m saying here might piss a lot of you male talent and shooters off. How dare I take the fun away for you? Well…screw you. It’s a business and the girl is who matters. Not you. Not your comfort.

Now, you’re selling the girl. The girl might be you or it might be your contract performer, or it might be one of many girls you shoot for a multi girl site. The point is you are selling a naked girl and not naked men.

Why do men feel they have to be naked in porn? One thing I have to stress over and over again is that the man’s pleasure is of noone’s concern when producing content. In other words: I don’t give a shit if you don’t feel totally comfortable if it means I get better content. I need the girl to be naked, not you.

If you are acting in your own movies you should feel the same way.

I’ve seen a lot of content where the male talent’s skin tone was so different from the female performer that the latter simply looked horrible. He was tan, she looked like a ghost next to him. Not good. I can expose my cameras for one person’s skin tone but not both so one of them is going to look “off”. This can be avoided if I have the male talent keeps his damn shirt on.

The problem is amplified in gangbang scenes – you have one girl and two, three, four….fifty naked guys. Too much flesh, folks.Too much skin, and not of the good kind. The girl visually drowns in a see ofmale back hair and flabby muscle. Not. Good. For. Sales.

Look at the picture here. Now, I’m not picking on Phoenixxx Blaque here in any way, this picture just came up as number one in Google’s image section for the keyword “gangbang”.

Frankly, there is too much man going on here. Phoenixxx is hot and a fantastic performer. Why ruin photos and videos with a bunch of naked guys? They blend in and Phoenixxx doesn’t stand out. All the consumer sees is small dicks and a bunch of naked guys.

If you’re selling a product (the female perfomer is always – ALWAYS – the star, the product) then don’t ruin it with shots like that.

When I ask some male clients who star in their own videos why they feel they have to be naked in every damn video they shoot their answer usually is something along the lines of “that’s how I always have sex, I like it that way”.

Ask yourself, if you had a mainstream office job, would you show up in flip flops, four hours late, and drunk because…you like it that way? Not if you want to keep your job.

Same thing here. Remember that running an adult site is like any other business – your personal comfort is secondary to what the member/customer wants. And last time I checked most straight male customers don’t particularly care to see a bunch of naked men covering up their female object of desire.