#I have directed scenes with simulated nudity

[icannotreadcursive]

I'm not doing this in a reblog because it's not worth starting a fight, but I just saw a post that was saying that if your characters are under 18, they should never be naked on screen, no matter how old the actors playing them are.

And it went on for a bit about unreasonable and exploitative on-screen nudity is, and that there's no good reason to ever have young characters naked.

And it never outright said that all nudity is inherently sexual, but it was so obviously coming from a place of seeing all nudity as inherently sexual, to an extent that I find mindboggling and frankly sad.

One of my all time favorite movies is My Neighbor Totoro--which is animated, so there's no actors on screen, but our main characters are little girls. The younger sister is about 3, and the older sister is only a few years older. There's a very sweet scene of the two of them (and their father) taking a bath and laughing loudly to scare of spirits. This is a cultural in which communal bathing is normal. Nothing at all untoward about it, it's a family bonding moment, and of course they're naked, they're taking a bath.

Pan's Labyrinth also has a couple bath scenes--del Toro has a bit of a thing for using baths as places of sanctuary and introspection in his films. Our protagonist Ofelia is 10, the actress who plays her was 11 during filming. And guess what, she was never naked on set. I have seen the costume department notes for that film with my own eyes, she was wearing a skintone bathing suit and I promise you there was somebody standing by with a robe to bundle her up in as soon as cut was called; del Toro has a rep for being very conscientious about making sure his actors are comfortable on set. Point is thought, character nudity =/= actor nudity, not necessarily.

In fact, because of the laws and regulations around working with under-age actors, a lot of the time you can't have the actor nude. If it's a case of Dawson casting with a 30 year old playing a 17 year old? That 30 year old can make their own decisions about their willingness to do the scene and the character isn't real, the character is fine.

And if you're watching a scene like that and are really that fixated on the young characters' nudity, I think there's something wrong with you, not with the movie.

Are there issues with the ways in which actors--especially young women actors--are often pressured into on screen nudity? Yes. Absolutely. And it's worth it to step back and think about what role nudity is serving in a film or TV show--and, if you're on the creative end, to consider ahead of time if you need to put your cast in that vulnerable position and how you're going to protect their comfort and dignity if the answer is yes.

But nudity is not inherently sexual. On-screen nudity does not inherently require on-set nudity. On-set nudity (and partial nudity) can be done in ways that are respectful and comfortable for the actor. Children have bodies and sometimes those bodies don't have clothes; this is an entirely nuetral fact of life and there is absolutely nothing wrong with film and television reflecting that reality.

This is not the most coherent or in-depth write up I could do on this subject, but I just needed to spit these thoughts somewhere.

Somethingsomething Americans don't see their grandma's tits and it makes them weird.

[blackandwhlteaesthetlc]

Olivia Wilde’s off-the-rails press tour for “Don’t Worry Darling” started with the “Booksmart” helmer praising the film for being a beacon of female pleasure (spoiler: lead star Florence Pugh’s character is repeatedly raped in retrospect and cannot consent since she is chained to a bed and held captive unconscious). In a splashy pre-release cover story, Wilde made what seemed to be a sex-positive statement to Variety: “Men don’t come in this film. … Only women here!”

A source revealed to IndieWire that the highly controversial set was without an intimacy coordinator at the request of director Wilde, all while off-set she emphasized just how sexy and Adrian Lyne-y the sex scenes between Pugh and Styles were on her year-long press tour. “Why isn’t there any good sex in film anymore?” Wilde infamously asked, promising that “Don’t Worry Darling” would rectify that.

“I think the idea that just because you have a female lead character, that instantly makes the film feminist, is a bit naïve. bell hooks said it best. She said, ‘Patriarchy has no gender,'” Menkes said. “As women, we have internalized a lot of these concepts on a very, very deep level to the point that they’re just reproduced. When women directors reproduce these tropes, you wonder how much is just automatic. I ask the same question of women that I ask of men: How do you think that reproducing the same shit is supposed to be revolutionary or commenting on it? Because we have had 120 years of the male gaze on our backs, because we have had 96 percent of films directed by men that objectify women all throughout history. It’s so ingrained, it’s so deep.”

While Menkes credited Wilde for employing a feminist shot design and use of visual language, especially when filming lead star Pugh’s nudity, Menkes noted that on a script level, “Don’t Worry Darling” is decidedly anti-feminist. Why?

Well, mainly because none of that hot sex Wilde boasted about is consensual. Spoiler alert: The ending of “Don’t Worry Darling” is that Pugh’s character is actually being held hostage by her abusive incel partner (Styles) and literally chained to a bed as they live out their “ideal” lives in a virtual reality simulation called Victory. Pugh eventually escapes, but there is no redemption. It’s a rape fantasy without the rape-revenge.

The plot of “Don’t Worry Darling” is hardly feminist when examined more closely, but behind-the-scenes issues are troubling as well: A source told IndieWire that more than half of the production assistants were not included in the film’s credits, despite being listed on IMDb. The production assistants left out, including COVID compliance officers, are all women. (IndieWire has reached out to representatives for the “Don’t Worry Darling” production for comment.)

🗣🗣🗣

[awesomefringey]

I think people have read too many fanfics where one actor falls in love with another. I think every third actor has done sex scenes. And oh wow, they still have real partners and kids. Like, you know, family and stuff 🥴

Hey nonnie, totally agreed. I guess if people believe Harry and David were oozing chemistry then kudos to their acting. But yes, there are very many young folks around who have never worked at a job and been in a committed relationship at the same time, so they just jump to conclusions.

At the end, actors are professionals who are doing a job, and the actual act of simulating sex is so choreographed, at times uncomfortable, and always impersonal that it won't turn into a sexy experience.

Plus, performing on a set is anything but private. Even "closed sets" have crew members watching. And there are often specific directions actors have to take, so their focus is usually geared toward following the blocking (=when a director maps out the characters' actions in a scene before they shoot the scene) and giving their best performance rather than feeling the heat of the moment.

And for those who still think Mr. "you never invited me to touch your shoulder" would just ignore all that and just get too excited during and make everyone around him uncomfortable, then let me outline the gist of what it really is going on:

Contrary to how effortless, natural, and erotic they can seem on-screen, Hollywood sex scenes take a great deal of thoughtfulness, hard work, and preparation to create.

Here are some of the secrets behind the sex scenes you see on TV and in movies:

Nudity and simulated sex are outlined in detail in the actor's contract and discussed prior to casting. SAG-AFTRA, the entertainment-industry labor union, designates a nudity rider as a requirement in contracts for roles that require "nudity, partial nudity or simulated sex acts." It's not unusual for a nudity rider to include minute details such as exactly which body parts are visible, how much of the body part can be seen, and for how long the body part is shown.

Some directors prefer sex scenes to be choreographed in detail. For any scene, blocking is a typical first step. Directors do a walk-through with actors, discussing when and where they should move during the scene.

In some cases, intimacy coordinators are on set to help with the intimate scenes. They do research and help "choreograph the intimate content so that the actors are free to really serve character and serve storytelling." In some cases, it means mapping out where and how characters have sex in a way that fits the film or show's narrative.

Actors are usually wearing modesty patches and coverings while filming these scenes. For penises there are tube socks. Nude-colored underwear, full-body makeup, and other coverings are also used to shield certain body parts from the camera.

When simulating sex, props like pillows are placed between actors and prosthetics can be used to create the illusion of sex. Remember this is not a porn!

"Closed sets" are often provided for intimate scenes to help actors feel more comfortable and can include anything from ensuring the room is a certain temperature to requesting that non-essential crew people turn their backs during shooting.

Source

[our-kendrick]

Anna Kendrick on life, love, sex toys and COVID-19

©: Janet R. Nepales

Read here, or below.

Talk about the relationships of mothers and daughters which is sometimes more difficult than the relationship between daughters and fathers.

The relationship between Darby and her mother, we don't know a lot about it until a little later in the show. And I love it so much. It has such an impact on who Darby is, and you really see that once you get to know her mother. And we get to know her mother even more as the show goes on.

There's an episode where we really get into Darby's relationship with her mother. And I was so surprised and happy. You know, happy might be the wrong word, but I was so amazed at how many women on the set, on the crew came up to me and they were like, this is my mother, this is my relationship with my mother.

Darby has a difficult relationship with her mother so it made me sad, but I definitely felt that made me really proud of the show that we were making, and that it resonated with so many people. And it also made me call my mother and say how grateful I am for what a wonderful mom she is.

There's a scene where Darby breaks down crying, and her mother doesn't know how to comfort her. And this happened a lot throughout the show; that it brought up a lot of personal stuff for me, but not necessarily to do with the content of the show.

That was one example where I have a close relationship with my mother and she's so empathetic but just having the experience of breaking down crying and having somebody just go like, what is your problem? That's something that reminded me of relationships that I was in when I was much younger. And just how painful that experience is and how grateful I am that there are things that I don't accept any more from people.

I expect empathy from people if we're going to have a relationship. It made me grateful that my mother modeled that empathy for me. Because if you don't have an empathetic home life, it's hard for you to know that you deserve empathy. The relationship between mothers and daughters is so complicated and so fraught sometimes. This show made me grateful for the way that my mother really modeled what empathy was for me.

What are the red flags for a woman on deciding relationships?

I remember somebody telling me when I was maybe, 14 or 15, I remember them saying it was a really specific example. And yet I have thought about it in almost any relationship I've ever like entered into or if I'm on a first date or something. Somebody told me when I was 14, if you're ever in a car with a guy, and he's driving, and as a joke, he lets go the wheel and makes you grab the wheel, because he's goofing around or something like that is not a guy that you want to be with. He might think, hey, I'm just joking. Why are you being so sensitive? We're just having fun. I wouldn't have let the car crash. But really, he's testing your boundaries. He's testing like what you're gonna put up with. And he's trying to make you uncomfortable. And it was such a weird, specific example. But I feel like I've had moments in my life where I'm like, oh, this is the guy letting go of the wheel to see what I'll do.

This is silly, but I dated a guy when I was 19, who tickled me all the time. And I don't like being tickled. I feel very claustrophobic, I panic and I don't like it. And I kept saying, this is a problem for me. Please don't do it. And he kept doing it and I broke up with him.  And he thought I was being crazy because I broke up with him for tickling me.

I was like no, I broke up with you because you didn't respect me. I asked you for something and you did it to make me uncomfortable. I feel little things like that are so specific and you never know the exact situation it's going to be, but I'm really glad that somebody told me that when I was younger because it has come up a lot for me over the years.

Your show is titled “Love Life.” So let’s talk about your love life. Your first crush, best relationship you’ve had, worst breakup?

My first crush was in elementary school, and his name was Robbie. And I told him that I had a crush on him. And he told me that I was too short. So that was very heartbreaking for me. And now I really like being short. I actually love being a petite woman, that's fine with me.

My worst break-up was something that we tried to put in the show in a very, wait, that was like, a lot of stuff in the show is stuff that I mined from my own life, but it's all changed just enough so that I don't get angry phone calls from ex-boyfriends.

So, the worst breakup was something that I really wanted to put in the show. And I felt it was important to talk about the fact that I feel like most women don't make it out of their 20's without dating a guy who's a little scary. And you don't have to be in physical danger to be able to ask your friends for help. I was young and this was a short relationship, but he started to feel scary to me. And I felt like I was being dramatic. I felt like if I told my friends about it, they would say that I was overreacting. And it wasn't until later that I realized that my friends would have been happy to help me. And, luckily, that was a relationship that I got out of after only five or six months.

But in the show, for Darby, that relationship is longer. And so it was important to me to show that things can get uncomfortable and scary in relationships, and threatening. But sometimes when the good times are so good, it's really hard to leave. So yeah, a lot of the best and worst stuff of my relationship history is sort of in the show. Hopefully in a way where I have plausible deniability.

I watched your other TV show “Dummy.” Have you found a new appreciation for sex toys after having done that?

Well, I think during “Dummy,” which is about a sex doll for those who don't know, it did give me a new appreciation for people who are owners of sex dolls. Because it turns out that a sex doll is really heavy-lifting, way heavier than you think it's going to be. So, I feel like there's a level of commitment there to the people who enjoy sex dolls. No judgement here.

So, I tip my cap to those people.  And actually, the director of “Dummy,” who created all the episodes of “Dummy,” her names is Tricia Brock, She also directed the Danny Coupons episode on “Love Life.” The one episode that opens with Darby using a sex toy. So, I was like, Tricia, you just like to have me doing something gross every time we work together.

You have lots of intimate scenes with all your love interests in the show. So talk about your views on doing nudity or intimate scenes.

It's funny that you say that because when we started doing the show, it dawned on me that in every single episode, I was gonna be doing like a kissing scene or a sex scene with someone brand new. Like each episode is a different person. So, that was nerve-wracking, but my personal feelings on nudity have stayed the same, which is that I'm not really interested in nudity for me. But I've never had a problem with simulated sex scenes. To me, that feels like that's about the character whereas I only get one body so nudity just isn't for me.

I was just so totally grateful each new episode that each cast member that we had and we had so many talented guys come on the show to say nothing of the women on the show, who like blow me away so talented. But I was very grateful that every person that Darby dates on the show is like such a class act, such a good actor, such a professional. Because it was definitely weird to know we're going to meet, and then immediately start filming. And within a week, we are going to be in bed pretending to have sex. So I was just very grateful that everybody was the coolest.

Tell us where you are right now and what are you doing for your mental and physical health during this time.

I'm in my house in LA. I'm by myself. I think it comes in waves. I could say I've been exercising every day and cooking and doing everything. I don't know what the experience has been for you, but there's definitely been days where I feel really helpless. I think that's probably something we're all dealing with. Just that feeling that something really terrible is happening and I can't help. I can't do anything and it makes you feel really powerless. You're trapped in your house and I definitely have gone through different cycles of letting that get me down and then just trying to let it happen rather than say a lot of other people have it worse than you, stop feeling sorry for yourself. So, just letting the bad feelings exist and knowing that they'll pass and that we will all get through this together.

I do feel grateful for the sense of community that exists even though we can't be together. Getting on Zoom chats, or Skype, or whatever the platform is and talking to my family, talking to my friends. Twice a week I do family movie nights. So, my parents are in Maine and my brothers in New York, and we pick a movie and we all press play at the same time. We watched that Robert Redford movie “The Natural” and “Princess Bride” and movies like that. We're all texting each other during the movie, which normally would be a no, but under the circumstances is really sweet. So, we're finding creative ways to stay connected.

Love Life’s first three episodes will debut May 27 on HBO Max, and the following seven will stream the Thursdays following.

[battlestar-royco]

okay here it is, part 1 of my sci fi tv and movies rec list! i’ve split it up into 2, kind of by tone and theme. these recs are on the lighter side. part 2 is for fans of darker sci fi. i could’ve gone on tbh but i had to draw the line somewhere. it’s not perfect but i hope you find something you like that you haven’t heard of! full titles, trigger warnings, and diversity/general notes under the cut. ask box open for any more specific questions!

part 2/2

If you liked STAR TREK and STAR WARS:

Black Mirror: USS Callister: (tw: simulated child loss, brief torture) coworkers get trapped inside their boss’s Star Trek spoof video game. It’s led by a white woman but the entire cast is pretty diverse (Michaela Coel!!!) and it’s critical of white edgelords. Dark moments balanced with funny!

Firefly: (tw: sexual harassment in one episode, sex worker phobia, Joss Whedon-ness) I think this one is more well-known; a small space crew travels the solar system taking on any weird jobs they can get. Two leading WOC, a black man, one interracial relationship.

Avenue 5: (tw: some dark humor, language) Star Trek meets the Titanic. Funny! I’ll leave it at that. 3 leading WOC, a canonically pan main character in a poly and interracial relationship.

Black Mirror: Be Right Back: (tw: grief, partner loss) a woman’s SO dies and she simulates his resurrection through a software that scans his social media accounts. This one isn’t diverse but it’s an hour of Domhnall Gleeson, if he’s your thing!

Stargate: (tw: 90s/00s racism/sexism) tbh I haven’t watched most of the content but I’d say it’s on par with a Star Trek kind of thing. SGA stars two or three POC in a cast of like 7 regulars.

If you liked PACIFIC RIM:

Black Mirror: Hang the DJ: (tw: none that I can recall) a man and woman fall in love via dating app. It doesn’t have monsters, but it’s an incredibly charming episode that exhibits some of Black Mirror’s best qualities imo and I think people who like the Raleigh/Mako dynamic will like what these two have!! Interracial relationship between a black woman and a white man; black woman is blink-and-you-miss-it bi, but still canonically bi.

Cloverfield (tw: violence/blood, frequent flashes, shaky cam): found-footage flick about aliens attacking New York. Basic and not too diverse but it has the huge monster appeal and I like the found-footage aspect.

Edge of Tomorrow: (tw: VB) Groundhog Day alien apocalypse. it’s Tom Cruise buuuuut you get to see Emily Blunt at her most “I’ll end you”-est so like? Worth it I think??

Arrival: (tw: child loss) aliens come to Earth to offer something to the humans. A little slow, but definitely a different take and some cool-looking aliens.

The Host: (tw: child loss) A girl gets kidnapped by a huge river monster. it’s in Korean and all the characters are Asian. Directed by Bong Joon-ho and starring Kang-Ho Song and Bae Doona!! Plus environmentalist commentary.

If you liked MARVEL and DC:

Misfits: (tw: sex, language, violence, rape) imagine one of those superhero teams like the Avengers except they’re all criminals who’ve given up on life and don’t actually care about making the world a better place. Chaotic stupid energy. Two black leads :)

Push: (tw: a few bloody scenes) Chris Evans before Cap?? Dakota Fanning before Twilight? Secret government experiments and black ops superpower organizations? You love to see it!

Fast Color: (tw: past drug use referenced) superpowers that pass down from generation to generation in a family of black women. Need I say more? Need I say any fucking more?!?!

Sense8: (tw: child loss, grief, lots of nudity and sex, drug use, language, infidelity) 8 people around the world start experiencing each other’s lives and borrowing each other’s skill sets. This is probably THE most intersectional and diverse show I have ever seen. An international cast and setting that reaches almost every continent, leading trans lesbian, multiple QPOC. Truly incredible and one of my absolute favorites.

Jupiter Ascending: (tw: bees) I actually don’t really like this movie but I do think it has its appeal and I appreciate how much it is just unabashedly itself. Don’t take it too seriously! The cast is kinda wild too--Mila Kunis, Eddie Redmayne, Sean Bean, Channing Tatum!!! And it’s by the Wachowskis, AKA the two trans sisters who did The Matrix and Sense8!

If you liked THE HUNGER GAMES:

Gattaca: (tw: implied body modification, trichophobia, eugenics) in a society that discriminates against genes, a man with a heart condition assumes another’s identity in order to achieve his dream of becoming an astronaut. I love this movie. It’s very moody and soft with a really compelling dynamic between the two leading men which I’ve always read as gay.

Snowpiercer: (tw: VB, minor cannibalism) yet another winner from Bong Joon-ho, who’s surprised? All of humanity lives on a train in which all the cars are stratified by class. This is my favorite of all the movies from all the Chrises. Evans is by far my favorite Chris for this!!! It also features Octavia Spencer and Kang-Ho Song! Piping hot class war tea pre-Parasite.

V for Vendetta: (tw: torture, I don’t remember a lot of the details sorry!) I haven’t watched this movie in a minute so I don’t remember how much I actually liked it, but I thought it was worth mentioning because it’s a classic dystopian movie.

Children of Men: (tw: infertility, childbirth, VB) humanity has lost the ability to procreate for 2 decades until one day a resistance group discovers a pregnant woman. Holy crap so much extremely relevant and prescient commentary on immigration, race, class, and refugee crises!!!

Akira: (tw: disturbing imagery, objectification, nudity) I don’t really remember this one much either? But it’s Japanese, there’s biker gangs, and it’s super weird.

The 100: (tw: VB, kill your gays/POC trope, suicide, torture, child loss) 100 juvenile delinquents are dropped onto Earth and chaos ensues. I think most people know that this show is plagued with issues but it really does have a special place in my heart and I think it changed the conversation and standards re: the treatment of wlw in genre fiction. It starts off cheesy and slow but the stakes are SO high all the time and it’s full of thought-provoking ethical dilemmas.

[musette22]

after watching endings beginnings i definitely felt like the sex scenes were uncomfortable(?) like now more than ever, i can’t help but think about how they’re fake and choreographed a specific way for the camera, simulating actions that aren’t actually happening. the awkwardness of that was just very apparent to me and so was the tension of them not being completely comfortable (since they only had 2 weeks to prepare) so chemistry didn’t feel fully there either

I just replied to an ask about how the sex scenes didn’t need to be as graphic as they were as well, and yeah, it’s tricky. I guess maybe it’s feels weird partly because sex scenes in movies (and porn) are usually staged and choreographed but in EB less so? I think for actors having clear directions and cues for intimate scenes that requires some nudity makes it easier in a way because there’s less of a chance of “messing up” as it’s all a performance that they have gotten directions for and therefore they know exactly what to do. Whereas with EB a lot of it was improvised and sex in real life is hardly ever as graceful and sexy looking as sex scenes in movies are lol. Like you said, trying to improvise any part of a sex scene with a co-star you don’t know as well as you would a partner is likely tricky and a bit of a challenge. They not only have to make the sex look good for the camera, they have to make sure they look like they have passion and chemistry while being respectful of the other person who is still a professional colleague no matter how intimate the scene seems. I’m obviously not an actor so I can’t know for sure but this is at least my idea of how it’d work.

[clairebeauchampfan]

New sex scenes guidelines

 “British film and TV directors have been issued with guidelines on simulated sex scenes and nudity, with industry figures saying they will help the UK catch up with the US and eradicate “grey areas” that leave actors vulnerable to exploitation.

Directors UK, the professional association for screen directors in Britain, issued the 96 guidelines, which are meant to create “clear and shared professional expectations” with the aim that they will become standard working practice within the industry.

Bill Anderson, who was part of the team who put the Directors UK guidelines together and has directed episodes of Doctor Who and Mr Selfridge, said the guidance should not be seen as “a prescriptive list of don’ts and potential transgressions”, but as a resource for actors, directors, writers and producers.

“There are these grey areas at the moment,” Anderson said. “Actors want to do daring work, but they also want to be able to go home and read a bedtime story to their kids without being horrified about what they’ve done on set a few hours earlier.” ” Guardian 21/9/19

Naturally,  I  welcome these guidelines unreservedly. Look what apparently happened to poor Emilia Clarke in Season1 of GoT, fer crissake, forced to strip for the delectation of GoT fans. So, horny grannies and slavering wankers out there, now you can probably say goodbye forever to tongue on tongue (French) kissing, nipple sucking, and bare bums on Outlander, not just in season 4,  and you won’t be able to search for and freeze frame Sam’s ‘love-sack’ or Cait’s quinny for your titillation (seriously, though, folks,  that’s what they did! Good grief🤦‍♀️) . The actors and actresses (especially the married ones and the ingenues trying to make a career in film) won’t have to oblige leering fans any more. Which is a good thing. But, by special arrangement with Starz, I have been sent an exclusive  promo-still of an eagerly awaited,  hot sex scene from OL season 5. Enjoy!

💋

#sex scene guidelines

[sexydeathparty]

Harry Styles Opens Up About Shooting Sex Scenes In His Forthcoming Films

Harry Styles has opened up about his experience shooting the sex scenes in his forthcoming films. 

Later this year, the singer will be seen alongside Emma Corrin in a big-screen adaptation of the novel My Policeman, as well as the psychological thriller Don’t Worry Darling, the director of which, Olivia Wilde, he began dating in 2020.

During an interview on Capital Breakfast, Harry admitted he doesn’t think either of his two films are ones “you can watch with your parents”. 

Host Roman Kemp asked if the One Direction star was actually naked while filming the scenes, and if the actors made use of a netball “in the middle” of the two actors – a technique used on Bridgerton to simulate sex. 

While Harry didn’t address the nudity part of Roman’s question, he replied: “I personally had no experience with a netball, I think it depends very much on who you’re working with and what the situation is.

“All I can say from my own experience is that I was very lucky to have a very trusting relationship within the people we were working with and that kind of came first.

“So it was all discussed and all of it was very, kind of, ‘ok above the filming, above anything that is happening, it’s the cameras, it’s me and you, we’re doing his together, and we trust each other and if at any point, you know, we can stop whenever’ and all that kind of stuff.

“I’d never done that before on camera – at least, I don’t think!”

Olivia got Harry’s fans in a fluster when she dropped a teaser trailer for Don’t Worry Darling back in September. 

The film stars Harry and Florence Pugh as a 1950s couple named Alice and Jack. In the film, a “housewife living with her husband in a utopian experimental community begins to worry that his glamorous company may be hiding disturbing secrets,” according to IMDb.

One snippet in the clip features Florence and Harry in a passionate make-out session, which naturally sent Twitter into a tizzy...

SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP pic.twitter.com/AvO1pQdo9w

— kaitlyn⁷ (@kooksogolden) September 13, 2021

Meanwhile, My Policeman – adapted from the novel of the same name – will sees Emma portraying a woman who marries a police officer, played by the Grammy-winning singer, who is secretly having a relationship with another man. 

Harry made his acting debut in Christopher Nolan’s 2017 war epic Dunkirk, and he continues to balance his music career with his acting. 

Friday saw him debut new single As It Was, which serves as the first single from his highly-anticipated third album, Harry’s House, set for release on 20 May.

Listen to Capital Breakfast with Roman Kemp, weekdays from 6–10am across the UK on air and on Global Player.

READ MORE:

Harry Styles Makes Amanda Holden's Morning With Golden Admission

Harry Styles Had A Completely Normal Saturday Afternoon In A Giant Bed Outside Buckingham Palace

Olivia Wilde Speaks Out Over Media Furore Surrounding Harry Styles Relationship

from HuffPost UK - Athena2 - All Entries (Public) https://ift.tt/nh4ayk3 via IFTTT

[attract-mode-collective]

Nothing Sez “Student Game” More Than The Dinosaur Evening News (that’s a good thing, btw)

The above is Mediazoic, which takes place in an alternate reality in which dinosaurs have come back to rule the earth and they've hired you, puny human, to make sure their televised broadcasts are dino family safe.

You moderate comments left on message boards, censor full frontal dino nudity, and so on. It's a student game alright, and one of my top picks from the NYU Game Center Student Showcase2018!

I was also fond of Dreams For Your Computer because CRTs, magnets, and cats...

... Here's what it looks like in action, btw.

Though the one game that I liked the most, and which would actually fare well on the marketplace, would have to be Static...

And honorable mention goes to an updated take on Flight Simulator, which recreates a 6 hour long commercial flight as a passenger...

... The best part was the look on Stephen Totilo's face, who kinda didn't get it.

When was the NYU thing btw? Over two weeks ago, and it’s been even longer since the last update. Sorry about that. You know the deal: a million, billion things going on. As usual.

Hence why it’ll take not just one, but two bursting at the seams posts, to cover the second half of May! So onto part one…  

Please, please, PLEASE let these Game Center CX Blu-rays have an English language option (via miki800.com)...

Not a day goes by in which I don’t wonder how that guy who appears in the instruction manual for Bomberman B-Daman is doing these days (via videogameartarchive & videogameartarchive)...

I really love the “are you for real?” vibe that Samus gives off in the instructions for the original Famicom Disk System release of Metroid (via nintendometro)...

If you’ve ever wondered what a pair of bosses from Mega Man 9 & 10 would look like with 8’s 32-bit sheen, well here ya go (via mendelpalace)...

A print ad for the Famicom adaptation of Akira that wasn't all that hot (via videogameads)...

Though whenever anyone hears the words “Akira video game”, this is basically what immediately comes to mind. Anything else is a disappointment, no matter what (via aaronkraten)...

Welcome to the rabbit hole that is the Memorex VIS (via @ColinWilliamson)...

Is the soundtrack to some ultra-obscure home banking software for the Mega Drive worth a listen? You goddamn right it is (via mendelpalace)...

… The accompanying article is also totally worth a read.

It’s the Battletoads X Blue Swede mashup that you can’t believe hasn’t been done yet (via SiIvaGunner)...

Replace Link with myself & Navi with my iPhone, which I use as an alarm clock, and you have earlier this morning in a nutshell (via nintendometro)...

“So where you going?”

“Down a road. A low poly road…”

“Where you headed towards?”

“Whatever’s at the end of this street. This low poly street...”

“If you look up, what do you see?”

“Low poly buildings, under a low poly sky. Who knows, maybe there’s some low poly birds up there, behind those low poly clouds…” (via pmpkn)

From looking at low poly skies to soaring high above them, but what a difference an arcade board makes huh (via kazucrash)...

This is what Metal Max 2: ReLoaded on the DS looks like, at its normal resolution...

And this is what it looks with the resolution bumped up (via gaucheartist)...

Is this sprite of a BMX biker animated unusually well or am I just out of touch when it comes to 2600 software? Granted, it does come from a game made in 1989 (via segagenesisevangelion)…

According to the law: “NO JUMPING” (via vgadvisor)

“Hi guys.” (via beowulf-ultra)

Such a heartwarming scene (via @PicturesFoIder)...

This is what VR looked like many years ago, which is basically how it still looks today as well (via peazy86)...

It’s Yuji Horii, from way back in the day, presumably before he had created Dragon Quest (via videogamesdensetsu)...

Why yes, I have heard of the Ocelot Arcade System, by virtue of it being Quality Simon Carless content...

... BTW, “Quality content” is in reference to this. Moving on: yes, I've also heard of VecFever. It plays games that you might be familiar with, since it emulates old vector MAME titles...

Meanwhile, am only just learning that Tiger released their handhelds in Japan under the Game Vision label (via segacity)...

The Sega Dreamcast: it's thinking... about you, cuz it cares about you (via posthumanwanderings)...

"Wait… was he always there?" asks the official Sonic the Hedgehog Tumblr (via sonicthehedgehog)...

And the final nail in the coffin for this gag came courtesy of the official Sonic Tumblr as well (via sonicthehedgehog)...

"Good news everyone skyrim has been ported to the Bethesda offices carpet" 

"Who the fuck designed support pillars to obstruct a quarter of the hallway?" 

"Bethesda" (via mysteriouslypeculiar)

Yet another "it's funny cuz it's true" (via highlandvalley)...

So annoyed that I only find out about this Games Glorious shirt on the very last day of kylefewell‘s Japanese extrusion (via miki800.com)...

Not a fan of the game (don’t hate, I just don’t find it very enthralling), yet for whatever reason, I REALLY want this vintage Mappy sweatshirt (via namcomuseum)...

When video game attire looks plausible IRL (via @cvxfreak)...

Much like with regular attire, with cosplay, sometimes it’s all about the accessories (via frankiebalboa)...

Don’t think I’ve ever seen this piece of Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter art before (via segacity)...

For those who dig POC, as well those who dig VF, and also those who dig FV... that last one's Fighting Vipers, BTW (via fightersmegamix)...

It’s a crying shame that Fighting Vipers is such an unknown commodity these days (via kazucrash)...

Virtua Fighter vs Virtua Fighter… Kid (via segacity)...

It’s a crying shame that Fighters Megamix is such an unknown commodity these days (via segacity)...

So hyped for RPG Time, based solely upon the headline image used for this 10 ten list of BitSummit games (via @indiegameweb)...

Please enjoy yet another thing that I originally posted on a Saturday late at night, whatever time it might on your end right this second (via contac)...

Been a while since I’ve seen the handiwork of Joe Bleeps, largely since it’s been a while since I’ve been collecting Game Culture Snapshots; the man has certainly stepped up his game (boy mods) since way back when (via kotaku.com)...

Am also very much impressed by the Game Boy Macro, though once again, am super irritated that GBA games do not rest flush with the DS Lite’s body...

An example of function over form I guess (@gamesyouloved)...

Familiar with Line Wobbler? Ever wished you could play it on the go? Are you into demakes? For the Game Boy Advance? (via @diskmem)

Today’s corrupted GBA boot up sequence is (via corruptionasart)...

Can anyone tell what Famicom game we’re seeing that’s all glitched out? (via mendelpalace)...

My fave part of this NES 2 print ad is how, in order to truly drive the message of “EVOLVE OR BECOME EXTINCT” home, whomever felt it necessary to include a little picture of a dinosaur (via nintendometro)...

Was this an ad for the SNES? I ask because it’s considerably more sophisticated when compared to what you usually encountered in gaming rags at the time (via nintendometro)...

This ad for the GoldStar version of the 3DO, hailing from Korea, makes me so proud to be (half) Korean, you have no idea (via notablegamebox)...

This Space Invaders tribute piece is like the cover art to some 80s heavy metal record (via shmups)...

Meanwhile, the album art for the Metal Black soundtrack feels more Pink Floyd-ish than anything else (via reportal)...

As amazing as it would have been to attend a ZUNTATA concert 20 years ago, I desperately wanted to see them perform various Darius cuts live just the other week (via miki800.com)...

This cover art for a tribute album celebrating 25 years of Mega Man is still quite good, 31 years after the fact (via rnn-draws)...

My recommended reading this time is a comparison of all the various Mega Man sprites that have been, including a few that you may not be familiar with (via retrovania-vgjunk.blogspot.com)...

Apparently there was a Mega Man boss that was part arcade machine, but he only appeared in some mobile game, for f's sake Capcom (via mendelpalace)...

Guess now’s a good time to share another random game canter pic (via gogopri)...

Pathos at the game center, even among Sailor Scouts (via funnysailorm00n)...

A pride & joy of my personal collection is both the original retail Japanese release of Jet Set Radio & the available via Sega Direct only edition: De La Jet Set Radio (via videogameartarchive & videogameartarchive)...

Here's an alternate take on it’s alternate cover star (via @Drooling_Demon)…

Putting together the necessary gear to properly grind the streets of Tokyo-to (via kiroziki-cosplay)...

JSR tales place in a fictionalized, idealized interpretation of Japan, whereas this gif is a very realistic take, yup (via dehtyar)...

Meanwhile and elsewhere, somewhere in the United States of America it would seem (via behexagusthegreat)...

There's still dinner time in the future (via kirokazepixel)...

My contribution to #WorldGothDay (via it8bit)…

From dark & dreary, to warm & fuzzy, yet still black & white (via this old post from a few years back)...

Old photos of a Japanese school kid obsessing over the Famicom are somewhat dime a dozen, but the PC Engine? A very rare treat (via gamingremembrance)...

From black & white photographs of Japanese 80s kids playing consoles, to a full color animated gif of US 80s kids at the arcade (via tvneon)...

Time to wrap things up by touching upon something that kept me awfully busy over the past few: Death By Audio Arcade X Dreamhouse II. Here's a rather mysterious image that appeared on the FB event page, and which was utilized in my promotional push...

... Did it work? You’ll have to find out in my part 2 of my Attract Mode X Tumblr: May 2018 recap! Due tomorrow. Maybe.

[mynewsblog21]

Nudity And Sex In American Movies

Nakedness ands sex in motion pictures can be disputable on the grounds that a few people are unsettled about observing it appeared. The United States has an alternate view on nakedness contrasted with Europe. On some European stations TV ads themselves have nakedness, take a stab at pulling that off on American TV. In numerous societies, the nakedness and sex factor in films is represented by a layered arrangement of oversight. These frameworks are planned for restricting youngsters' entrance to content that is esteemed hurtful by the general population, the legislature, the film business itself including the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). This is something to be thankful for in light of the fact that it appropriately restrains scandalous substance to grown-ups https://new-solarmovie.com/other-brand/world4ufree Bareness and sex in American movies are taken a gander at by film pundits and watchers with a solid eye. Was the nakedness or sex demonstrated aesthetically to affect the story or was it totally needless bareness and sex that additional nothing to the film? That is regularly the separation. A couple of motion pictures that have been labeled as the later seem to be "Showgirls" coordinated by Paul Verhoeven. The film got a NC-17 rating due to the bareness and recreated simulated intercourses. It was an extremely questionable film when it came out. Assault, lesbianism, and interracial connections were a portion of the subjects shrouded in the film. More or less it's about an alluring female wanderer that moves up from a stripper to a showgirl in Las Vegas. Whatever the film was or was not I watched it a realized what's in store. It would have been odd to see a film about a Las Vegas stripper that didn't have bareness and sex. It would have had no authenticity as I would see it.

"Swordfish" coordinated by Dominic Sena and featuring Hollywood stars John Travolta and Halle Berry is another film that is labeled for unnecessary nakedness. In a word the film is about a trouble maker who employs a PC programmer to help him electronically take billions of dollars. The one scene that a few people whined about was Halle Berry going topless for evidently no explanation. Or on the other hand as pundits put it the scene was so outside of any relevant connection to the subject at hand and never really move the story or build up her character. The urban legend is she was paid an additional 2 million dollars for the topless scene. Notwithstanding, I wager that scene helped sell a great deal of film tickets and DVD's. While some state making motion pictures is accomplished for the workmanship, the primary concern is consistently the cash. Great call by the makers to include that scene.

"Assassin" coordinated by Xavier Gens has been seen as hostile by certain watchers in view of the nakedness and sex in the film. The plot outline from IMDB.COM is this, A weapon for-employ referred to just as Agent 47 is caught in a political intrigue, which discovers him sought after by both Interpol and the Russian military as he treks across Eastern Europe. employed by a gathering known as "The Agency" to slaughter focuses for money. The fundamental character Agent 47 ends up in the organization of Nika who is bare in a lodging and indicated riding Agent 47 bare. I'm speculating this film enlivened by a computer game was made as an absolute person film. I felt the bareness fit the plot since it was the specialty of enticement being happened by a lady who carried on with a risky life. She endure utilizing her looks and crafty.

"Transfer" coordinated by Sid Kali is an exceptional urban activity film. It is lumpy and sensible keeping to the beat of the more unpleasant side of life managing drugs. In light of genuine occasions, "Transfer" is about Tommy Jones, a hesitant East Coast street pharmacist on the run with his significant other, Yolanda, after an adversary boss' arrangement to have him ripped-off and killed turns out badly. Deceives, a progression of severe killings, and an old mystery from his significant other's previous foils Tommy's arrangements for another beginning at life. This direct to video film has accepted all penalties for a couple of scenes in it. First there is a hot striptease scene where a breathtaking Latina tempts two street pharmacists going topless down to a g-string. I have been in Las Vegas strip clubs and unhitched male gatherings where that is the standard. Nothing hostile to me. I thought it fit the story on the grounds that the stripper was a plant for an opponent street pharmacist realizing what she could about his foes. I thought Director Sid Kali indicated the bareness in a classy and enchanting light. The other is an assault scene where a female street pharmacist is pulled from a shower and compelled to surrender the whereabouts of her previous wrongdoing accomplice and sweetheart. I myself don't know anybody that showers in their garments aside from those two folks in the film "Abnormal Science". I thought the scene was ground-breaking and added effect on the story on account of the manner in which it was appeared. The center was never the nakedness yet the torment on the essence of the female street pharmacist. Bravo to that entertainer! Bravo Sid Kali!

Other workmanship house films or motion pictures that show nakedness and sex are once in a while cherished on the grounds that the bareness and sex is considered masterful. "Beast's Ball" coordinated by Marc Foster landed star Halle Berry an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Plot rundown from IMDB.COM Set in the Southern United States, 'Beast's Ball' is a story of a bigot white man, Hank (played by Billy Bob Thornton), who begins to look all starry eyed at a person of color named Leticia (Halle Berry). Unexpectedly Hank is a jail watch taking a shot at Death Row who executed Leticia's better half (Sean Combs). Hank and Leticia's interracial issue prompts disarray and new thoughts for the two far-fetched darlings. It had one of the most extreme realistic love scenes I've found in a film. Some took a stand in opposition to it guaranteeing it depicts individuals of color as savage and salacious, with a hunger for sexual experiences, depicted by the bestial and crude nature of the intimate moment and its racial setting. Others state the scene shows two individuals' urgent requirement for fondness and solace despite human disaster. Whatever the case Halle Berry won an Oscar. She is an astounding entertainer.

"The Brown Bunny" coordinated by Vincent Gallo, who additionally stars in it with Chole Sevingy is a searing autonomous film that takes a risk pushing the innovative envelope. Plot outline pulled from IMDB.COM Professional bike racer Bud Clay heads from New Hampshire to California to race once more. En route he meets different penniless ladies who give him the fix to his own forlornness, however just a specific lady from his past will genuinely fulfill him. What separates this film is the profoundly dubious scene of genuine oral sex among Gallo and co-star Chloe Sevigny in a decrepit inn room. What made this scene so holding was the simulated intercourse was appeared in such a desolate and difficult way. Chief Vincent Gallo caught the edgy and shallow sentiments of the characters. That scene was remembered for the film for stun bid, it was there to show human agony during what the vast majority believe is a pleasurable encounter. Bravo for taking the risk on making an extreme film. This executive is a hero! Bravo Vincent Gallo!

In general I think nakedness and sex are a piece of life. To blue pencil it out of motion pictures isn't the appropriate response. I state let film creators put out their work, including bareness and sex, and let the watchers choose if they need to watch it or not. There are a huge amount of films out there with no bareness or sex. Leave the alternative and the decision to the majority.

[our-kendrick]

'Painful at times': Anna Kendrick on delving into her 'love life' in new series

© Jenny Cooney

Read here, or below.

Anna Kendrick is facing a conundrum. And it’s one that has left the 34-year-old actor uncharacteristically tongue-tied as she sits in her LA home in isolation, talking over Zoom about Love Life, her first television series.

Looking much the same way she describes herself to her 7.3 million Twitter followers – “pale, awkward and very, very small” – she is no stranger to self-deprecating humour, as a recent tweet suggests: “I guess I’ll never be able to lie to myself again about all the shit I would do if I just had the time.”

But the petite, Oscar-nominated star of Up in the Air and the Pitch Perfect franchise is also notoriously protective of her personal life and has never confirmed she’s even dating cinematographer Ben Richardson, whom she reportedly met while making the 2013 indie film Drinking Buddies.

Which brings us to the question that’s just brought the conversation to a halt: how can she talk about her romantic-comedy series without talking about her own love life? “Well, as far as keeping it private, it isn’t easy, as you are proving right now,” she responds. “But that’s just always how it’s been for me.”

With that awkward moment over, Anna returns to her chatty self as we talk about her other Love Life, the Stan anthology series. Anna’s character, Darby, a museum tour guide, is the subject of the first 10-episode season as we follow her relationships from first love to lasting love via everything in between.

“The real arc that we wanted was to show how we learn from each relationship,” she says. “Even though our relationships end, it doesn’t mean they are complete failures. People come into your life and you grow and they change you and what you learn from them might be really positive or it might be negative.”

The series shares DNA with Sex and the City and Girls as we watch a group of friends clumsily navigating the messy reality of pairing up. “It was painful at times and I cringed at the way that I, and so many women that I know, dated guys in our early 20s – the way we were so awkward and needy and clingy,” Anna says.

“Looking back now, it’s like, ‘Oh god, I acted like such a jerk in that relationship.’ Or all the times I didn’t feel strong enough to say, ‘You can’t speak to me that way.’ I’m just so happy that I’m clearer now about what I will accept from people in my life.”

As Anna grows more relaxed, we circle back to the dating themes of the show and how they resonated in her life. “When I was maybe 14 or 15, somebody gave me this specific example, that if you’re ever in a car with a guy, and he’s driving, and as a joke he lets go of the wheel and makes you grab it, that is not a guy you want to be with,” she recalls.

“He might say, ‘Hey, I’m just joking, why are you being so sensitive?’ But really, he’s testing your boundaries and what you’re willing to put up with and trying to make you uncomfortable."

“It sounds silly, but I dated a guy when I was 19 who tickled me all the time and I don’t like being tickled, because it makes me claustrophobic. So I kept saying, ‘This is a problem for me. Please don’t do it.’ "

“But he kept doing it and I thought, ‘He’s the guy with the steering wheel!’ So, I broke up with him and he told everyone it was because he tickled me. I was like, ‘No, dude, I broke up with you because you didn’t respect me!’ ”

Anna Kendrick grew up in the sleepy US East Coast town of Portland, Maine, the daughter of a history teacher and an accountant. At age six she scored the lead role in a community-theatre production of Annie. By 10, she was insisting her parents make the five-hour drive into New York City for stage auditions. And at 12 she scored a Tony nomination in the Broadway musical High Society.

Eventually, the fresh-faced brunette with big blue eyes transitioned into films, including the four Twilight Saga movies (2009-12). She has also put her theatrical roots to good use in musical films, including Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods (2014) and the 2016 animated film Trolls, including eight songs on the soundtrack.

Love Life also implies sex life, although Anna says she really hadn’t thought that through when she first signed on. “When we started filming, it dawned on me that in every single episode I was going to be doing a kissing scene or a sex scene with someone brand new,” she says, rolling her eyes. “It was definitely weird to know that we were going to meet and within a week we were going to be in bed pretending to have sex!”

That doesn’t mean, however, she’ll be going the full Kim Cattrall or Lena Dunham on the show. “My personal feelings on nudity – that I’m not really interested in nudity for me – stayed the same. I’ve never had a problem with simulated sex scenes – that feels like it’s about the character, whereas I only get one body, so nudity is more about me.”

Anna’s on a roll with this new screen persona, recently playing a woman who falls for a talking sex doll in the quirky, bite-sized series Dummy, available on the Quibi streaming platform.

“That gave me a new appreciation for people who are owners of sex dolls because it turns out that a sex doll is really heavy lifting, so there’s a certain level of commitment,” she says in typically deadpan manner.

“I have no judgment and I seriously tip my cap to those people,” she adds, grinning. “But the creator and director of Dummy, Tricia Brock, also directed an episode of Love Life where Darby uses a sex toy and I said, ‘Tricia, do you just like to have me doing something gross every time we work together?’ ”

As video chats become more the norm, stars are often sharing intimate glimpses into their homes. Not Anna, who is sitting in front of a blank white wall looking surprisingly glammed up thanks to a good blow-dry, immaculate make-up and a pretty floral dress.

“I could say I’ve been exercising every day and cooking,” she says, “but there’s definitely been days where I feel helpless because there’s something really terrible happening out there and I’m powerless to change it.”

For now, she’s happy to use Zoom to keep her loved ones close. “Twice a week I do family movie nights – my parents are in Maine and my brother is in New York – and we pick a movie like Robert Redford’s The Natural or The Princess Bride and all press play at the same time. We’re all texting each other during the movie, which normally would be a no-no, but under these circumstances it’s really sweet.”

That also applies to many of her co-stars. “In the last couple of weeks, I was on a Zoom call with some of the girls from Pitch Perfect [including Rebel Wilson and Anna Camp] and we were talking about when you get in fights with friends, how it’s the worst.

“I said, ‘If you just text me first to warn me you’re mad before you call, that would be great.’ And those girls were like, ‘What? We’re not going to get into a fight!’ I met them when we were around 25 and now we’re talking about being friends until we’re 80.”

It’s not surprising then, that Anna embraced the episode of Love Life devoted to a potential breakup with Darby’s best friend, Sara (Zoe Chao), instead of a beau. “Sometimes your girlfriends are the great loves of your life and they affect you so much,” she says. “I’m just grateful to have those kinds of relationships, too.”

[fictionfactorygames]

You Make The Call

I recently picked up some visual novels in a Humble Bundle, in an effort to learn more about the genre / scope out the competition / get ideas for how others are using RenPy / etc. But I have to admit… after playing a bit of each of them, none of them really clicked with me.

Most had little to no choices to make. Generally you’d be sitting there watching action unfold with no say in the matter, often enduring massive exposition dumps or overly elaborate descriptions of some really mundane actions. (Brushing your teeth could take 5-7 text boxes, it felt like.) I saw little to no opportunity for customization or roleplaying. Instead of playing a game, I was being dragged by the nose through someone else’s story being told “Isn’t this awesome?!”.

Maybe I just don’t get this genre. Maybe it’s not my cup of tea. I love the idea of it — of marrying character-driven narrative to beautiful art to good music and allowing the reader to participate actively — but I haven’t found a VN yet that really works for me. I’m not doubting they exist, but so far, no luck.

Let me tell you what Arcade Spirits already has, which these novels didn’t. Then you make the call if you like what I’m serving up.

First off, your protagonist. Pick your pronouns, pick your hair style, pick your skin tone, pick your name. As the game goes along, your responses — which are frequent, at least 2-3 per scene — are personality-driven. You express yourself the way you want to, within the limitations of a choice-powered visual novel, and the world responds.

Second, your ability to influence the world. (A lot of this is smoke and mirrors, I’ll admit, if only because I’m not frickin’ Sierra On-Line and I don’t want to arbitrarily Game Over you.) Quite often you’ll be called on to deal with a situation, some conflict or crisis or difficulty, and how you choose to approach that problem is your call. I mean, it’s not an open world RPG, you have a menu of options… but you have a MENU, period. You can make a choice.

All of that sounds good, I’m hoping, but there’s another key difference and I’m a little more worried about this one: romance and melodrama. ’cause I’ve seen PILES of each in these games, sometimes explicitly saying up front YOU CAN BANG THESE SPECIFICALLY THEMED GIRLS WHOA. Pigeon dating simulator! Dad dating simulator! A death game / dating simulator! And so on. And… Arcade Spirits is not that.

For the first arc of the game, there’s some flirting, but you’re primarily in a workplace comedy and dealing with the day-to-day affairs that come with that. You’re not saving the world, you don’t have superpowers, and we aren’t getting right to the banging. In fact, there isn’t any banging. There’s DATING to be sure, and relationships, and love… but it’s not a hentai game. There won’t be some sly patch you download off the website to turn on the nudity.

So, this leaves me mildly anxious. A visual novel is a niche of a niche of a genre, not a moneymaker by any means. And now I’m saying “All these conventions of VNs? I’m not doing those, I’m doing something different.” Will VN fans eschew Arcade Spirits? Will it stumble out of the gate and flop? Am I freaking out over nothing?

Ultimately, time will tell. But you know how you can help? Join the Patreon, get monthly demos, and give us feedback. (The July demo is coming up soon! If you join July 1st, you’ll get two full episodes of the game!) Let us know if this is the direction you want to go. And together, we’ll make something grand.

[mastcomm]

How #MeToo Is Smashing the Casting Couch

A basketball court at the Park City Municipal Athletic and Recreation Center has been converted into a screening room, as have a nearby synagogue and the auditorium at the local high school. The roads of this old mining town are gagged with standstill traffic.

And the Utah attorney general’s office is staffing a 24-hour hotline in case anyone is sexually harassed or threatened while at the Sundance Film Festival.

No matter how Harvey Weinstein’s criminal trial in Manhattan turns out, the revelations about the way he used his power over women have altered Hollywood in ways big and small. There are new rules on where and how to hold meetings, legal changes that make it easier to sue for sexual harassment and different ways to report when something goes wrong — all efforts to make Hollywood a bit safer. And while the industry is still very much dominated by men, women have begun to land more directing and executive roles, the positions of power that shape its culture.

Hollywood is a business of freelancers going from one project to the next, a setup that makes predators difficult to contain and blowing the whistle especially risky. Still, activists and industry professionals say that the steps being taken represent sustained attention to the issue, some improvement in day-to-day working conditions and perhaps signs of bona fide change.

“I think most people would like to see a situation where people go to work and feel good about the environment,” said Gail Berman, a producer and co-president of the Producers Guild, which now offers sexual harassment training to independent projects. “Does that mean there is no longer any predatory behavior in this business? I’d say that would be a ridiculous assumption. But I can tell you I think there is a great deal of sincerity on the part of a lot of people to change the culture.”

A fight that began a century ago

The Manhattan sexual assault case against Mr. Weinstein focuses on two women. One was a film production assistant who said Mr. Weinstein forced her to have oral sex in his apartment. Another was an aspiring actress who said that he raped her in a Manhattan hotel room. Mr. Weinstein’s lawyers say that “loving emails” between him and his accusers show it was all consensual.

But for many of the dozens of women who have accused him of sexual misconduct, the story was the same: Actresses say he cornered them in hotel rooms and offered them roles as a form or coercion. Sleep with me and you’ll be a star. Or don’t, and I’ll ruin you.

At least two women have accused Mr. Weinstein of raping or sexually abusing them while at Sundance, the country’s premier annual exhibition for independent films. In 2018, just a few months after the accusations against Mr. Weinstein exploded, the festival announced its hotline, which is now advertised on signs around Park City and on the Sundance credentials. A spokesman for the Utah attorney general’s office said while the office did not keep a log of harassment complaints to the hotline, investigators recalled receiving one in 2018 and none last year.

While the casting process has been professionalized for years, concerns about the “casting couch” — a euphemism for demanding sex in exchange for a job — are as old as Hollywood.

Filmmakers started arriving in Los Angeles around 1910, according to Denise McKenna, a historian who has researched the early history of the film industry, and by 1915, a minister named Charles Selecman was campaigning against what he called the “moral conditions in Los Angeles.” Articles appeared in the local press that insinuated women were being forced to have sex for work, under headlines like “Girl Tells Selecman of the Vice Dangers in the Movies” and “Studio Evils to Be Fought to the End, Says Pastor.”

An arm of the Los Angeles Police Department called the City Mother’s Bureau was installed at studios, Dr. McKenna said, and was supposed to check on young actresses to be sure they had enough money and places to stay, and that they didn’t become the city’s responsibility.

One of the earliest known instances of casting couch behavior was not in the movies, but on Broadway. In his book “Boys From Syracuse: The Shuberts’ Theatrical Empire,” Foster Hirsch described an “elegantly furnished boudoir” the theater owner Lee Shubert kept near his office, where he brought leading ladies and promising up-and-comers. He kept a separate, sparsely furnished room with “a single couch” where he would bring chorus girls.

This brand of predation extended deep into the studio system. “Lion of Hollywood: The Life and Legend of Louis B. Mayer,” described Mayer’s MGM — and every other studio — as housing “a supply of what were known as ‘six-month-option girls’ to be passed around the executive offices.” The book quotes a producer once saying of the studio executive Darryl Zanuck: “You must realize one thing: Every time Darryl takes a girl to bed, a star is born.”

The abusive behavior went beyond the major studios. One of the blind spots exposed by the #MeToo movement was how the Hollywood system, in which the studios often do not have direct control over the employees of powerful independent producers like Mr. Weinstein, left workers with nowhere to turn with complaints. Among other changes in the industry, Warner Bros., for example, has created a human resources team specifically assigned to its productions. And the Hollywood Commission, led by Anita Hill, is building a system where anyone in the industry who does not already have a place to file complaints can report harassment or discrimination.

Actors are now encouraged to avoid one-on-one meetings in private settings. SAG-AFTRA, the screen actors union, has issued guidelines saying its members should not go to meetings in hotels and residences, and if they feel they must, they should bring someone along.

Sharon Bialy, a casting director in Los Angeles, always has at least one other person in the room with her during auditions. Long a practice she’s done herself, she now makes it a point that everyone on her staff does the same.

While private meetings certainly still happen, even in hotel rooms, some industry professionals mentioned that a hotel meeting might now take place in the lobby instead, or what might have been a meeting in a home office now takes place at a coffee shop.

“Everyone is aware of the optics now,” Ms. Bialy said. “And I do feel like people are more careful and cognizant about it.”

Taking the camera under the covers

What could make someone more vulnerable than taking off his or her clothes in a room full of people and pretending to have sex with a colleague?

Difficult in the best of circumstances, sex scenes can easily go horribly wrong. According to Time’s Up, the Hollywood-led group that combats sexual harassment, actors have arrived on the day of the shoot and been pressured to show more of their bodies than they agreed to, or later discovered that members of the crew had taken videos of them on their smartphones and posted them online. Some actors have been told that they should have actual sex instead of simulating it.

Time’s Up has released guides on how to handle intimate and simulated sex scenes, and what actors should do in an audition if someone tells them to “come back sexier.” New laws in California and elsewhere make it easier to sue people like producers and directors for sexual harassment and have restricted the use of nondisclosure agreements, which prevent victims from speaking out and allow abusers to continue their harmful behavior.

And in the past two years, productions have been turning more and more to intimacy coordinators, whose job, which falls somewhere between stunt coordinator and therapist, is to make the scenes as comfortable as possible for the actors while still creating a convincing shoot. They have conversations about boundaries and sexually transmitted diseases. They make sure the performers have robes to wear between takes and covers for their genitals during filming. They also have precise conversations about what will and will not be shown, and see that those limits are written into contracts in the form of “nudity riders.”

“It’s often been, especially in TV, an actor would have a rider for the series and the rider used to say, ‘Actor agrees to appear nude and perform scenes of a sexual nature during this series’ — and that was it,” said Claire Warden, an intimacy coordinator. “Now there’s a rider for each scene in each episode, and it will say, ‘actor will show top of breast and side of breast but not nipple,” she said. “Or they agree to three-quarters of buttocks shown, but not a full shot.”

There is some resistance, however, especially from directors who are concerned an intimacy coordinator will step on their toes creatively, or interfere with their relationship with the actors. Teniece Divya Johnson, an intimacy coordinator based in New York, described being told on set not to speak unless spoken to.

But overall, coordinators say that the directors come around.

“There is an acceptance,” Ms. Warden said, “that this needs to be paid attention to.”

Putting women in power

As part of the #MeToo movement, there has been a vocal push to hire more women, and more people of color, to positions of power in Hollywood. That, activists say, is the key to changing the culture of the movie business, as well as the kinds of stories that are celebrated and told. (The Oscars were criticized this year for nominating a best acting field that was almost exclusively white and overlooking women completely in the best director category.)

Darnell Hunt, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, who produces an annual Hollywood diversity report, said that while the share of women directing and starring in big movies has increased, it is still nowhere near where it should be. Women directed about 4 percent of the top 200 films in 2011, he said. By 2017, they had increased to a little less than 13 percent.

Perhaps most crucially, at some of the biggest movie studios, including Disney, Warner Bros., Netflix and Amazon, 82 percent of the chief executives today are male, and 91 percent of them are white, according to Dr. Hunt’s coming 2020 diversity report. In 2015, about the same percentage of those executives were white — but every last one of them was a man.

The problems, of course, have not gone away. Genie Harrison, a lawyer in Los Angeles who represents some of Mr. Weinstein’s accusers, says she still receives cases alleging sexual harassment in the industry, and retaliation when someone comes forward to report it.

Mara Grobins Nasatir, one of the leaders of Time’s Up’s entertainment work, said that while there were definite improvements, “it also feels that we’re moving at a glacial pace.”

“While I am very hopeful and excited because the conversation is happening in a way that wasn’t the case two years ago, I also think there is an urgent need for change because people are continue to be harmed,” she said. “Safety is at stake.”

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[itsfinancethings]

October 03, 2019 at 09:51PM

(LOS ANGELES) — Two actresses sued James Franco and the acting and film school he founded Thursday, saying he intimidated his students into gratuitous and exploitative sexual situations far beyond those acceptable on Hollywood film sets.

Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal, former students at the actor’s now-closed Studio 4, said in the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court that Franco pushed his students into performing in increasingly explicit sex scenes on camera in an “orgy type setting.”

Franco “sought to create a pipeline of young women who were subjected to his personal and professional sexual exploitation in the name of education,” the suit alleges.

The women say students were led to believe roles in Franco’s films would be available to those who went along.

The situations described in the suit arose during a master class in sex scenes that Franco taught at the school, which he opened in 2014 and closed in 2017.

The lawsuit, which also names Franco’s production company Rabbit Bandini and his partners as defendants, includes allegations Tither-Kaplan made publicly last year after Franco won a Golden Globe Award for “The Disaster Artist.”

Gaal is speaking out for the first time.

In an interview on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” last year, Franco called the sexual misconduct stories about him inaccurate, but said, “If I’ve done something wrong, I will fix it. I have to.”

A publicist and an attorney for the 41-year-old actor did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment Thursday.

The lawsuit alleges that to take Franco’s master class, students had to audition by simulating sex acts on film, which he watched to choose candidates.

It says the class began with “encouraging female student actors to appear topless, then perform in sex scenes, then orgies and gratuitous full nudity,” without the careful guidelines and closed sets that are the industry standard for shooting sex scenes.

The suit alleges that Gaal was kept out of the master class for questioning its exploitative nature.

Tither-Kaplan took the class and was subsequently cast in Rabbit Bandini films, “which she now recognizes was a direct result of her willingness to accept Franco’s exploitative behavior without complaint.”

The lawsuit seeks damages to be determined at trial, an apology from Franco and his partners, and the handover or destruction of video of the plaintiffs.

Attorneys for the women are looking for more plaintiffs to join, and for it to become a class action.

Tither-Kaplan previously recounted her experiences with Franco and the school as one of five women who talked to the Los Angeles Times about him early in 2018.

She was also among the women who spoke out against Franco on Twitter when he won his Golden Globe in January 2018 at a time when the #MeToo movement was surging.

Tither-Kaplan later told the LA Times that the Time’s Up anti-sexual harassment lapel pin Franco wore to the ceremony felt like “a slap in my face.”

The organization behind the pin, Time’s Up Now, said in a statement Thursday that “If these allegations are true, we hope the survivors, and all impacted by this behavior, receive some measure of justice.”

Since the allegations first emerged, Franco has made few publicity appearances, but work has not seemed to slow down for him on the big or small screen.

The HBO series “The Deuce,” which he executive produces and stars in, began its third and final season on Sept. 9.

Franco also appeared last year in the Coen brothers’ acclaimed Western anthology “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” which was nominated for three Oscars.

And this weekend he will have two films that he directed and stars in playing in theaters: “Zeroville,” an adaptation of Steve Erickson’s 2007 novel that was filmed in 2014 but faced delays in distribution, as well as “Pretenders,” with Brian Cox and Dennis Quaid.

“Zeroville,” which co-stars Seth Rogen, Megan Fox and Will Ferrell, is already a box office bomb and critical dud. This past weekend it played on 80 screens and made an average of $111 per screen. And “Pretenders,” which opens in limited release Friday, is not faring much better with critics.

[newstechreviews]

(LOS ANGELES) — Two actresses sued James Franco and the acting and film school he founded Thursday, saying he intimidated his students into gratuitous and exploitative sexual situations far beyond those acceptable on Hollywood film sets.

Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal, former students at the actor’s now-closed Studio 4, said in the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court that Franco pushed his students into performing in increasingly explicit sex scenes on camera in an “orgy type setting.”

Franco “sought to create a pipeline of young women who were subjected to his personal and professional sexual exploitation in the name of education,” the suit alleges.

The women say students were led to believe roles in Franco’s films would be available to those who went along.

The situations described in the suit arose during a master class in sex scenes that Franco taught at the school, which he opened in 2014 and closed in 2017.

The lawsuit, which also names Franco’s production company Rabbit Bandini and his partners as defendants, includes allegations Tither-Kaplan made publicly last year after Franco won a Golden Globe Award for “The Disaster Artist.”

Gaal is speaking out for the first time.

In an interview on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” last year, Franco called the sexual misconduct stories about him inaccurate, but said, “If I’ve done something wrong, I will fix it. I have to.”

A publicist and an attorney for the 41-year-old actor did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment Thursday.

The lawsuit alleges that to take Franco’s master class, students had to audition by simulating sex acts on film, which he watched to choose candidates.

It says the class began with “encouraging female student actors to appear topless, then perform in sex scenes, then orgies and gratuitous full nudity,” without the careful guidelines and closed sets that are the industry standard for shooting sex scenes.

The suit alleges that Gaal was kept out of the master class for questioning its exploitative nature.

Tither-Kaplan took the class and was subsequently cast in Rabbit Bandini films, “which she now recognizes was a direct result of her willingness to accept Franco’s exploitative behavior without complaint.”

The lawsuit seeks damages to be determined at trial, an apology from Franco and his partners, and the handover or destruction of video of the plaintiffs.

Attorneys for the women are looking for more plaintiffs to join, and for it to become a class action.

Tither-Kaplan previously recounted her experiences with Franco and the school as one of five women who talked to the Los Angeles Times about him early in 2018.

She was also among the women who spoke out against Franco on Twitter when he won his Golden Globe in January 2018 at a time when the #MeToo movement was surging.

Tither-Kaplan later told the LA Times that the Time’s Up anti-sexual harassment lapel pin Franco wore to the ceremony felt like “a slap in my face.”

The organization behind the pin, Time’s Up Now, said in a statement Thursday that “If these allegations are true, we hope the survivors, and all impacted by this behavior, receive some measure of justice.”

Since the allegations first emerged, Franco has made few publicity appearances, but work has not seemed to slow down for him on the big or small screen.

The HBO series “The Deuce,” which he executive produces and stars in, began its third and final season on Sept. 9.

Franco also appeared last year in the Coen brothers’ acclaimed Western anthology “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” which was nominated for three Oscars.

And this weekend he will have two films that he directed and stars in playing in theaters: “Zeroville,” an adaptation of Steve Erickson’s 2007 novel that was filmed in 2014 but faced delays in distribution, as well as “Pretenders,” with Brian Cox and Dennis Quaid.

“Zeroville,” which co-stars Seth Rogen, Megan Fox and Will Ferrell, is already a box office bomb and critical dud. This past weekend it played on 80 screens and made an average of $111 per screen. And “Pretenders,” which opens in limited release Friday, is not faring much better with critics.

[phooll123]

New top story from Time: James Franco’s Former Students Sue Over Alleged Sexual Exploitation at His Film School

(LOS ANGELES) — Two actresses sued James Franco and the acting and film school he founded Thursday, saying he intimidated his students into gratuitous and exploitative sexual situations far beyond those acceptable on Hollywood film sets.

Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal, former students at the actor’s now-closed Studio 4, said in the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court that Franco pushed his students into performing in increasingly explicit sex scenes on camera in an “orgy type setting.”

Franco “sought to create a pipeline of young women who were subjected to his personal and professional sexual exploitation in the name of education,” the suit alleges.

The women say students were led to believe roles in Franco’s films would be available to those who went along.

The situations described in the suit arose during a master class in sex scenes that Franco taught at the school, which he opened in 2014 and closed in 2017.

The lawsuit, which also names Franco’s production company Rabbit Bandini and his partners as defendants, includes allegations Tither-Kaplan made publicly last year after Franco won a Golden Globe Award for “The Disaster Artist.”

Gaal is speaking out for the first time.

In an interview on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” last year, Franco called the sexual misconduct stories about him inaccurate, but said, “If I’ve done something wrong, I will fix it. I have to.”

A publicist and an attorney for the 41-year-old actor did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment Thursday.

The lawsuit alleges that to take Franco’s master class, students had to audition by simulating sex acts on film, which he watched to choose candidates.

It says the class began with “encouraging female student actors to appear topless, then perform in sex scenes, then orgies and gratuitous full nudity,” without the careful guidelines and closed sets that are the industry standard for shooting sex scenes.

The suit alleges that Gaal was kept out of the master class for questioning its exploitative nature.

Tither-Kaplan took the class and was subsequently cast in Rabbit Bandini films, “which she now recognizes was a direct result of her willingness to accept Franco’s exploitative behavior without complaint.”

The lawsuit seeks damages to be determined at trial, an apology from Franco and his partners, and the handover or destruction of video of the plaintiffs.

Attorneys for the women are looking for more plaintiffs to join, and for it to become a class action.

Tither-Kaplan previously recounted her experiences with Franco and the school as one of five women who talked to the Los Angeles Times about him early in 2018.

She was also among the women who spoke out against Franco on Twitter when he won his Golden Globe in January 2018 at a time when the #MeToo movement was surging.

Tither-Kaplan later told the LA Times that the Time’s Up anti-sexual harassment lapel pin Franco wore to the ceremony felt like “a slap in my face.”

The organization behind the pin, Time’s Up Now, said in a statement Thursday that “If these allegations are true, we hope the survivors, and all impacted by this behavior, receive some measure of justice.”

Since the allegations first emerged, Franco has made few publicity appearances, but work has not seemed to slow down for him on the big or small screen.

The HBO series “The Deuce,” which he executive produces and stars in, began its third and final season on Sept. 9.

Franco also appeared last year in the Coen brothers’ acclaimed Western anthology “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” which was nominated for three Oscars.

And this weekend he will have two films that he directed and stars in playing in theaters: “Zeroville,” an adaptation of Steve Erickson’s 2007 novel that was filmed in 2014 but faced delays in distribution, as well as “Pretenders,” with Brian Cox and Dennis Quaid.

“Zeroville,” which co-stars Seth Rogen, Megan Fox and Will Ferrell, is already a box office bomb and critical dud. This past weekend it played on 80 screens and made an average of $111 per screen. And “Pretenders,” which opens in limited release Friday, is not faring much better with critics.

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