Expert: Taylor Sheppard - 8/22/2008

Question
This is probably a common question and one you answer frequently.  How are sex scenes in movies done.  It looks like they are doing everything you learn about in sex ed. class.  The, how would i put it, penetration look real and the genitals look like the real thing is going on. (if im wording things inappropriatly i am sorry).  how do they do that?  like for example in some rated R movies and Rated NC-17 movies it looks so so real. how are the motions done so realistic?

Answer
Hi Chris,

Actually, this is the first question exactly like this. I had one before on etiquette and handling yourself (no pun intended) as a guy.

The real deal?

On a movie set, there is a director and the actors. Oh yeah, and a camera man....oh, and a sound recordist...and his boom mic guy...and the camera loader and pusher and the clapperboard guy...and the cinematographer...and makeup and hair people and script girl and lighting crew and..... and that's forgetting other people, even on a "closed set". So basically, there's a room full of people and unless you are an adult movie "actor" or an exhibitionist, it's not that "romantic".

I have always thought it was silly to see the couple in bed on television with the guy in a t-shirt and boxers and the woman wearing her top (above the sheet) in shows where they were "in the act", but that's TV and censoring things. At one time, couples were shown to have twin beds or if they were making out on a bed, at least one actor's foot had to be firmly on the floor at all times!

The movies often use body doubles for self-conscious or less than perfect bodied ones. When most love scenes are done, they are wearing flesh toned cover-ups (body stockings) or "appliances" over areolas and genitals, depending on what needs covered. Some cases, I'm sure, they don't use anything to cover, but those are few and not usually mainstream Hollywood films with big names.

There is a movie, an "arthouse" film entitled "Nine Songs" that what you were seeing was what you got. It's a story of a couple's sex life and relationship told from the point of view of the places where they had their trysts. It was a European actor and a first-time actress, an American college student hired with the understanding there would be real penetration sex involved.

Now, I had a chance to talk with actor Powers Boothe years ago at my university. He came back to speak to us as part of a program where we would pay airfare and hotel for former students who had succeeded in acting to share their experiences and answer questions in a forum.
He said that you should never confuse the scene and real life. He said that it's powerful when you are in the middle of a love scene, but that if you do not know to draw the line, you can destroy your off-screen life. (Gee! That NEVER happens! lol!) However, he said, "When you are doing a love scene, that gives you free license to just enjoy yourself; the smell of their skin, the taste of their lips, the feeling of their body against yours...enjoy it. But when the scene is over, it's over."

One of the best sex scenes I have ever seen was in "An Officer and a Gentleman" with Richard Gere and Debra Winger. It was so intense! Their secret? They couldn't stand each other! Funny thing about expressions, they can look like something else when you believe the circumstances are different.

Hope this answers your questions, sorry to disappoint!

Best,

Taylor