MovieChat Forums > 9 Songs (2005) Discussion > Technically how is sex like this filmed?

Technically how is sex like this filmed?

posted 2 years ago by mobocracy (902)
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So you're the director of a film like this -- you've got everything lined up, financing, crew, and actors, and everyone is on board that you're making an art film which includes explicit, unsimulated sexual intercourse.

How is the actual shoot of the sex scenes structured?

Is it blocked off in a detailed manner with specific shots planned with lighting, cinematography, all kind of coordinated? The actors are told what specific sex acts to perform, given direction on how to perform them?

Is there a rehearsal, where the actors go through the script and blocking and plan out the sexual moves?

Or is it all kind of very roughly sketched out (coupe has sex on bed in bedroom, woman on top) and the actors basically have sex and sort of improvise?

How about the actors who actually have sex? Do they have end up practicing the sex on their own, either kind of artificially, like some combination of sex and going through the script to work it out? Do they become kind of sexual partners while shooting the film, perhaps some mix of rehearsal and familiarity with each other?

I think it would be hard to try to film a "realistic" sex scene with actual intercourse without more sexual experience between the people doing it. There's a certain physical awkwardness between actual lovers at first.

This film feels a lot more like the former, like it was very specifically structured and it kind of suffers for it. It feels very acted and not like real sex, in some ways more artificial than some porn.

I kind of wonder if you were to try to make this film if it wouldn't make more sense to somehow hire an actual couple who were in some kind of relationship. They'd have sex on camera in a free-form way with no direction or scripting, and then these would be used as the actual sex scenes.

[–] Mustang (5569) 2 years ago

According to IMDB trivia there was only the director, soundman, cameraman and actors on set.

On the first day of filming in the fall of 2003, Margo Stilley and Kieran O'Brien shot a scene where they are just kissing and taking their clothes off. "It wasn't until after lunch that we had sex," O'Brien recalls. As would happen throughout the shoot, Winterbottom left little to chance. "He really mapped out everything," O'Brien says. "The order he wanted me to take off my clothes, her clothes, whether my socks stayed on or not. He had specific ideas of how he wanted our bodies to move. Sometimes, he would start us and then stop and say, 'Let's try this from a slightly different angle,' and then take 15 minutes to reset the shot. I wondered if he remembered the delicate machinery of the male sex organ."

So yeah it sounds very planned and I also wonder how the actors felt afterwards given the film is crap and just an excuse to make open but call it arthouse.

[–] mobocracy (902) 2 years ago

So there’s actual intercourse, but it’s all fake from the perspective of the actors.

You kind of wonder if either of the Stilley or O’Brien saw the other as a desirable sex partner outside the context of the film. Did they get into the sex, or was it just mechanical? Other than the blowjob scene (which was likely edited down to masturbation, if not special effects semen) it didn’t seem like O’Brien actually orgasmed and surely Stilley’s were just acting.

[–] Mustang (5569) 2 years ago

From what I recall the sex scenes were quite dull anyway and could have just as easily been executed in the usual simulated manner.

I would say it was just mechanical and they were doing a job. It was actually Stilley's first role and I wonder if she thought she would become a star because of it or if she was just paid a little more? Going by her film roles I would say it hurt her more than it helped.

O'Brien's films haven't been amazing either, before or after 9 Songs.

[–] mobocracy (902) 2 years ago

The scenes were uniformly dull with the possible exception of the bit where Stilley was on top and seemed to be plausibly engaged in the sex. And other than that bit, the sex seemed like it could have been simulated and was barely “proven” real.

I think it’s hard to judge the careers of these two actors by this film. I don’t see why it would have hurt either one specifically, I think the director and cast were legitimately being serious about the artistic merit of the film, plus the sex way way less prurient than a porn film.

It’s probably more likely that both actors are just mediocre talents, although Stilley has a history of recent work, even though small and spotty.

[–] Mustang (5569) 2 years ago

They were dull. I think the problem when you decide on unsimulated sex scenes is that you have to make them passionate and ensure the couple have chemistry or you have to go down the porn route and show "proof" that it is real, meaning actually showing insertion etc. I can't recall if they did that at all in this film but I do recall that the sex scenes were without any passion.

I wonder if there are interviews with Stilley regarding her decision to take part in this film. Perhaps her and O'Brien's careers would have been low key anyway but especially for Stilley it perhaps creates a legacy of sorts and people expect to always see her in similar roles.

As a music lover I expected more from the film and more of a connection story wise to the 9 Songs. I have only seen the film once and it was around the time it came out. But I was actually bored by it which I don't think is an emotion that the director counted on people having given the content of the movie.