31 GENIUS INTERVIEW Erika Lust
IN THE ROUND With VR porn, everything that appears on set is in shot, so it’s more expensive and time consuming to film than standard video
move into permanently; at the moment I’m trying to explore a new creative medium and experiment. It’s much more expensive to make VR porn compared to other video formats and it’s also much harder to make a good, high-quality product. I found it was more similar to making an immersive piece of theatre. I couldn’t direct it like a normal 2D film because it’s impossible to control exactly what the viewer looks at. Normally, I’m in control of everything the viewer can see on screen; with VR, the viewer is in the driver’s seat. Another challenge is that the camera doesn’t move, so the performers have to think much more about which angles to give the camera, instead of the camera operator moving to get particular angles. Of course the performers are aware of these things on a normal set but in VR, body language is even more important and small things such as the right level of eye contact can have a huge impact on the viewer. ERIKA LUST: We used an Insta Pro 1 camera and shot in 8K 3D, with ambisonic surround sound. We organised the space so that we shot 180° at a time. This helped the smooth running of the shoot because when filming in immersive 360, everything that appears on set is in shot. It’s impossible to hide anything from the camera or delete it in post-production. FEED: What was your technology set-up?
THE TUBE SITES HAVE CREATED THE IDEA THAT ALL PORN IS FREE, WHICH LEADS TO THE ASSUMPTION THAT SEX WORK IS NOT REAL WORK AND DOESN’T DESERVE TO BE PAID FOR
We were also able to divide the space into “wedges” around the camera for the performers. Then we could replicate each wedge and layer them on top of each other to get the desired number of scenes in any one moment. We were able to place the performers in different scenes around the camera and give the viewer the experience of seeing the same performers in different scenes at the same time in the final piece. ERIKA LUST: Initially on my site XConfessions and in the Erika Lust Store. In the future we might think about licensing it to other VR entertainment sites. In terms of optimisation for different platforms, it was very complex. The original footage was recorded in a very high resolution and didn’t allow for all of the viewing devices to work with it correctly. FEED: How will the film be distributed?
We tried to find a balance and sought the maximum resolution possible for each device. In the end, we compromised and made three exports: one very high-quality for high-end VR goggles; one that would be compatible with most of the commercial VR and 360 goggles on the market; and then a lower-quality export for mobile devices and online streaming. ERIKA LUST: The porn industry has always been at the forefront of technological advancement, so I think it will keep developing more VR. The future of the industry is for more personalised content. The advent of camming, custom clips and social media networks for performers and fans show that it’s never been easier for performers to interact directly with viewers. FEED: How do you see adult video developing in the future?
feedzine feed.zine feedmagazine.tv
Powered by FlippingBook