LET’S GET INTIMATE

BY: Amanda Jane Stern

Part of being an actor means knowing that you may be asked to film an intimate scene at some point. Those scenes can range anywhere from just kissing to a nude sex scene. The question is how to make those scenes look good on camera and film them comfortably and safely for the actors and crews. I spent the last couple of weeks filming an independent feature film that I also wrote, called Perfectly Good Moment. The film is a two-character erotic drama/psychological thriller about a couple with a somewhat significant age gap that explores the fine line between sexy and dangerous. One of the most critical aspects of the story is how sex and intimacy are interwoven. The intimate scenes do not stand on their own but are an integral part of how the two characters communicate.

After officially bringing on my co-star, Broadway actor Stephen Carlile, for whom I’d written the male lead, and our director Lauren Greenhall, the next person we brought on board was our intimacy coordinator, Acacia. We only had a couple of weeks to create the kind of chemistry and intimacy that a couple of eight years would have, despite being two people who had only ever met once and were now working together for the first time. So before we could get to blocking out any of the intimate moments, Stephen and I both met one-on-one with Acacia to go over our boundaries, what we were comfortable with, what was too much. Acacia took that information and helped Lauren craft the right ways to stage and film the intimate scenes that would look best for the camera without crossing any boundaries. 

Some would say that having an intimacy coordinator on your set takes away the sexiness from a scene. On the contrary, I think that having an intimacy coordinator made everything sexier. They specialize in making intimacy look effortless on screen or stage, and yes, they serve a vital role in safety. However, it is also their job to make sure everyone feels respected, pushing intimate scenes to be even better. If everyone on set feels completely safe, then the performers feel secure pushing things even further. Because we spent so much time working with Acacia, pages that were sexy in the script became ten times even more erotic on the screen. I’d even go so far as to say that the intimate scenes became some of the easiest ones to film because we fostered such an open environment. They were even fun.

Perfectly Good Moment is now in the beginning stages of post-production. You can follow the film’s development on IMDb, Instagram, and Twitter.