Good Vibrations Magazine

When you rent an S/M video from your local video store, you usually end up taking home a tape of surgically enhanced porn stars mechanically mimicking a bondage or whipping scene — or a real-life dominatrix cruelly taking same starlets to task. The whole tape usually looks cold, unsexy and forced, filmed in rooms unconvincingly cloaked in dungeon attire.

So why the hasty — everything? I think we’re encountering an inherently judgmental approach on the part of these filmmakers to the practice of S/M. S/M videos sell, so filmmakers make them — but then they go to make the videos and think, “What do guys want to see, and why do they want to watch this stuff?” So they apply the standard-issue porn formula of big-titted cartoon females, give them shiny black clothes and whips, throw together a dungeon, and off they go. This is fine for someone who just wants the visuals, but for the viewer genuinely interested in S/M who gets off on watching it, there is a problem with these strategies: the resultant movies suck.

So, again, we’re served up a plateful of assumptions about sex when what we want to do is get off watching a video. The psychology behind commercial S/M videos follows predictable stereotyping and oversimplification of male and female sex drives — that viewers are male, and that the viewers are in some way flawed or depraved, and so will watch substandard fare. Take it or leave it, perverts. Well, you don’t have to take it if you don’t want to; let Silicone Valley continue repeating its own boring parodies, and check out what the independent S/M filmmakers are up to.

A great example of what you can find on the other side of the S/M porn rainbow is the work of newcomer (to making movies, not S/M) Cléo Dubois. Domina Cléo Dubois is a renowned BDSM educator, ritualist, educational/play video maker and community player. Her Academy of S/M Arts teaches bondage and S/M to couples and new dominants in the privacy of her dungeon, in community venues and at leather conferences. Her first video, The Pain Game, combines education and erotic titillation in scenes with real players, and has been screened at film festivals both locally and internationally. Her newest video, Tie me Up!, takes the viewer by the hand through three real-life bondage-oriented S/M sessions with two female submissives and a male top that consents to punishment at Cléo’s loving hand. The tenderness and deep connections between Cléo and her clients is startling to watch, and creates scenes dripping with passion and arousal. She also gives essential pointers about self-conduct throughout a scene — information that you just can’t get in a book. At the video’s finish, each knot and bondage predicament is clearly explained and demonstrated, should you want to try it at home. I enjoyed the video immensely.

I was lucky to catch this very busy woman and ask her a few questions about making S/M films.

What made you want to start making films?

I wanted to show people what loving S/M play really is. Most of what you see out there isn’t real. Without knowing the complications and learning curve involved in making videos, I started the taping of The Pain Game. I am very fortunate to live in an area where one of my videographers is also a member of my community. Those who embrace the submissive side of play in the video wanted to be involved with the project because they are real players, and feel that it’s important to show loving consensual BDSM play and give pointers to those wanting to explore that erotic exchange with their partners. As production proceeded, we kept putting in more emotional and psychological interaction between me and the submissives. That made it hotter, more intimate, in addition to being educational. I am amazed at how well The Pain Game was received by the sex-positive community and how folks like you at Good Vibes wanted to distribute it. The video also showed at LGBT film festivals across the country and recently a clip of it screened at the LadyFest. The acceptance encouraged me to make another video, this time focusing on bondage. This is where Tie Me Up! was born.

What were your motivations for making Tie Me Up! your next project?

Bondage is the most common exploration of all fetishes; many people like to use a little restraint as a part of sex play. Through the years I have tied up so many folks in my playroom, and given countless seminars on the subject of bondage and S/M, that I felt that I could share some of the techniques, as well as psychological insights I have learned and enjoyed. I also wanted to show that it’s okay for a submissive to be bratty and want to be taken down. Jana’s mischievousness was fun; it gave me a good reason to spank her and added fire to our play. I also wanted to show that there is inherent power in surrendering control in the bedroom (or dungeon). Many folks who have the dominant role most of the time in their daily lives want to experience being helpless at the hands of a lover. They crave that freedom. A paradox indeed! That is why in Tie Me Up! I show a strong male dominant eventually surrendering to my taking him down.

Did you have any realizations about S/M, or what you wanted to say about S/M while making the film?

It is sometimes difficult to tune in to each other in front of a camera, like we do privately, so I became even more aware that the most important thing I wanted to share with the viewers is the energy between me and the three players. The ones I tied up, teased and tormented.

Did anything funny or interesting happen while you were making the film?

It was unusually hot for the spring that weekend. With the heat of the lights and the heat of the day, I did quite a bit of tying and untying so that we could run back and forth to the fan so that no one would wilt or lose their makeup!

Do you plan to continue making videos? What can we look forward to from you in the near future?

Sure. I really want to create another work that ties all the elements together: intense BDSM, heart connection, inner seeking and powerful arousal. I am thinking how much I would like to ask Creed (the male participant from Tie Me Up!) again to be in the next project. I also would love to do a three-way scene with a hot couple that can share their passion for BDSM on camera with me. I love working with couples, encouraging them to go a little further. Feeling the magic of S/M… you know producing videos is quite costly and unless I get a sponsor it will take some time but hopefully that will happen soon!

Visit the Cléo Dubois Academy of S/M Arts: www.sm-arts.com.