Good Vibrations Magazine

We caught up with a couple of finalists for the Good Vibrations Indie Erotic Film Fest, and asked them about their films that will be premiered at the competition screening at the Castro Theatre on September 17th (for more details and tickets, visit gv-ixff.org). Here’s our GV Magazine IXFF Filmmaker interviews: Éric Falardeau, director of “Cam Shot”!

About Cam Shot, by Éric Falardeau:
Cam Shot (2008, 4 min.) is a black and white erotic and fetishist film. I wanted to pay a tribute to the amazingly gorgeous women in expressionist film. Therefore, it is a visual essay about lighting, contrast, texture, and make-up. It was filmed in front of a black velvet backdrop with a single spot on the actress (a Lowell 500W). She has dark and white make-up over her whole body so the contrasts are really visible. I think the ratio is almost 16 to1!!! I almost exclusively shoot my projects on Super 8 mm film for two reasons. First, it gives a ‘’professional’’ look to the film simply because the viewer’s eyes are used to watching real film in theatre and they associate video with TV and documentary.

When shooting Cam Shot, I decided to use Kodak Tri-X black and white reversal film 7266. I wanted high contrasts: deep black and high white. This film stock enabled us to shoot with low lights while getting all the sharpness, fine grain and details needed to achieve the look wanted.

For Cam Shot, I asked the laboratory – Exclusive Film Lab in Toronto – to push the film one-stop to heighten the contrasts between black and white. It was easier and more effective than using a red filter. It really darkened the black and blast the white, thus giving the film is high contrast, expressionist and fetishistic visual. It gives the leather costume and body make-up more texture, reflectance and visual impact. We also shot the film at 18fps to give the shot an inner little slow motion effect. It adds to the film’s sensual and erotic aspects.

GV: How did you find out about Good Vibrations Independent Erotic Film Festival?
Éric: I’m living in Montreal. I did my master thesis at the university on porn film, so I knew
the Good Vibrations shop’s website from the research I made at that time. After I made
Cam Shot, I was looking for great erotic art films’ festivals and remembered reading
something about the GVIXFF on there website. I decided to bite the bullet and gave it a try!

GV: Is this your first film? Did making an erotic film come out like you anticipated?
Éric: In fact, it is my fourth film. But it is my first erotic film. I was really proud of how it
turned out, but I owned a lot of it to make up artist Véronique Dumas and actress Cyan D.

GV: What do you hope audiences will get from your work?
Éric: I just hope that people will have a lot of fun watching Cam Shot because it is a little silly
movie. I made it for the pure pleasure of watching black and white film. And as a weird
homage to the climax of Behind the Green Door!

GV: Were there any funny or unexpected moments while filming?
Éric: Yeah, doing the close-ups from under the breasts was kind of weird for me and the actress. Also, we laugh a lot because the actress had a hard time removing the paint used
for her body painting. I think it took her a week or so.

GV: What is your favorite sex toy to use in a film?
Éric: Film itself!

GV: What advice would you give to first-time erotic filmmakers, or filmmakers in general?
Éric: Inspiration is everywhere! First thing of all, I think that one must read a lot to find inspiration. Books are a good guideline for plots’ structure and storytelling’s devices when one writes his script. As a DOP I tried to look closely at how light is worked in paintings and photos. Of course, as a director I want to see as much films as possible! A writer reads books to write better and a filmmaker watches films to make better ones. The bad ones are sometime the best to learn from to see what not to do or just find good, badly or unused ideas.

GV: How does the film you submitted reflect your views on sex, and was there anything you learned in the process of making the film?
Éric: Sex is a playful thing. It has to be fun. People take sex too seriously. I think my film is about that. Please, be silly!

GV: What projects are you working on now/next?
Éric: I’ve just finished my new short, Le Cycle (The Cycle). It will have its premiere in Spain
in November. I’m also raising funds for my next short film, a stop motion animated film
entitled Crépuscule (Dawn). It will be shot in HD for a subsequent 35 mm blow-up. I’m
looking for ways to fund my first feature length film, Thanatomorphose, which I want to
shoot in 16 mm or Super 16 mm. Both are art-house horror films. The first one is more
fantastic and mythological while the second has a realistic plot and setting. When will
they be done? It all depends on funding!!!! But one thing is sure, I’ll make them
whenever happen. If there’s anyone out there interested…

Thank you and best of luck to Éric, who’s film will be premiere at the Good Vibrations Indie Erotic Film Fest competition screening at the Castro Theatre on September 17th (for more details and tickets, visit gv-ixff.org).