That’s a Fact, Jack!
I was reading and interview with director, Jack the Zipper, that Gene Ross posted from IESB.net (whatever that is) and I was struck by a couple of things Mister Zipper was quoted as saying.
When the interviewer asked, “You have a very interesting way of shooting your movies, from different camera angles to very unique styles of lighting, what has been your inspiration?” JTZ responded, “Thanks…I’m drawing heavily from experiences, memory, and a lack of technical training.”
That kind of honesty, within the ranks of porn’s directors, is refreshing– Especially that last part about technical stuff. Mister Z should fare well in this industry. From a technical perspective, he fits in perfectly with so many of his peers and contemporaries.
But the thing JTZ said that I found particularly insightful was when he was asked about his perceptions of the jizz biz. Jack said: “…before I left New York for Los Angeles I imagined porn was like this new punk rock frontier or something, a wide open opportunity to express something inside a very wealthy and tolerant industry. Now I think its more like boxing, you hype a project to the hilt no matter how good or bad it is for maximum bang at the box office, then on to the next event.”
Amen to that, Jack. Or, as Bill Murray once said in that old comedy, Stripes: “That’s a fact, Jack!”
Yep, I’m with Jack on this one. There are few industries, besides porn, where so much over-the-top hype is heaped on crap that is so unworthy of said hype. I’m not coming down on porn, per se, but I think people sometimes forget what porn is: Masturbation fodder.
Considering the piles of press releases that go out daily, hyping the shit out of this fuck flick and that fuck flick, pretending that it’s all cutting edge and taking it to new levels and never seen before and oh so mainstream, well, it’s enough to make one vomit.
Who is kidding who here? I’ve rarely seen anyone make a porn flick that approaches some of mainstream’s cheeziest stuff when you compare things like producton value, special effects, or… perhaps most importantly, the acting. And I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. Porn is porn. It’s about sex. Well, it’s supposed to be about sex. And it’s supposed to cut right to the chase when it comes to things like sexually turning-on its audience: An audience overwhelmingly comprised of men who, as a rule, don’t take much to turn-on. (Until they become jaded and desensitized after watching way too much porn.)
Not only that, but where is most of this praising hype heaped? On the very same people who make porn. What’s with that? I don’t know about others who make this shit but I don’t buy porn. So why is so much of the hype heaped on me and others like me? Shouldn’t the hype go out directly to the consumers and the retailers?
Okay. I’m done being a curmudgeon. BTW, I could be wrong but, to comment on something else I recently read, I’m pretty sure Michael Ninn ain’t Zalman King. If he is, he’s gone the wrong way in his career. And to Jack the Zipper: I’ll be looking forward to seeing if your new flick for Vivid comes even close to achieving the level of “green screen” and CGI special effects seen in mainstream flicks like “Sky Captain” and “Sin City” as you (sort of) infered it might.
Posted by jimmyD under It's all the same crap. |