2024-01-13 16:20:00
“Often, wrongly, we are considered as a constraint, as censors of sex scenes, when in reality, we provide valuable help to the performers and filmmakers,” she explains during a break between… three shoots . Thanks to us, the scenes are better, better choreographed, much more authentic and we can go much further. The best comparison is those responsible for the stunts. They make the action more beautiful, more impressive and safer for everyone. For love scenes, it’s the same thing, but with an intimacy coordinator. Even if the actors are naked, scenes of penetration, showering, childbirth or other very intimate situations are obviously simulated. My role is to make the interpreters feel comfortable and safe. We’re not talking regarding bruises or broken ribs, but regarding mental well-being. But also to choreograph the scene so that the director gets what he wants. The first phone calls concern the filmmaker’s ambitions, the story, what he wants to tell with these scenes, and followingward, you have to talk to the actors, find out what they agree to do. Everyone wins. To this day, I have never met a person who didn’t want my help. On the contrary, they are all relieved that I am giving them advice. On set, I listen, I ask them if they need more time, if they don’t prefer to choose another viewing angle, if they don’t want us to add protection for the private parts to better highlight a face, for example. We look for solutions together to obtain the desired result, taking into account the limits given by the actors. ”
Is there training for an intimacy coordinator?
“Yes, but not in Belgium or France. The Americans have been offering it since 2018. For Europeans, the training is mainly done online, with face-to-face courses from time to time, in American or English schools. I have a career as a dancer, a master’s degree in choreography and a master’s degree in London in dance films. Intimacy coordination is the combination of three elements: cinema, choreography and psychology, because a lot of support, dialogue and communication are necessary to avoid certain traumas. As I already had a solid background, I did not need to start from scratch and I completed my training in psychology: I am now accredited by IPG in Sweden. ”
What made you move from dancing to choreographing in nudity?
“It came across me and I thought it was great. At 37, like any dancer, I was thinking regarding my career change. I had studied cinema and in my head, it was clear: when I stopped dancing, I was moving towards cinema. In 2019, I took a workshop on Introduction to Intimacy Coordination. The planets have aligned. I have no problem with nudity, which I find liberating. I have no shame. Well yes, I have… (laughing). A choreographer, deep down, loves people. Its “material” is human bodies. So it’s completely in line with what I was already doing. I have always loved sensuality as a choreographer.”
On your website (www.philine-janssens.com), you talk regarding a “minefield” when it comes to intimate scenes. For what ?
“There can be dangers everywhere. The impact of a scene on an actor is not physically seen and is not necessarily immediately felt. You must therefore be careful to debrief well before and name things correctly during filming. Previously, things were not said clearly. The director’s ambitions were not known, the castings were not always transparent and the actors did not have the opportunity to give their limits or their ideas. Often, we shot the scene quickly and everyone was relieved when it was over, without really thinking regarding the direction, without wondering if we were covering the penis or if we were protecting a particular part of the body by choosing that angle. . Many actors and actresses were disgusted. Think of Maria Schneider in Last Tango in Paris, for example. Some tried to trick the actors at the last minute, and actors sometimes drank to give themselves courage. From now on, consent is very important in our society. And it can be much harder or more poetic, but depending on what has been decided by mutual agreement.”
Today, Paul Verhoeven might no longer direct Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct in Hollywood without the presence of an intimacy coordinator. ©DR
Is there more refusal of nudity than before?
“I’ve been doing this for four years, so it’s hard to compare with what was happening twenty years ago. But social media is in the minds of actors. They know that if they are seen completely naked in sex scenes, even if it’s simulated, their bodies might end up online, on porn sites or things like that. That’s what’s scary. Not the gaze of the general public, but that of the spectators who will isolate these scenes and broadcast them on gloomy sites. This is also why I am often asked to be present during casting, and sometimes even during writing. The actors need to know exactly what they are getting into. Intimacy is very personal. Some people have no problem showing themselves naked on screen but refuse to kiss on the mouth. There are also cultural limits: some people are willing to play without clothes but don’t like having their hair stroked at all. Others agree to show everything except their feet. All these questions were not asked before. Today, we must take this into account. This time for reflection that we now take allows for prettier, more respectful scenes, because the actors are more at ease. Everything is clear, they don’t ask themselves a thousand questions during the scene. Their limits are not blockages, but calls for creativity.”
Do performers ask you to improve their bodies?
“It happens, yes. On the sets, with the monitors, they see what is being filmed. They don’t want to show off a double chin or pimples on their buttocks, for example. There are very simple things to make them feel good, whether it’s makeup or post-production work. Some people don’t care, they prefer to be themselves, but in general, they are quite concerned regarding their image. You also have to take the scene into account. Some need to be raw, in full light: the redder the faces, the more realistic it is and the better. Other films are more romantic, Hollywood, with subdued bodies: we mainly see silhouettes without really recognizing what is happening. ”
Did some requests shock you?
“It takes a lot to shock me (laughing). Poetic and very classy scenes can be magnificent. It’s not necessarily: “The more naked it is, the funnier it is to do”. I have choreographed scenes with several people, more cozy, more BDSM, in collaboration with stuntmen or with fake sexes, using prosthetics or special effects: it’s interesting. We wonder how we are going to protect the actor, while telling the story as best as possible. It’s nice, because we’re part of a bigger team that requires more creativity. I like this. But I have never been confused by a request. What I refuse to do are intimate scenes with minors. I remember a film where a father abused a 12-year-old child: I refused to do it. ”
Does it change anything to work with a director?
“Not necessarily. The difference is especially marked between directors of auteur films and those who adapt a script that was provided to them. The former are often very clear regarding their expectations: they have imagined the scenes for years and we are here to make their dream come true. The others end up with scenarios that sometimes only contain one sentence, like “Hands running all over the body”, where the intimate scenes are very abstract. They turn to us to ask what we can do, how we imagine it, with what positions. ”
What is your tip for putting actors at ease during a love scene?
“Listening, honesty and transparency Everyone is reassured in a different way. Some need a room to undress, others want to be left alone or behave as normally as possible around them. It’s very personal. For some I am a mother, for others I am a person of trust coming out of the power relationships which can be very present on the sets. Sometimes they need to see in my eyes that everything is okay (laughing). In Belgium, it seems that 48% of people have experienced, on the first or second line, harassment or sexual problems. It’s shocking. So, when we arrive on a set, we have to say to ourselves that perhaps half of the people, including the technicians, have been confronted, directly or indirectly, with problems of rape or sexual assault. So that’s a lot of people to protect. ”
Philine Janssens notably worked on the series Season of Sex. ©Flanders Image
Is it true that young actors are more reluctant to take off their clothes today?
“Reluctant, no, because some are very free-minded and comfortable in their own skin. But consent is very important to them. They will say yes to many things, but only if they have been asked the question first. They are very concerned regarding respect. When I was a dancer, I was told to do it naked or in panties, and I didn’t question these instructions. Nobody was doing it. This attitude no longer exists among young people. They own their bodies. I didn’t learn this until much later, even though I didn’t experience anything traumatic. Mentalities are changing. ”
How do you bill your services?
“At the day. Unless it’s a big project. It also depends on the production budgets and the challenge proposed. ”
How many shoots do you do per year?
“Oh, a lot. I am only present on the sets, most of the time, during difficult scenes. This allows you to accumulate lots of shoots. Per year, I would therefore say between twenty and thirty films and series.”
What would be the biggest challenge for you today?
“Underwater scenes, weightless in space, with technology to see where intimacy is going in the future. I’m very curious to see how films will evolve. From an intimacy point of view, I think the future is the challenge. ”
1705167798
#Philine #Janssens #Belgian #intimacy #coordinator #wrongly #considered #censors #sex #scenes
