THE SECRET LIFE OF AN ENGLISH ROSE

By Hannah Harper

Monthly Column Exclusively at JasonCurious.com

Column #5: My Directorial Debut - Day One

I walked into the Bellini house and looked around. I looked at the pool, the living room, the kitchen area where make up was setting up and as I looked, my stomach churned. The first girl came into the house and headed straight for the make up chair, she didn't look around, she didn't have to because she knew the director would tell her everything she needed to know for the next few hours, what to wear, what to say, even what positions to have sex. I watched her, almost with jealously. I am very used to being that girl but on that particular day, I wasn't. I was the director.

Now decision-making is not my forte but as you can imagine it is a key skill needed as a director so I was trying very hard that morning to make quick, accurate and educated decisions. Decisions on sets, make-up, lighting even the type of food the caterer should cook - this was a tough one as I very rarely eat on porn sets!

This was day one of a two-day shoot, my directorial debut. My first girl was in make up, I had picked the first set and it was being lit, the caterers were starting breakfast and I was waiting for the rest of my crew to arrive. I barely dared to think it but right at that moment it almost seemed too easy. Too easy compared to thinking of a script idea and writing it, too easy compared to trying to cast good-looking, young, reliable and sexual girls to star in it, to schedule the two days logically and cost effectively, to lose and replace two girls the day before. However, with this feeling of simplicity came the biggest wave of uneasiness about the shoot that I had experienced so far.

This did not last for long though as my cameraman (slash very experienced director) Francois arrived at the location and we talked through the day ahead. I had scheduled three sex scenes and a little dialogue. The first thing to shoot that morning was an anal scene with Jamie Brooks and new male talent Marco. I had no worries about this scene, since Marco came to Direct Models I had never heard of him having a bad day and Jamie I knew always put 100% into making her scenes, passionate, dirty and fun to watch.

I did have to worry about something else though. One of my replacements was a girl very new to the industry. I had greeted her and her boyfriend when they arrived and the boyfriend had expressed wishes to stay with his girl on set. I had politely declined stating truthfully that there was going to be many people on set that day because of the press covering the shoot and the large cast and the homeowners prefer to keep people to a minimum. I thought the issue was resolved until the boyfriend pulled me aside half an hour later to say his girlfriend was very upset and would not shoot unless he could stay on set all day. I walked with him to their car where she was sitting. I knew I was taking a gamble as I needed her both days but did not want the boyfriend to hang out, as honestly this would have irritated the hell out of me. His girlfriend was booked only to do girl/girl and the director was me, what did they think would happen to her? I talked to her gently for about ten minutes and then walked away from the car to leave the two of them to make a decision. As I walked back to the location I wondered if I had just made a big mistake, were they just going to drive away?

Back on set, we were ready to start Jamie's sex scene. I discussed with Jamie and Marco which positions they would like to do, one vaginal, two anal and settled behind the monitor to direct my first sex scene. (I was very relieved to see the girlfriend coming back in out of the corner of my eye and pulled the make up artist aside to explain how nervous she was.)

I thought it would be weird to watch Jamie have sex as she is one of my close friends but sitting behind the monitor detached me from that and I was able to relax and enjoy the scene. It didn't need much directing Marco and Jamie worked well together showing a lot of passion, it wasn't long before the scene was over and we were onto the dialogue we had to shoot.

Sin City needed a teen movie so I had written the script based on my own life; having the girls from Direct Models staying with me in my house and the crazy things we all get up to. It was funny because I cast a couple of my friends in the movie that actually have lived in the house and the script paralleled our lives so closely that when they asked me questions throughout the two days I had to keep saying do you mean in the movie or in real life? 

The dialogue went well, as did my second scene of the day, another anal scene with Haley Paige and Trent Tosoro. Haley really impressed me with the dirty talk I asked her to do to lead into the scene and again before I knew it the scene was almost over. I asked Trent to cum over her boobs as Haley needed to be turned around for a box cover shoot. 

The last scene I shot that day was a three-way girl/girl scene. In retrospect, I have decided that this was very ambitious. I have heard many directors complain about the energy levels and enthusiasm of girl/girl scenes, I have even experienced it first hand as a performer. I think casting is everything and I had lost two of my original girls from this scene. The girls all looked good and tried hard but the chemistry just wasn't there. So I left that first day worried about that scene and worried whether the movie was 'teeny' enough. I had 11 missed calls, as there was no reception at that location and as Harmony Rose, Roxy Jezel and I arrived at our house, the town car was already there to take us to The XRCO Awards.

Ten minutes later, we dashed back out of the house and into the town car. We arrived at the awards at ten, which meant that they were almost over. I couldn't drink because I was shooting the next day; all my friends were already drunk. There is nothing worse than being the only sober one at a party. After about an hour I had had enough, I sat in the back of the Direct Models limo for about 20 minutes on my own before everyone else piled in. Halfway home one of the girls' decided she needed to pee and wasn't going to wait so we ended up passing her glasses back and forth and throwing it out the window! I thought it was going to be disastrous but she showed an amazing amount of bladder control considering how drunk she was! I wondered if I could work it into a script somehow, maybe it would seem too far-fetched! And after what seemed like an eternity, we were home. However even after begging my two friends to sleep that night, (as they were shooting for me the next day), they went back out and I went upstairs to start a very fretful night's sleep.

See Hannah Harper's "Black Book" entry on JasonCurious.com for where else you can find her in video and print on JasonCurious.com.

Visit Hannah Harper's official web site at www.hannahharper.net or drop her an email and let her know your thoughts on her column at Hannah@hannahharper.net.