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Intimacy on Set

The Observer: How movie sex scenes really work

18/1/2020

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O'Brien told news.com.au that one of the significant developments in the industry brought on by the MeToo movement and multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against Harvey Weinstein was that it had "invited a positive 'no' in the industry".

"We want to know your 'no'. We want to know what's not suitable for you as a person, and we can work creatively with an actor with your agreement and consent and help the production. When we work from a clear 'yes' from the actors, it'll be a way better sex scene because the actor can be free, they can be open, which you can see from the scenes in Sex Education."

Intimacy co-ordinators like O'Brien are also skilled to choreograph the intimate content - that could involve where camera angles might go or where legs are placed.

"We have an understanding of physicality, body movements and anatomy, and of an actor's process and how they can serve the script," she said.

Ideally, O'Brien would be able to have time during rehearsals to go through the process, but she has found that "old school people" are still resistant to what she brings.

"They have short shrift for the work and don't really understand or want to understand. It's very frustrating when productions are calling us in and wanting the role there, but then I come up against resistance of actually implementing the work on set.

"One of the misunderstood parts of my job is what we take up too much time or we're taking something away from the director."

O'Brien said all she was asking for on set was 10 or 15 minutes to rehearse the intimate content.

"And then once you get in front of the camera, your actors can be free because they know they can trust where they're going to be touched and where they're touching their fellow actor," she said.

She said when she was not given the time to rehearse, it often made for an awkward scene.

"If the choreography isn't there, the audience will say (it) doesn't look real," she said.

"I had a situation the other day where, by the third scene, the director gave me no time to work with the actor. I went away thinking that scene isn't going to read.

"Very often the director is challenged because they have a whole lot of things to get through, but it's mad to skip that bit when you know that scene isn't going to be the scene it could be if they had allowed us to bring in our skills and support them."

Still, O'Brien said that despite the regressive forces, the industry was changing. She said she had worked on many productions in 2019 and been "rushed off her feet".

The company she founded, Intimacy on Set, counts three intimacy co-ordinators in training in Australia including dancer Chloe Dallimore and actor Michala Banas.

O'Brien added that Sex Education, filmed in Wales and starring Gillian Anderson, Asa Butterfield and Ncuti Gatwa, had been a joy to work on and hoped it would become a model for how productions can work with intimacy co-ordinators, especially when there are young actors involved.

"It's exploring so many different aspects of our lovemaking, not just for young people but for us as a whole," she said.


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Vice: The Stars of 'Sex Education' Learned a Lot from Acting Like Mating Slugs

17/1/2020

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Butterfield even credits his time working on the series with helping him feel more comfortable talking about sex, and realizing "that it's all normal. You don't have to be embarrassed by it." What has also helped him and other cast members not just open up more, but create a more comfortable and safe space for filming sexual scenes was having intimacy director Ita O'Brien on set.

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The Screenster Podcast: Intimacy on Set with Ita O'Brien

17/1/2020

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Intimacy Coordinator and Movement Director, Ita O'Brien, joins the podcast this week to talk about her work which involves establishing best practice when dealing with intimacy, sexual content and nudity in film, television and theatre. Georgie finds out about the brilliant productions Ita has worked on, such as 'Sex Education' on Netflix and why the work of Intimacy Coordinators is so important in this industry.

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London Post: Sex Education’s intimacy coordinator comes to Elephant & Castle

16/1/2020

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​With Netflix’s Sex Education returning to our screens next week, Ita O’Brien, the show’s expert intimacy coordinator, will be in Elephant & Castle’s London College of Communication (UAL) for a seminar on how actors and directors work to support the actor.

The industry is now embracing intimacy coordination on set and stage with the help of experts like O’Brien, to provide support to the industry in the post #MeToo landscape.

The seminar will cover:

Best practice when working with intimacy, simulated sex scenes, and nudity
A discussion on how intimacy affects roles, and how actors can work together to create a safer space
Date: Monday 27th January

Time: 14:00-17:00

Where: London College of Communication, Lecture Theatre A, Elephant & Castle, London, SE1 6SB (Nearest tube station: Elephant & Castle)

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Evening Standard: Aimee Lou Wood: Sex Education role made me embrace embarrassment

14/1/2020

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The show has been celebrated for its candid — read: graphic — depiction of sex. Netflix employed an intimacy director, Ita O’Brien, on set to ensure the cast always felt safe; consented without pressure; and were able to discuss where they were and weren’t comfortable being touched.

O’Brien’s methods include a workshop, where cast members could practise impressions of animals having sex. This wasn’t just a riotous icebreaker, Wood says. “[Ita’s] going, ‘Oh yeah, I do thrusts as a bonobo monkey’, and you’re like, ‘OK, that’s cool because it’s distancing me from the character’.

“So this is Aimee Gibbs having sex, not Aimee Lou Wood.” She adds that the sensitivity is game-changing. “You don’t want to feel vulnerable, like your skin has been stripped off, and then watch it back and go, ‘Why did I do that? I wasn’t comfortable, and now the whole world can see it’.”  For that crumpet scene, “the vain part of me was like, ‘This is so embarrassing’,” says Wood.

“But then I was like, ‘I’d much rather this, wearing days-of-the-week pants, in a big pink T-shirt, in unflattering positions and grunting, so that girls feel seen’.” Rather than? “Rather than watching some person in Victoria’s Secret lingerie with a bit of sweat dripping down her chest. That’s bullshit.”

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BT TV: Sex Education season 2: Secrets from the set - Smoothie sick, alternate endings and mozzarella shopping

14/1/2020

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One of the big behind-the-scenes stories that came out of season one was the show’s decision to hire intimacy co-ordinator Ita O’Brien.

"You never have a fight scene without a fight director. Why would you have a sex scene without a sex director?" says Patricia.

"Or a dance scene without a dance choreographer. You don’t just fling people together in a room," adds Emma.

Out of all the scenes that the cast shoot on the series, the sex scenes sound the most mundane with the biggest challenge being reminding themselves that they’re supposed to be enjoying themselves while being asked to "start on a number two orgasm and work to a number four".

"You have beats. It’s not as glamourous as it might look," explains Emma. "You have to hit certain beats. You come towards him and touch him here, here and here. You kiss for three beats and then move to the wall."

Asa, who Ncuti describes as a "busy boy" this season, said: "It often looks like we’re doing things, but often it’s just your hand going under a table. You often have to remind yourself in a scene that you’re supposed to be doing stuff so you will be feeling a certain way. Nothing is actually going on. There is no awkwardness. You just have to remember that you’re doing more than you think you’re doing."

Explaining the lengths that the crew went to in making the cast feel comfortable, Emma said: "We had a whole morning where we talked with the directors, cast and writers about our own experiences of intimacy. A massive conversation. And then we had a more physical session about physical consent. There were animal rhythms and all that stuff.  It was a real ice-breaker.

"And then you walk into the room and you feel empowered to say no, no, no to this, this and this. And I’ve taken it on to other jobs and it wasn’t scary doing that. And thank god it’s happening. It’s really necessary and about time."



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BBC Radio 5: Nihal interviews the cast of sex education on preparing for sex scenes

14/1/2020

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WDR: Intimacy advice in film - Julia Effertz (AUDIO in German)

9/1/2020

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There are film scenes that are uncomfortable or dangerous for actors. Stunt doubles help out with action scenes. Battle scenes are choreographed down to the smallest detail so that nobody gets hurt. There has been no support for other scenes that can be hurtful: sex and nude scenes.

Sex scenes can violate privacy and can be emotionally, physically and mentally stressful. For example, if there is a huge team in the room. When a director repeats a violent sex scene many times. When actors are touched in places where they don't want to be touched.

For a long time there was hardly any talk about the risk of injury in intimate scenes. Now something is happening: so-called intimacy coordinators are being established to ensure the security of nude scenes in the film. The United States and the UK have already set standards for staging intimate scenes. Now there is also the first intimacy coordinator in Germany: the actress and screenwriter Julia Effertz.

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Metro: Sex Education’s NSFW scenes are choreographed move-by-move as Aimee Lou Wood admits it’s ‘really fun’

8/1/2020

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Netflix’s Sex Education might be peppered with NSFW scenes (which shouldn’t come as any surprise) but the cast enjoy filming them as they are all carefully choreographed.

Aimee Lou Wood, who plays Aimee Gibbs in the series, revealed that they all find it ‘really fun’ filming the show’s – often cringeworthy – sex scenes as their moves are planned in advance. 



Speaking ahead of the launch of season two, Aimee told Metro.co.uk that the cast aren’t worried about filming the graphic scenes: ‘It’s actually really fun and I find it really helpful, those sex scenes, because you’re spending a lot of time with your character.

‘You could have full days of doing those kinds of scenes, just you and the director and one other person, so it’s probably the most time that I have personally to really sit with Aimee and be with the character and get to really know who she was.’

She added that seeing how a person behaves in the bedroom helps you get to know them better, explaining: ‘It helped me inform the rest of my characterisation and the other scenes so much, doing those sex scenes, because it says so much about person, how they have sex.

‘So it’s just helpful, it informs so much. That’s why sex scenes are great if they’re done well and if they’re not gratuitous, because it’s a person in their most vulnerable state.

‘You get to feel that you really get to know the character if it’s done honestly and not, you know, mood lighting.’

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Girlsroom.PL: THE FUTURE BELONGS TO INTIMACY COORDINATORS?

7/1/2020

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"Sex Education" - a series telling in a natural way about the first sexual experiences of a group of teenagers - is one of the productions that can boast of being on the set of an intimacy coordinator. Although this profession has appeared only recently, it is already radically changing standards in the film industry. What exactly do intimacy coordinators do? We talk about it with Ita O'Brian, a precursor in the industry. on the set of "Sex Education".

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Intimacy on Set Ltd
Reg. in England & Wales No.11289710