Anyone have an answer to the question in the title? It's been bugging me for ages this question. Nearly all the acting in adult content is the same and very very Very fake. The only studio I currently know that makes decent movies with good acting (or at least not overly terible acting) is kink, but they have long stopped making good content now, I believe for some legal reasons???
MissaX studio sort of make movies with acting in them and is nice to watch, but nothing like what kink made. Still a good watch.
And does any one else know of other studios or movies that have some good acting?
Don't post to any streaming sites.
I appreciate any help to find new and good content from you all. Name your favourite.
^^It's pretty simple, generally speaking, most porn stars can't act. There are some who aren't bad, but most of them are pretty terrible. I don't think acting is necessarily an easy thing, so there's no reason to think just anyone can do it.
Porn stars are usually hired because of their looks and their willingness to get naked and fuck on camera, not due to their thespian ability.
Porn is not perceived as artform, probably because most of the time it is not. People have tried and dabbled and retired. You'll find people being snarky about it even here and their insecurity attracts others which is most unfortunate.
Acting and screen presence does matter but consumer behaviour is such that most people live sort of a double life. They watch porn to relieve themselves of stress and don't give much thought to it.
There was a reddit thread about which actor or actress, if they do porn, can make you pay for porn and everyone was trying to be funny and look cool. A few people who named desirable women were downvoted.
As it stands, porn consumption is largely unconscious behaviour today. We don't ever get a trailer even two weeks before release. It is consume as you go, on the go sort of thing.
^ Maybe I define art differently, but most of the time porn IS art; and, while I wouldn't use the term, 'consumer behavior', I'd agree that viewers typically aren't very critical-but that's the case with most art. What percent of people on a gallery hop are critical and active viewers? How much of music is simply a backdrop for listeners? That said, I agree that when it comes to porn, viewers are especially passive.
Why bad acting? One thing I'll say is, if you took many of those performers and cast them in TV or film, you might actually see them as good actors. That would be due not only to the obviously higher production budgets (and coaching that is included in that) but to the nature of the scripts. Most porn is about the sex, and like any art porn needs context, and a simple way (though not the only way) of providing context is through dialog. Most porn scripts exist only to the provide the 'why' of the sex, and the more culturally improbable the sex becomes, the more challenging it is to write a script let alone a brief one. How does one write a viable script about a 48 year old woman who exposes herself to her daughter's boyfriend, the boyfriend, goes for it, and the daughter shows up initially disgusted but despite reservations actually joins her mother and boyfriend for a threesome? Oh, and for legal reasons it has to be 'step'-daughter, and the script can't exceed five minutes.
Maybe that helps to explain why you see bad acting. For porn where the focus is more on the script, you could look up Erika Lust.
These are all good anwsers, but I agree with Zingerbook, that porn IS art. The porn doesn't have to be "realistic" to the extent that it becomes hard to get into the main part.. the sex. Kink did very well with this. With the acting part at the beginning of the porn is set and done well, I beleive it can stimulate the viewers imagination and even make them want to view the content again and even purchase more from studios. I even find myself viewing kinks content over and over because it did something different and added acting. If they continude on this path I would probably be a broke man. ( Anybody know why they stopped? )
With just like 10 minutes of decent acting in a clip is enough to play on our imaginations, even make the viewer want to be the one in the clip and in affect get us even more excited. It sets everything for the sex scene. Now all we really do is skip everything and just get to the sex because. Its BORING. Because of that we wont even want to see the clips again.
Some acting can be funny on purpose of course, Example freaky fembot scenes. Thats all for jokes and can even make me laugh some times.
Good acting in more clips I think could really have potential if more studios did this. It can really be a big turn on for us the viewers to play on our minds and senses.
The fact that adult stars cant act I think doesn't count. If kink did it then I believe others can too.
User30j, Thanks for that YT clip. Was a good watch :)
I think that in most cases the acting in porn is good enough for what's trying to accomplish. I tend to think that in most cases better acting wouldn't really enhance the scene. The average porn acting is about on the same level as those old Skinamax movies from the 90s in my opinion. It's been touched on why the acting in porn can be bad. The reason I think are obvious when you think about it. Less toss out the reasoning that the performers aren't actors. Because if they were in mainstream productions many of them would do a passable acting job. But you need to remember...I pretty sure the performers don't get their "script" until maybe a few hours (if that) before they shot the scene. The "directors" usually aren't trained directors or actors themselves, so they really don't know how to pull a good performance from the performers. I'm guessing they do multiple takes until the scene is the best it could be. "Good enough" is probably what the director settles for. Many of the performers don't really like "acting". They do it but probably prefer that they didn't have to. I can't remember who it was but I remember one porngirl recently saying she doesn't want to do scenes that require acting any more.
1) Acting is a skill that takes years of training and experience, which most performers don't have when getting into the industry.
2) The script they're given is badly written, along with the possibility performers get the script the day they're shooting and don't have time to rehearse their lines. That's why the dialogue delivered is weak.
3) The director has no idea how to direct an acting scene. They are good cinematographers who just know how to hold a camera during sex.
4) Most studios just don't care
That's why I think It's amazing we've got somebody like Maitland Ward in the business.
Back in the 'Golden Age' there were people about who could really act, Veronica Hart, Jamie Gillis, John Leslie, and Samantha Fox are obvious examples, though don't think the latter had any training. Those off the top of my head, and there were a significant number of others. There have been plenty more over the years who could no doubt turn in a decent performance given half a chance had the main focus of producers been other than just churning out as much product as possible. The 'who cares about plot or dialogue ha ha' attitude hardly helps.
I don't mind if the acting is merely adequate, as long as the production concerned has been written, directed and performed by people who really care about their product, and strive to make it as erotic/arousing/raunchy, even disturbing, and imaginative as possible.
Real acting - like being a male porn performer - is something people fantasize they can do. But they really can't. The performer Steve Perry aka Ben Dover once took part in a reality show where he underwent theatrical training, fancying himself as a soap star, only to fall at the first fence in preparation to acting at this relatively humble level. Am sure he was content in the knowledge he was still a first-rate porn performer though.
This is the most concise. Go watch Gary Oldman in Star Citizen, and watch how a good actor can collapse under bad script and direction. Hollywood is also a numbers game. You can audition 1000 women to find one Natalie Portman. Now imagine trying to find good acting among 10-20 active porn girls at any one time
^ Everytime I see a hamfest of acting in a porn scene it just feels like a cheap, sleazy way from the director in trying to get the viewer be more aroused before the sex begins. But it just falls flat on It's face.
Acting is not that big of a deal in porn in my opinion. Whats more important is the scenario,setting,production,vibe of the scene etc. The producers/directors in porn may be more important then the actors at times
I tend to think the most important "acting" in porn is when the girls act like they're enjoying themselves when they perhaps really aren't. Unfortunately, that's the case in many scenes.
Porn back then was a different type of thing. Lots t of the porn performers back then were people who turned to porn because because they couldn't break into mainstream acting. The directors were trained directors who couldn't get into mainstream film. Most of the porn in those days were movies because they played in actual theaters so acting skills were more important than they are today. I know some people are a fan of that era but for me personally I don't like porn that's mostly trying to be a story that has a little sex in it. I'd much rather mostly sex with a little story to set up the sex scenes. I think porn actually got better when the emphasis evolved to making the sex scenes the top priority and the girls looks and/or performance skills became more important than acting ability.
Lastly, I sometimes wonder if a great Hollywood director and great actresses and actors made a porn movie would it be great porn. I think it would be slick and well shot (maybe) but I don't know if it would be "better" per se than what we get now.
Honestly,a good to great Hollywood director,with some decent actresses/actors willing to go the length and good resources,just outta the blue being told "make me an erotic/sexually charged film,i dont care if its XXX Rated" their gonna most likely still show restraint and still end up making something way hotter then what porn can offer,just off artistic sensibilities alone. You have to remember that a movie role can require everyone involved to be in a certain shape,they can manipulate things etc. A Hollywood director with no restraints,attractive actors and a real vision to just straight make an erotica,nothing else too it,would focus on visual appeal,then the sex,because they wanna make sure what your watching,arouses you,the scenario,how man touches/fucks woman,how woman touches woman,how do we make undressing look erotic,things that porn directors really dont give af about.
Porn nowadays,feels way too carny,porn actors/actresses are way closer to circus performers then actors now. I think a HW director would focus on the emotion of sexual situations,instead of worrying about getting as many sex tricks into a scene with bad dialogue,trading hardcore sex for arousing sensuality. Its like,im almost sure a HW director with no constraints would make a better erotica film then anything out right now,and im also sure they would avoid making their film into anything resembling porn.
A Bobbi Starr scene with three men had a set up. But after filming it the director realised it was so bad that he left it out and just put it in the BTS.
Yeah but that is a disingenuous statement because you named two extraordinary actresses that are now in their 70's and 80's as example. Have you seen photos of a young Judi Dench? You could just as easily replace either women with Helen Mirren who is 77 and it would have the same effect but take any of them when they were still in the 20's, 30's or in the case of Helen well into her 50's (she was still hot looking) and that changes the equation.
I miss the days when you had decent scenario driven porn and I'm not talking feature porn movies but just simple vignettes driven porn scenes where the performers played a role more or less like a normal person as opposed to one of pornstar. Today it rarely matters what role the performers are playing because the directions they are given is that it should be as porny as possible thereby negating any possibility for the viewer to fantasize that this could be your neighbor, class mate, co-worker or any other association we might have. In effect modern porn is all about over the top performances.
I pretty much have given up seeing decent scenario driven porn like in the past but can we just get performances that are closer to normal. No more screaming at the top of their lungs as though they are having orgasms every 2 minutes in a 40 minute long porn scene.
Sometimes life is goofier than a monkey on ether 12073 Posts 7/10
Posted - Sep 24 2022 : 8:18PM
^ Fine, how's this: Saoirse Ronan, Shailene Woodley, and Anya Taylor-Joy are good young actresses. I have no interest in seeing any of them in a porno.
Conversely, do you sometimes enjoy when the acting is very bad? I know I do. I find bad acting hot when the model is conventionally hot looking and gives that born privileged vibe.
I absolutely agree that a good/great Hollywood director with some good actors could make great "erotica" or erotic movies/scenes. Hell, there's been plenty of mainstream Hollywood movies that have sex scenes waaay hotter than any porn movie. And as strange as it may sound I've seen plenty of mainstream Hollywood movies that have more realistic looking sex scenes that didn't involve any actual penetration that look more real than any porn movie that has actual sex. But in my mind "erotica" and typical porn scenes are two different things...as you point out.I don't know if a typical Hollywood director would make "better" porn than what the typical porn watcher likes because the Hollywood director would make it sexy or erotic and the type of porn lots of porn watchers like (particularly in these forums) is all about just doing things to the woman.Exactly. That's why I say the Hollywood director would make better sex scenes but not necessarily a better version of the type of porn/sex many porn watchers want to see these days. What most porn toady isn't really sex per se. It's performances of girls pleasing men and men doing as many things to the girls as they can.
I think all those actresses could do a great porn performance as long as it was it was acting. However if there was actual penetration involved I don't know if their performance wouldn't fall apart. I also believe that they could do great "love scenes" but doing the type of porn being done today is something completely different.
I can't help but feel that your statement implies that these women couldn't do an actual porn scene where penetration is involved when I think the opposite is true. In fact all those leaked nude pictures and videos of famous actresses, singers and models of the last few years tends to point to people who love to take naked pictures of themselves and we aren't talking artistic nudes here. Is it too far fetch to believe that they make their own sex videos? Where you and I might agree is that none of those women will ever do a real porn movie where actual penetration is involved because it would be a career ending act and therefore not going to happen.
It's an interesting discussion for sure and I think there are a lot of great points being made in this thread. It's not going to happen and it's not being made in the industry right now, but I do think that it should be possible to make something - some porn - that bridges the gap of what you're talking about. Yes, porn today is more of an athletic performance going through the motions from position A to Z, with often the most basic of setups. But when looked at individually, sex scenes in mainstream movies don't really rely upon complex setups anyway. The Hollywood sex scenes can still work on their own sensual merit, without backstory, and online they are often taken out of context and reposted again and again as bits or GIFs - and still being enjoyed by the consumers.
I don't expect porn performers to deliver lines like they're masters of that particular craft, and I'm fine with them doing the best they can. And if someone is just completely hopeless, I think it's up to the directors/producers/bookers to consider whether or not that performer is right for the project at hand. For me, the issue really comes down to the sex (well, duh) and the way you choose to shoot and cut it. And that boils down to the directors and the editors.
I understand that most porn today is made on next to nothing budgets and under demanding time constraints, but for those people/companies that have the luxury of being able to try and push the envelope just a little, like VMG, there should be a way to hit the sex checkmarks in their flicks while also creating a presentation that appears closer to the sex scenes coming out of Hollywood. I would love to see porn recreations of some of the great sex scenes that has come out of Hollywood over the years - Nathalie Emmanuel and Carice van Houten in Game of Thrones or Julianna Guill in Friday the 13th for instance - however not as surface level recreations that are just regular porn scenes in another coat of paint, but rather as thought out scenes where great detail has been taken to replicate the same angles, the same lighting and the same feel as the originals. From there you would then build out the scenes and find and fill in gaps with actual hardcore sex. And the explicit sex would be shot from angles and in ways that fit the feel of original scene, not necessarily from the typical porn angles. Being true to that original feel could then mean that some parts would actually end up looking more like softcore instead, since you might end up lacking the constant view of the genitals, but so be it. Because to hit the Hollywood feel, I think it requires a director who knows when to show restraint. And someone who has a natural knack for timing and for sexual buildup. Maybe most directors in the industry don't have those instincts. The way I see it though, it is not completely impossible for someone somewhere in one of the countless porn companies in the world to actually create scenes that feel closer to Hollywood sex scenes. But it will certainly require more work and more attention to detail from the filmmakers than you see in most porn productions.
Right,most porn just doesn't care to show restraint and theres 0 room for sexual buildup with Hardcore porn. Like,its all subjective whether erotica or porn is sexy but alot of stuff being released today,just isn't sexy,even the stuff that attempts to be sexy,isn't alot of the time because their trying to check the porn boxes. Im starting to go back and look through softcore films/series from the 90s/early 2000s and im starting to realize that,the ones that are good,are very erotic and beats porn in terms of sexiness and whats erotic.
The point I keep trying to point out is that the kind of porn popular for the people on sites/forums like this a specific thing. I'm sure there are Hollywood actresses that make their own sex tapes/pictures but those are of those people having sex or making love. That's entirely different than the porn where the girl is there to service the man and the man just pounding away at the girl and doing things that looks more like he's trying to punish her moreso than have sex with her. Slapping, crazy amounts of spit, uncomfortable positions, fast and hard thrusts from the guy, etc.,etc., is porn sex not the type of sex most normal people have. It's a performance meant to satisfy a certain type of audience. Even most pornstars don't the type of sex in their personal lives that they have when shooting a scene.
Lots if good points here.but the discussion is super vague and general. Could someone provide an example of what they see as an imperfect scene (but where the production team made an genuine attempt at a script/acting) so that it can be analyzed here on the thread?
There is certainly a great deal of porn consisting of a guy or multiple guys pounding away at a girl for forty minutes accompanied by patently faked orgasmic cries, but thankfully there remains a considerable amount of what might be called sit-porn in which the context of why the sex is taking place is important to the erotic charge. Take faux-incest scenes for example. While no-one expects acting of Broadway standard it would be nice to see more care taken as regards the credibility of the situation instead of casting performers who are around the same age if they are supposed to be stepmom and son etc. There are still performers who can act appropriately in this kind of scenario such as India Summer who can be amused, fearful, seductive, or unsure but aroused, as the case may be. And we know women's orgasms in porn are frequently faked, but when it's overdone, credibility ebbs there too.
^^ I think Deeper's recent Drift series with Maitland Ward could be interesting to look at. Here's a project where the people making it really went for it 100% in terms of a certain look. The production value is evident and there's a clear aesthetic and vibe. Yet it doesn't even come close to looking or feeling like an actual mainstream film/tv series.
Also, the recently released Spideypool XXX parody by Axel Braun for Wicked. I don't know if that's a bad example. I haven't watched much of Braun's work to be perfectly honest, but his name speaks for itself and I seem to recall that his parodies are often lauded and receive great reviews within the industry. And while the costumes in Spideypool are without a doubt great for this kind of production, that's pretty much the one redeeming factor. The lighting is atrocious throughout and the sex is barely above your standard modern day Brazzers fare - but just as generically shot.
Those were just the most recently released projects that came to mind for me. There are probably many more and better examples.
^ The recent film Pleasure directed by Ninja Thyberg featured many performers, and their performances were exemplary. Because they weren't technically acting, they were just being themselves.
If your idea of good acting is Kink you search at the wrong place for sure... they haven't done a real feature since Derelict in 2019.
If you want to see good acting you must check labels who do movies and not fuck film... Adult Time, Lust Cinema, Sweet Sinners, Wicked Pictures, AllHerLuv, Dorcel, J&M Elite just to name a few all do narative films.
Most performers can act but what would be the point to do the effort for a gonzo scene?
^ To add to that, I'd like to see better and more realistic dialog during the sex itself. Characters in porn are always portrayed as running away with their animalistic desires.
It's tough. "Honey, can we do a pile driver?" Or, "Baby, I love it when we're spooning on the couch and you scissor your leg high up in the air."
Speaking of parodies....The think that annoys most about the acting in parodies is some of them make the big effort to have the performers dress and look like the characters they're portraying and they take the time to try and have a good script. But it all goes out the window because no matter how good or bad the acting is with performers, the minute they start having sex suddenly everyone stops trying to even pretend to be in character and starts having very generic porn sex instead of trying to stay in character during the sex. No matter who the character is or what the situation that's playing out the performers always just revert to doing a typical generic porn scene.
Natural 6 - review by Captain Jack
Posted - Sep 17 2022 : 1:30PM
