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| by Virginia Beaver |
On Location: Things Change
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| The sun is dropping into the Pacific and I’m pushing my little red rice-burner just as fast as it will go along the curves of Mulholland Highway looking for a private road I suspect I won’t find. When I do actually find it, I’m not sure my low-slung buggy will make the trip up the road, which can be called “paved” only in the most general sense. In some places, the asphalt that still clings to the naked earth is more axel-busting obstacle than actual pavement while in others, potholes that could swallow Bill Clinton’s libido yawn bottomlessly in clusters along the road.
I’m looking for today’s shooting location on the set of Things Change 3 and 4, Metro’s latest big-dollar production, and a follow up to the resounding classic Things Change 1 and 2, which starred Nikki Dial and Deidre Holland and which drew universal rave reviews (AVN said of it “With a dignity heretofore unequaled in adult entertainment, this magnificently-shot and -acted film is a must-have item.”) five years ago.
When I finally find the shoot itself I know I’ve arrived by the tell-tale scattering of sports utility vehicles and high-end imports parked out front. As I approach the house the first thing I say to anybody who’ll listen is “Man, I got sooo lost on the way out here.” It’s true. I’ve been driving in circles for almost two hours. They nod sympathetically and somebody says, “Tell me about it. We’re in the middle of nowhere. But it’s a pretty slice of nowhere.”
There’s no doubt about that. We’re in one of the lush valleys that stream out away from Los Angeles, the ones in which movie stars and Hollywood power brokers nestle mansions and million-dollar getaways. All the greenery kind of freaks out a city boy like me, but some people obviously like it. We head inside.
There, on a couch in the living room, sits Raven Touchstone, one of the porn biz’s legendary screen writers. From the other room comes the unmistakable sounds of people, as they say in the Biz, doing sex. I peek around the corner and see Tony Tedeschi in a state that would qualify in most cultures as a lower-chakra version of heaven, bliss, nirvana, whatever. His lower anatomy is being worked over with a deliciously sloppy ferocity by two jaw-dropping starlets, Wendy Knight and Metro contract girl Claudia Chase.
Director Michael Zen is calling out directions to his stars in a low voice and the sexual tension in the room is so potent I decide to step outside with Madam Touchstone until they take a break.
On the porch, she lays out the plot of this shot-on film classic-in-the-making. “Well this is a two-part production. It kind of picks up the theme of the first two films, which is exploring both side’s of one’s sexuality.
In the original, Nikki Dial and Diedre Holland were a lesbian couple, and Nikki decided she wanted to see what things were like with a man. Once she does, she decides she has to explore that side of her sexuality for a while, and the movie is about what that does to their relationship. This story is kind of the reverse of that. This time, Misty Rain and Mark Davis are a couple and Misty falls for a girl who runs a lesbian bar, played by Nikki Sinn. Misty and Mark end up back together again in the end, but not before there’s been a lot of exploring, which of course means lots of sex,” she says.
Inside, a rising tide of voices tells us that the scene is on pause. We head back in. I extend my hand to meet director Zen, and almost get a palm full of Wendy Knight, who is looking for a pinch of privacy to freshen up. She looks about 6”6’ in her heels and is all taut curve and tight angle. Her skin is silky sheen. A mane of chestnut hair falls down around her shoulders. She smiles sweetly and squeezes between Zen and myself. I try to look nonchalant.
Michael Zen looks like a banker’s father, and as it turns out, that’s exactly what he is. We’ve been talking about how porn has increasingly become an accepted part of mainstream culture, and now he’s telling me about his son, the banker.
“His friends all know about what I do for a living and every Christmas all these button-downed bankers ask for porn in their stocking.
They all come to him and say, “Can you get me some of your dad’s movies?” Zen laughs and so do I. It’s a familiar request for anyone who earns his or her daily bread in or around the porn biz. Everybody wants to sample the product, and the more “respectable” their position in life, the more eager they are to get it on the sly. That’s changing though, Zen says.
“I have a friend who does hair in one of The Places to get your hair done in L.A., and she tells me about these big bankers’ wives who come in with boxes from porn movies and point to the girls and say, ‘Can you do my hair like that?’” he says. “That’s indicative of the positive effect porn has on this culture. These women want to turn their husbands on, and pornography is a medium for them to find out about their husbands’ desires. And it goes both ways, it facilitates communication between men and women, which is important in a culture in which frank talk about sex is, as we all know, too often taboo.”
Even in the popular media, he notes, sexual themes which were once vorbotten are now becoming common place. “I’ve never seen so many cum shots in mainstream movies as I saw this year — just look at There’s Something About Mary and Happiness,” he says. “It’s been a big year for seamen all the way around,” I say, referring to 1998’s presidential scandal blitz. Zen laughs again. “A big year for seamen!”, he says. “I like that!”
Tedeschi, Chase and Knight have come together on the set again and have launched back into their little triad on the couch without anybody noticing. The break is obviously over. The crew fires up the cameras again — a film camera, a video camera and one for DVD as well, and the shoot is back under way. Tedeschi has Claudia around her hips and is steadily pumping in and out of her from behind.
Wendy, meanwhile, is propped up on the arm of the couch in front of them, her legs spread and arched enticingly. Claudia is trying to rub her clit, but keeps loosing her concentration as Tedeschi keeps finding her g-spot. The coital cacophony starts to take on a low, guttural sound, and it becomes clear that somebody is getting ready to cum. It isn’t Tony — he’s a consummate professional and one of the porn biz’s most stalwart woodsmen, and the designated moment for his pop shot is still some time off.
It’s one of the girls, but it’s hard to tell which one since both of them look like they might explode at any second. During a break to change film rolls, the mystery is solved. One of the crew members comes over and says to Zen, “I think Wendy’s getting pretty close to orgasmatron.”
“Is that what that was?” Zen says. “I thought I heard something.”
When shooting commences again, the talent switches positions. This time Tony is laying into Wendy, who is on her back now with her mile-long-legs looped over his shoulder and around his waist. The tempo of the sex quickens until the orgasm that’s been building deep inside the delectable Ms. Knight breaks over the set like a wave. It’s soon time for another break — the film rolls have to be changed once for every ten minutes of shooting — and Tedeschi collapses on the couch, sweat streaming but with a raging hard-on still straining skyward from his groin. He is, after all the consummate professional.
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