This is the final installment from an AVN.com undercover operative working on the production of Elegant Angel's Compulsion.
| <?PHP print Create_Archive_Image_Tag('<% Content_ID %>', "adbody.jpg", "", " "); ?> |
If it looks like a movie and sounds like a movie and even feels like a movie – it’s probably a movie. Unless two-thirds of the movie is hardcore sex – then you’ve got a contender for Best Film at the AVN Awards. That’s exactly what Elegant Angel has on their hands with Axel Braun’s adult film Compulsion.
After twelve days of production, Braun headed into his home editing bay with 47 hours of footage to sort through. After transferring the film to digiBeta and loading it up on his Final Cut Pro 4 system, Braun started the grueling process of watching take after take after take of the same scene, sometimes viewing 20 takes of one line over and over again, until he picks the delivery with just the right inflection and timing. Then, after finally narrowing it down to the few takes he wants to edit together – he finds out that there’s a hand in the wrong spot or that something else in out of place. While fluent in many languages, Braun consistently turns to his native Italian for cursing.
Still – everyone who has seen even snippets of the work is impressed. He’s already gathering rave reviews for the film from the top publications in adult, off the title credits alone. But make no mistake, Braun doesn’t encourage “yes men”. He’s trying to create a magnus opus, and criticism is welcome…just not forthcoming. Everything is top-notch, including the title song, written and performed by Braun himself with a surprising lead vocalist: Belladonna. That’s right, the reigning queen of hardcore sex, who happens to be Braun’s sister-in-law, stopped by the recording studio to say hi one night, and Axel asked her if she could lay down some background vocals…but the minute she started singing everybody was blown away, and the song “I’m not afraid” was hers.
Some, however, say that a work’s real merit can only be measured by the number of cigarette butts in an ashtray – good news for the chain-smoking Braun. After his 8-6 day job as the general manager of Elegant Angel, Braun takes a one-hour dinner break, then returns home to work on the editing until 1a.m. – then wakes up at 6a.m. and repeats the process - all without the aid of caffeine. Braun claim's it sheer will power that keeps him moving. More likely its will power and stress - he has a lot riding on this project.
He’s half-way done and he only has a little over a month to finish. It has to be ready in time for the AVN Awards deadline. Still, awards and glory don’t put lobster on the table. There’s a lot of money invested in this project – and he wants to get it recouped as fast as possible, though he knows that at a budget this large (over $200,000) it ain’t gonna be easy. One thing is for sure: Compulsion is going to make a bold statement on where Elegant Angel is headed - and even in the editing bay it looks like it's headed toward the top.
