This article originally ran in the September issue of AVN magazine. Click here to see the digital edition.
A mainstream cut of Perspective premieres this weekend at a theater in Hollywood. Click here for details.
The hilltop location house stands in a once-desolate area where silent film star William S. Hart retired, and it's very isolated, up a narrow private road with driveways peeling off like tributaries. The house itself, alone atop its hill, is protected by a steel gate and fortified fence. The house is bright and airy, with large windows letting in natural light and providing views of the valley below. An infinity pool edges the high hedge that borders the driveway, but it won’t be seen here: "It's too nice for our characters" Angela White says.
"One of the biggest challenges comes down to just location," writer/director Bree Mills says, looking at the surroundings. "Breaking from the 'normal' 10 porn shoot houses, trying to have something that looks different. The house has been a bit of a challenge, and we want to get everything shot as soon as possible and never come back," she adds with a laugh. "It'll give a unique look to the movie because we'll never re-use the location."
"Perspective is an interesting project for me," Mills continues. "It's been in the back of my mind for a couple of years. It's about the impact of emotion, and how emotions affect and impact your reactions and your actions, and the weight that emotions can play on somebody. The story involves the most complicated relationship dynamics that people encounter: romantic relationships. Serious romantic relationships. I had a situation where I was in a relationship and I discovered that that the person I was with was having an affair. I discovered it haphazardly, reading some correspondence that was left open on a laptop—while I was sitting in a room with the two people, my partner at the time and my best friend at the time. I was reading quite a salacious correspondence while I was sitting having coffee with these people. I very distinctly remember how I felt at that moment. I went into a state of paralysis: did not immediately erupt, did not let them know that I knew. Like a deer in the headlights, I was facing it straight on, but it also gave me a power in that moment, because I knew something that they were trying to keep from me. But I knew it, and they didn’t know that I knew it. That was an interesting emotion.
"I took a similar path that the character Daniel [Seth Gamble] takes: When you find out that a bomb has gone off. you want to understand the scope. I tried to find out every thing that had been happening under my nose. This made me mad. The more you open Pandora's box, the more you learn the details, emotions like jealousy and resentment creep up, and the more those emotions start to take over, the impact can lead you to do things you would never normally do. Not to say that I took the same path that Daniel does [laughter] but I've always remembered the moment of discovery and the path it took.”
Gamble is a regular on Mills’ Pure Taboo and Adult Time sets, so she's well aware of what he brings to the table. And she worked with White on another high-profile project last year. "I was positively affected by working with Angela White on The Weight of Infidelity last year,” Mills says. “Angela is a really excellent dramatic actress who hasn't been given many opportunities to demonstrate that. I knew I wanted to work with her again, in something more extensive. A good role for her to tackle in a story that has some meat."
Mills' scripts are different from the expected: Instead of scripted dialogue, they present paragraph-long novel-like descriptions of each scene, with dialogue and business mixed with reactions and thoughts of the characters, followed by tech notes on set, costume and props. When Mills sets up a scene, she explains what she wants to the performers, explaining motivations and actions, and getting feedback. For the rehearsal, Gamble is business-ready in button-down shirt and glasses and White is topless in pajama pants. "We can only do the shirt gag twice," Mills cautions the players. "Save it for the take."
The sex scene that follows the dialogue scene (with shirt gag) is capital-D Dramatic: Gamble, playing the angry, wronged and now-borderline-abusive husband, confronts and dominates White in a walk-in closet after she finds some damning evidence. In the closet, the ceiling lights have been cloaked with red gels to add a sinister look, and the small room is crowded with Gamble and White and two camera ops shooting hard and soft. Mills watches her monitors in the adjacent bedroom, a few feet away.
The opening shot moves from the evidence to White's reaction, then widens out to show Gamble ominously framed in the door. He approaches her, pressing his height advantage. "Do what you want," she whimpers. He tells her she should go. She doesn't. He leans into her, kisses her, grabs her breasts through her thin tank top, puts her hand on his crotch. She looks bereft. He kisses her hard, pulls off his shirt, murmurs something inaudible, turns her around, starts fucking her from behind. She endures it. He pants "So good" in her ear, she's miserable. Practically weeping. A camera is assigned to shoot faces.
He pulls her leg up, starts pumping hard. One monitor shows an upshot backlit by the ceiling light, White's breasts in the foreground bobbing with every thrust. "Freeze right there!" Gamble and White freeze. "Guys, find your shots!" One camera reframes to get a face-to-face closeup, her upstage ankle on his shoulder. "Action!" After a moment of face-to-face Gamble groans unintelligibly, turns White around. He looks intently at her. One camera catches their faces, with White betraying feeling physical pleasure, but not enjoying it. he pulls her arms back, she grimaces. Water break. "It's hot in there!" White says, fanning herself as she steps into the cool bedroom.
Mills sets the finale of the scene with the camera ops and after a few minutes and a couple of water bottles Gamble and White head back into the closet and take their positions. Mills calls "Action" redundantly; they've already started. Taking Gamble from behind, White still has that I-don’t-like-the-pleasure grimace. She turns around and drops to her knees to finish him off. Corkscrew jerking, deep throating, gagging. He holds her head, face-fucks her until she pulls off, gasping for air. She starts working him. Both hands. Eye contact. Deep throating. One camera pans down her body. "Any time," Mills says. She has enough establishing footage now. His breathing becomes short and he pops across her face. Still in character, she looks at him, apprehensive. He leans down to kiss her—but doesn't, and struts out of the closet. She looks angry and starts to wipe the jizz away from her mouth and holds ... "CUT!"
Relieved, White gets up with a laugh and heads to the shower. There's a lot to wash off after that scene.
Find Perspective in both mainstream and X-rated versions exclusively at AdultTime.com.
