Pictured above and below: Jakodema photographs Jillian Janson and Xandra Sixx for “Bring It On,” out now on Screwbox.com.
The high desert just north of L.A. is mostly featureless, with wide expanses of scrub-covered wilderness interrupted by roadside farm stands, real estate offices, minuscule towns and the occasional corrugated-steel-clad light-industrial building, tightly holding its secrets.
Behind one of those buildings, I find a familiar sight: a white-walled neverworld, surrounded by a sky-blue moat. The walls, 10 feet high, reflect the bright sunlight. The walls have curves and have been constructed at angles that hide the action within from the outside world, with breaks that allow access for crews and performers. Textured white spheres, ranging in size from 18 inches to 6 feet, can be easily moved into camera range to create perspective. A high-pitched whine comes from a pool filter just out of camera range, circulating the water and keeping it clear.
This is where Jakodema is shooting several scenes today for Screwbox.com. “One of the first movies I ever did was here,” he tells me. “Bubble Gum Girls. I had them up on the walls, doing a big fighting sequence. I never got a chance to come back.” Near a turned-off waterfall, Holly Hendrix and Lily Adams are rehearsing a swordfight for a scene later today, and a tech is shooting experimental behind-the-scenes footage: “VR 360 BTS,” Jakodema says. “Usually with VRs, they set up the camera and that’s it. We’re moving around, everywhere. When you put on the goggles, you can walk around everywhere and see everything that’s happening. We’re testing it. If it works, we’re going to do a whole movie with it. You can go to any part of the movie.”
The first scene today is a girl/girl with Jillian Janson and Xandra Sixx, on small round platforms in the middle of the water. No spheres. “It’s almost like a music video,” Jakodema says. “The camera goes in, lots of slo-mo, lots of shaking. It’s a promo for the website, too, because they’re wearing the Screwbox T-shirts. When they finish dancing, we cut to a girl/girl scene, probably in the water. Getting all wet. I like a lot of motion in my movies. I move around them and capture all the action.”
“A lot of photographers hate sunlight, because it causes too many shadows,” Jakodema says. “I adore it. It gives me all these nice flares. It’s ... power.”
Jakodema may adore it, but one of the performers doesn’t. “It’s too bright. I can’t open my eyes right now.” She gets a pair of sunglasses and both performers are carried piggy-back across the water to their islands. Most of the techs are wading through the cool foot-deep water in bare feet with rolled-up pant legs, but Jakodema is in knee-high rubber boots: “I used to wear these every day, when we were watering the plantations.”
Besides the black Screwbox T-shirts, Janson and Sixx are wearing cheerleader skirts, bobby sox, white sneakers, and sunglasses. After the pretty-girls and establishing shots, they do a promo shot with sound: “HI, I’m Xandra!” “And I’m Jillian!” “And we screw for Screwbox!” They pose together for stills, stripping down to sunglasses and socks, and then move into girl/girl action, even improvising some athletic positions with Jillian doing a handstand and Xandra eating her pussy. After the promo is finished, the scene is shot MOS, and good thing. There is noise from passing cars and the walls echo it along with the sploosh sploosh sound of Jakodema wading in the water with the camera.
Janson squats on Sixx’s face, moaning. One cheerleader skirt has blown into the water and drifts indolently away. Nobody notices. Jakodema moves in for a tight close-up as Janson moans unintelligibly, then says, “I’m gonna cum.” Sixx backs off. No you’re not. They sit up and kiss, then Janson straddles Sixx, dropping into a 69. Jakodema raises the camera high for a down shot, walking around to watch Sixx finger Janson’s pussy. Sixx humps Janson’s face, mouth agape, still fingering, when she suddenly drops her face on it. She’s playing both sides of the pleasure game. And quite well. She wets a finger, starts massaging up and down, back and forth, changing it up as Janson gasps. Then they both stand up, nude but for stockings and shades, and kiss.
Jakodema confers with them for a moment, then calls action. Sixx lies down, Janson pulls her hips up and starts eating her as she groans with pleasure. Janson’s head rocks from side to side. Sixx points her toe, then lets fly a high-pitched squeal and then some low groans. They move to scissors as Jakodema raises the camera, then lowers it to the action. “Yes yes yes” echoes as they bounce together. They sit side by side, legs wide open, as Jakodema moves the camera close. They kiss, then Janson fingers Sixx determinedly as Sixx yelps, bucking her hips as Janson vibrates her fingers. “You like that?” Sixx howls in response. Her hips buck, buck, buck—then stop, followed by a loud moan. Jakodema moves the camera away, saying “Cut.”
He holds for a moment, then wades back, now shooting BTS: “How was that?” “Wonderful.”
“Want to do it again?” “Sure!”
And—cut. For real this time.
