neoprene me, baby

the amazons amuse me.

candy von dewd and the girls from latexploitia is turning out to be a far more surreal and wacky production than i had anticipated. i've journeyed into the center of the b filmmaking nexus and the results recorded on metal evaporated magnetic media will never be able to compare to the actual experience of standing in the middle of a room with fifteen girls in latex running around with pink foam axes while a lounge cover of 'light my fire' blares away on the stereo. did i mention the fog machine?

"you're angry!" yells jacques as he runs backwards with his camera, motioning for the women to run towards him in their high heels and leather boots. "growl! yes!!"

jacques is the classic case of a filmmaking demagogue. time and time again, it's occurred to me that his total determination and contagious enthusiasm is what really manages to get people to even consider seeing his films. deep down inside, he really believes that his latex exploits is going to be the next barbarella. it's going to take the country by storm. it cracks me up. jacques is really what cecil's character was all about in john waters' last film - if you inspire people enough about your idea, they'll fall head over heels to be in your movie. he's turned on his personal reality distortion field and has managed to convince people that yes, he could be the next big thing. ed wood, roger corman, jacques boyreau.

when i agreed to work on jacques' latest attraction, it didn't occur to me that i would be the only woman on the crew. the realization struck me saturday night when i showed up with the steadicam jr. rig and saw all the men standing around with with their still cameras and beers. the latex girls would chatter to themselves and pose for photos while the boys ran around like eighth graders, snapping away picture after picture of tightly wrapped women. my role as cinematographer leaves me kind of floating in between the two clearly divided groups of people involved in this production - i'm not a latex-clad amazon, neither am i a gawking gourd of testosterone. i am a camera.

making the movie itself is a bit of a pain in the ass. we're up all night, equipment keeps breaking and i'm constantly tripping over slack jawed men left and right which doesn't make my job any easier. on the other hand, when i have a second to step back and just look at what i've gotten myself into, it's a pretty damn funny sight. the creation of this film is definitely a story of its own and the surreal aspect of the whole situation just takes off, commanding the entire experience. i mean... this is some strange and funny shit happening here.

in all honesty, this movie is probably going to be the low-budget extravaganza that one would expect from a production about girls with whips and rubber, but the encouraging thing is that it's gotten a lot of the surviving san francisco artists and freaks together for a couple weekends to make a home grown project. what more could i ask for?

actually... i could probably ask for better pay.

<11.06.00>

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