A recent debate started a few days ago on the Abby Winters forum boards under the title – ‘The Aussie models were more attractive”. Quick context for those who don’t know, Abby Winters was an Australian based site that moved to Amsertdam last year because Australian fun laws are a lot stricter than ours.
The debate has progressed and it turns out that its not that the Australian girls are any more physically attractive, just that the magic seems to be missing and someone has stated that the changing factor must be the new models.
So I asked for them to let me know of two very good examples of the old days and I would compare those shoots to some of the newer stuff and see if I can find any reasoning behind the statement – its also a fabulous excuse to spend today watching porn.
The first shoot I was given was Catrina. She is a stunning model from New Zealand who is very flexible and talks about her circus training and wanting to become more flexible. The thing I loved most about this shoot was that she was very much in control of the pace and direction of the shoot all the way through. That’s not to say I cant see moments where the camera has obviously stopped and she has been asked to say re take her top off, so that they can get a different or better angle from the camera but all the action flows from her. There is a lovely moment where she is telling us about her time on the farm helping to sheer sheep and kill her own meat and cheekily she tells us that she does it in her undies as its so hot. With out skipping a beat she then says ‘Speaking of which’ and naturally reaches to undo her cardie. It’s a lovely moment as it shows that she is not getting naked because she is on a shoot but because she naturally wants to do so, as the need to do it is right there in her subconscious mind invading her flow of chatter.
The whole of this shoot feels very organic and is erotic in the way that a dancer is, this is not in my mind pornographic. I love the way she plays on the sofa trying to see what her body can do and the way she suddenly goes into her stretches and ignores the camera is beautiful, as it both gives us time to enjoy just looking at her wonderful body and also opens a window into what she does when the camera is not there.
I loved this video, I felt like I knew her as a person by the end of it and the moments when the camera cut away to show different parts of her body in close up, say her fingers on the top of her leg’ fit perfectly in the gaps of silence, it didn’t feel like we were juts filling air time. I do want to add though that although she was very natural she was also very camera aware and in my mind that’s what makes this such a good video. She knows her angles and is always looking directly into the camera in a very confident way – that’s why it feels like she is talking directly to you.
The second video was of Mim a very sexy English girl who takes us to a public toilet to play. This video is very similar to the first one in a few ways.
* Both girls introduce themselves and address the camera from the very beginning of
the video, its like they are welcoming you into their world.
- Both are camera aware – Mim looks back over her shoulder as she speaks into the camera not at the crew and there is a moment when she turn s around on the toilet seat to show us her bottom where you can see that she is checking her position to make sure it’s the best one to show the watcher everything. – again not a bad thing in my books if someone is aware of how to work a camera they can better represent themselves to us.
- Both girls lead the action, they are not prompted and this gives what they say and do a lot of credibility as it has believability.
My favourite moment of Mim’s video other than her presenter like opening, is the way she locks in on herself once she starts to play and ignores the camera. I think that this works because she welcomed us into her world so warmly at the beginning so we don’t feel shut out when she shuts her eyes and goes to her magical place to cum, its like silence between to friends, its not awkward but familiar.
I think the advantage that the Australian videos have is that because they are typically girls performing in the country they are living in everything feels a bit more real. With Catrina I felt like the shoot could almost have been shot at her own house – I know that’s almost certainly not the case but the setting looked so right it told the story by itself. With Mim leading us to her local public toilets in such a confident way, I fully believed that she probably did that with out the camera and again that made the whole video so much more real and exciting. Sadly at the moment most of the models fly into Amsterdam to shoot the new videos so are already at a disadvantage, as they will need to work a little bit harder to show that what they are saying is real, not just what they have flown in to do. On a side note I have looked through a lot of the new t3 (girl/girl) videos and found that they really stand up v the old lot. I think one of the main reasons for that is that it is very believable that girls would travel to meet up and enjoy each other, where as solo you can do on your own at home so is a bit trickier. I think you can see through my blog videos that every time I go over there I am really excited to meet the girls I am going to be working with and that the time you see on the website is actually just a small percentage of the time we spend together, its like being set up on a blind date, real relationships are formed because everything is real.
Ok so to the more recent videos.
The first thing I noticed in the three videos I watched was that I really missed the models welcoming us right from the off. I don’t know if it is something the models always used to do or something that they did just in the two examples provided to me but I missed it.
I looked at two of Agnes Vs and one of Elsbeth. As a quick side I would love to take Elsbeths cherry she is soooo cute and loveable, if she does follow through on the idea of doing some work with other girls please can I be at the front of the queue.
The first video I watched was off the front page. Agnes is stunning and has a body to die for but I missed having a spoken welcome intro from the model. It was a fab video to watch on the whole but I really missed having sound in parts. This video felt like I was watching something where as the first two felt like I was experiencing something and the reason behind this is not the models themselves but having that initial welcome. Mim doesn’t talk a lot in her video once she gets going but because of the start you instantly warm to her where as because of teh lack of direct speeking it took a while for Agnes to shine through as her wonderful self. My favourite moment in her video was when she finally reaches someone on the phone and in her fabulously sexy and cute voice announces that ‘I have panties in myself’. That moment got me very excited and I was sad not to hear her tell me more in her voice as I felt I got a real blast of her ture personality in that moment - it was the look on her face as she said it! I think that may be just my personal preference though. Some of the IMs I have watched are very erotic yet silent and I did love them but I favour sound as I personally never shut up and like things very in your face, I don’t really do subtle.
I looked back to see if this was a lack of English thing and was delighted to watch her first solo as you can hear her very sexy voice throughout as she nervously tells us about herself. I love her nervousness, she is defiantly a true first timer and that is a very sexy thing. I like how she is unsure about where to look and almost just flickers her eyes in the camera when she remembers its there. I’m really glad I chose this video by accident to compare to the other two as I think it is also a very interesting comparison of real first time models v experienced ones.. As I have said both types of models have a lot of different qualities that make them very watch able and I am glad that the site has a mix of both. The thing I love best about watching first timers is watching how much naughtier it is. It was very sexy watching Catrina so comfortably and openly stripping off but its equally delightful watching a girl take her clothes off when she is not used to doing it, with every button she is misbehaving and doing something very naughty and out of the ordinary.
The other video I watched was Elsbeths. I think this video actually has a lot of similarities to the first video I watched, however the opening hides it from you. As sexy as the silent opening of her video was, I think I would have rather the video started with her talking to us on the hammock. The way she addresses the camera so honestly and frankly while swinging in the hammock reminded me a lot of the feel of Catrina’s video and you instantly feel on friendly terms with her and relaxed in her company like friends.
I could go on and tell give you lots of other example of solo videos I have watched and really enjoyed in the last year on the site but what’s more interesting I think are the differences and similarities I have found to see if anyone thinks that here in lies some of what a few of you think has gone?
The physical standard of models has defiantly not change I found nothing but sexy beautiful ladies across the board.
The biggest noticeable difference I found was the lack of talking at the very opening of the videos. I think that having a friendly voice right from the start talking to me made me feel more included and I didn’t have to work to get into the models world. To be fair lots of the new solos including my own are very chatty open and honest throughout and the models are all obviously being relaxed and open (very abby winters) but due to editing style they often don’t start talking till they are 60 seconds or so in.
Both old and New shoots have a good mix of real first timers v girls who have been on film (not necessarily pro porn but other aw stuff etc) and I think that depending on your individual preferences you will favour one or the other but please don’t mistake being a first timer and not looking right down a lens to being cold . I noted in the first Anges solo her personality shines through very clearly in just one sentence in the middle of the video you just have to wait and read all the fabulous subtleties that have been displayed.
Abby winters is faced with a higher percentage of models travelling to them to shoot so may want to look at ways of incorporating that into the scenes so that they still have the level of believability that the Australian ones did.
I have found good examples across the board of models happily chatting and taking charge of their scenes and it is in fact what I would show if pushed to explain the Abby Winters style and ethos in video form. I love the magic of seeing staff present an idea at the start of a video and watching the model run with it in her own way .
The final difference I found was video length, the new videos all seem to be a lot longer. This will again I assume split people half way. Some will relish the extra content they are getting and enjoy having more time to indulge with their favourite models where as others may miss the snappy feeling of shorter videos which would feel more like a mini snippet from the models life. Some people like drinking a large cup of coffee where as others only want expresso.
Sorry this was such a long post but I have really enjoyed doing a review and thought you maybe interested (and I couldn’t think of any other way of sharing it with out clogging up a whole page on the AW boards). Please got and check out all of the videos I watch I loved them all for different reasons and the ladies were all equally lovely but for very different reasons and surely that’s one of the best things about Aw over all.
Long and well thought-out posts are actually quite welcome on the AW-forums :) Besides, look up Chloe B's thread in Models Speak and check out some of her posts, heh.
ReplyDeleteYour comments on the talking and taking-charge of a shoot are very interesting.
p.s. the link to this blog entry is a bit weird, usually it's the blog title but not now?
Very interesting post, Masie.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I've left AW, I go back there and read the discussion boards, and I've seen the thread that you've been contributing to. I thought it was interesting that amd who started it chose Mim and Catrinia as the two shoots to ask you to look at, because I wouldn't have put Catrinia as the typical AW model, or Mim either really, which is not to say that they are not terrific. I can see why he chose them because they are great videos, but I think models like say Jodie C or Michaela are more typical.
I agree with all the points you make about the differences between the old and new shoots. I think that the silent intros and the set-up situations that are more and more common are symptoms of how AW is becoming more artificial and mainstream, which is why I left. There are still good shoots being produced, but really they are few and far between.
You also mention on AW that the new videos seem longer, and I agree with that, in fact I think that some of them are ridiculously long: one recently was 1.8 GB in High Def. For me the ideal length is about 15 minutes, maybe 20.
One thing I think you might be wrong about is saying that Agnes V was a first-timer. When I looked at her shoot, the first thing I thought was that she'd been there and done that many times before, and Davros69 in the Jumped the Shark thread on AW says that she's been a "mainstay of the erotic industry for sometime". There have been a few first-timers in Amsterdam, but not very many, I think. Femke was one, and Nandine.
I do like reading the things that you write, and I love that you take the time and trouble to do it.
Jacksonp49
Hey Masie. I'm the Davros69 that was just mentioned above. I was reading your blog and I read your comments on the above mentions videos. I looked at some of the videos from the last two years prior to the big move and I see a similar approach being taken. Marianna's last two videos as an example feature this "silence". But what is happening in the silence. The videographer is setting the stage for the video to follow. The videos show a real polish and have a very professional look to them. And the videographer also is trying to bring a little of her own artistic sense to them. The early ones you have mentioned reveal a roughness which is also appealing. I find both to be appealing, myself. But I tend to enjoy the photos because I like the way that different photographers have approached the female body. There is one set called BMX Girls on Abbywinters which features some of the most stunning photos of the female form I have ever seen. That also features a sort of faked "story idea" (if you watch the video). And it originally dates from July 26, 2008. It was removed and then put up again at a later date. By the way longer posts mean you have thought out what you have to say. Need not apologize for that. And you did give me food for thought.
ReplyDeleteok.... talking about my beloved Abby Winters.com. Firstly excellent review Masie. You brought up some great points which I hadn't thought of and in fact forgot, Not sure when they stopped introducing themselves in the solo video's but it was something that was done on every solo video for a long (by memory) You are correct its nice... it does make it a little more personable.
ReplyDelete(Quick comment here about the video sizes, I believe that in the early days the size of the video was more a reflection of download speeds than a consciences effort of making the videos short and punchy. As download speed became faster the video were able to get bigger.)
I do wonder... the two "old" models mentioned were both over 25, so wonder if that is why both seemed so comfortable in front of the camera and show good camera awareness.
I was never a huge fan of the made up stories that have crept into AW of late. The reason why I like/liked AW so much as it was trying to show the girls in a more real situation so you come away from the shoot thinking you know the personality of the model. Why I love your videos so much, although your "mother coming visiting shoot" was very contrived and false and up until seeing that video the sort I thing I really didn't like. But your personality shown through the whole video and that to me was more important than having the shoot believable. Unfortunately or fortunately there is only one Masie and very few models can get away with these type shoots. Maya C is one of my favorite models, but the decision made to pretend she was showing us through her home was a very bad one.
ok... I'm rambling and not sure I have got my point across as I came her pro the new stuff but after reading back on my ramble thinks that maybe there was something special about the old AW shoots. I still totally disagree with the initial title that the Aussie models are more attractive than the current batch. Maybe AW needs to go back to trying to show the true personalities of the models and less time trying to think up new make believe situations to put the models in.
More importantly...It's someones birthday coming up very soon... I need to head off to their wish list and start looking.
Also as importantly... Are you heading to catch up with Kylie and Pinky the scarf tomorrow?? Give them both a big hug from this Pinky.
Sorry for the very long winded comment.
Pinky
ps: did I mentioned how much I liked your review... you should do more of them :)
Bloody hell Masie, I go on holiday for a week, come back and you've gone blog crazy! Not that I'm complaining, mind you. May just have to take another week off to catch up with them all!
ReplyDeleteSoory john I hate to break it to you but I have lots sat waiting to go on the blog in the next few days.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all your commenst Aw people, it was a very good experience and interesting exercise looking at these videos and yes I did find differences but it always felt like I was watching Abby Winters and they were all equally good - long may it all last. x
Good idea there pinky :) I see a LOT of items are now listed as 'unavailable' though, esp. the La Senza stuff. Getting a size 10 when 8 is requested prolly isn't a good idea :)
ReplyDeleteI must be off to wrap some presents, hehe...
Stop getting me over exited with parcel talk x
ReplyDeleteNice post thank you Jamie
ReplyDelete