Kristenbjorn.com

This concludes my two-part interview with filmmaker Kristen Bjorn.

Do you have any opinions about whether porn should be filmed in high definition (potentially revealing every pimple and pore)? Do you have plans to do so yourself?

There are filters that can be used during editing to correct the harshness of High Definition. But personally, I don't find the quality of standard HDcams to be any better than DVcams.

I might be the only porn director in the world today who still shoots on Betacam. Although cumbersome when compared to handycams, I think Betacam is the best quality video there is. That is mostly due to the professional quality of the lens and the microchips. The DVcams and HDcams used in porn are not professional quality; they are actually high-end consumer cameras. They have cheap lenses and chips which can't give really good results, despite the format they are shooting on.

It all comes down to budget; a Betacam camera costs 10 times more than the type of HDcam used in porn. There are professional level HD cameras, but they cost 20 times more. Hence, no one is using them. I'd like to try them out myself, but I can't afford them either!

One hot-button topic in the adult industry is whether the DVD is dying or dead. What does the possible demise of the DVD mean for filmmakers such as yourself, for whom film as art is an integral part of your work?

It's hard to say at this point what the future holds for filmmakers like me. The DVD is certainly on its way out, but there is no significant alternative format to take its place at this point in time. I don't know if there will be a place for feature length films or not in the near future. But we will continue to make them as long as possible.

Until 1980 or so, there were very few gay porno films as such. What the studios shot back then were Super-8 millimeter "loops," which lasted 15 minutes, because that's all that fit on projector reels. When VCRs became popular, the studios started putting four loops together on VHS tapes, because they lasted 60 minutes. With the invention of the DVD, up to four hours of film could be recorded onto the same format.

The loop concept has continued up until the present, even though they are now called scenes, and the productions have become much more elaborate. Porn films tend to be a bunch of loops strung together. But we should remember what the purpose of porn video is; it's a masturbation fantasy tool. It's estimated that the average man takes about 12 minutes to masturbate to orgasm when watching porn. As such, few people watch entire porn videos as films. They tend to watch them only until they cum. Then, sometime later, they watch a bit more until they cum again. I tend to think of porn videos like novels, which you read chapter by chapter before going to sleep at night. They aren't meant to be watched all at once

What do members see on your website that visitors don't?

Visitors don't see all the exclusive content we have been shooting all over the world the past year just for website members. The site is updated weekly. Aside from hundreds of photo sets, we also have our "Casting Couch" series, which serves us as screen tests for new talent, but also makes some very hot viewing. There is also the "Makin' It" series with behind-the-scenes video clips from photo and film shoots.

We have had a new site under construction for over a year which should be launched this summer. Once that's in place, I hope to take KristenBjorn.com to its full potential.

Is the Internet changing adult entertainment for the better or the worse? Is it possible to be an erotic artist and still set and achieve high standards while working within the confines of a single "scene" for public consumption?

For the past 10 years, the Internet has been excellent for the adult industry. Until recently. What is threatening our livelihood now isn't the Internet per se, but Internet piracy. I don't think it's really a question about how long a scene should last. No matter what the length of a film is, it can be well made as long as there is a proper budget. But how is it possible to produce and market a product that is being stolen en masse? I don't know if it will be possible to continue making high quality porn while uncontrolled piracy and theft abound. Unless something changes, we may find ourselves taking a leap back to a time to when only low quality, cheap loops were made.

Did you ever work for, or with, Jean-Daniel Cadinot? In my earliest days of watching porn, before I became a reviewer, Cadinot and Hand in Hand Films were the works I sought out the most.

No, although I did speak with him a few times. His company, French Art, has been my distributor in France for many years. The first time I saw a gay porn film I liked, it was Sex Bazaar by Cadinot. I wasn't attracted to his actors, but I liked his style of direction very much, and he inspired me more than any other porn director. I was sad to hear about his recent death.

You are 20 years older than when you made your first film, yet the men in front of your camera are still essentially the same age. Does that make you feel your age more acutely or does that help to keep you youthful in body and outlook?

I suppose in a way it does both those things. Being around young men with such good bodies makes me want to take care of my own. Even at 50, I'm still physically in as good of shape, if not better, than I was when I was 30. On the other hand, there are moments when I feel the distance of age between myself and my actors — particularly when it comes to new trends in fashion or music. When you're young, everything new seems so cool. But as you get older, so many new trends just seem silly.

What are your plans for the immediate future? This is your 20th Anniversary year — any special plans for that?

To be honest, I haven't given it much thought. However, viewers can expect to see several new Kristen Bjorn DVDs being released this year, and I think they are amongst my best to date.

Tell us about your new DVDs being released this year. Are they new films? How many? Are all your previous films available on DVD?

After I release Skin Deep 1 & 2, there are three more new Kristen Bjorn films that will be released within the next year, plus the Sarava video directed by Strongboli. So far, all of my old titles are on DVD, except for my first two solo videos Tropical Heatwave and Champs.

More than any other director in your field (do you object to the word porn?) nearly every frame in the scenes you shoot seems meticulously composed. Do you consciously pose models, singly or in groups, to mimic classical works of art? I have always credited you with being the first to create a male incarnation of The Three Graces of Greek mythology.

If I were shooting any other type of film aside from porn, I don't think that my work would be considered meticulous. It would only be considered properly blocked and lit, like every other film medium except for pornography. I've never tried to mimic classical art work in my films; I've only tried to make films using the basic principals used in standard cinema. That is; proper composition, lighting, and blocking. I've always been inspired by beauty, and have wanted to recreate it and impart my vision with others. I found a niche in the porn industry to express my creativity, and I've never understood why pornography can't be treated as a serious film medium.

Do you find that American models and/or studios are hung up on cock size and labels? From talking to many directors both here and overseas, I get the idea that in America the performers and the consumers are very aware of who is perceived as gay, straight or gay-for-pay, whereas in Europe and south America it's less of a concern.

I think the entire world is hung up on cock size; I don't think that it's a uniquely American trait. As for labeling people goes, I do find Americans obsessive about that. I feel that Americans tend to think of life in terms of absolutes; everything is either only black or only white. And then there is the "They're either with us, or they're against us" routine. You know, that's not the way life really is; there are many shades of grey between black and white. Young people, at least in Europe, aren't too concerned with straight and gay labels anymore. It's just a variation of human sexuality and it doesn't really concern anyone. And in a free, tolerant world, isn't that the way it should be?