Julia Effertz is an intimacy coordinator. She ensures that sex scenes in front of the camera are successful. Here she explains what sex has to do with fight scenes – and why no one enjoys it.
A couple throws themselves on the bed, fumbling wildly. Half a minute later the woman orgasms. They both moan loudly. End. This is roughly what an average sex scene in a movie looks like. The lack of authenticity of sex scenes is now often discussed, but how those filmed felt during it is rarely discussed. Intimacy coordinator Julia Effertz wants to change that.
Ms. Effertz, what makes a good one? sex scene out of?
For me as a viewer, the scene has to look authentic and I want to understand the story.
In most cases, sex in films looks anything but authentic.
Fortunately, this is now changing, also through intimacy coordination. In the past, actors were left alone to deal with the issue. The actors were allowed to improvise, but that can’t make for a good scene. In a fight scene, no director would hand knives to the actors and say, “Now let’s improvise the violence and let the camera roll.” That would be dangerous and the scene wouldn’t work. Sex scenes are like fight scenes. They have to be rehearsed and choreographed.
How do you proceed?