Do Custom Videos Warrant Criticism?

[Nyghtfall]

I've been a member of the community since 1997. One thing I'm known for is my brutally honest, detailed fetish video reviews. As I mentioned at the beginning of the year, I'm going to start writing them again, and am currently working on a new section of Cinemasphyxia.com that will be used to archive them.

Past experience has taught me that negative reviews of custom videos tend to provoke a defensive response from producers who point out that they shot what their clients paid to see, and that their clients are happy. Before I start writing anything, I'd like to know what you think.

Do custom videos warrant criticism?

[xj900uk]

I'd rather you were honest, Nyghtfall.
Speaking for myself, personally, I often try to find honest reviews of a movie whether custom or not to find out if it's any good and if it contains material I would be interested in. No point in going to the manufacturers/producers themselves, as they tend to be a tad biased.

[Bluestone]

My personal opinion is that custom videos are just as open to criticism as any others that are being sold to the public. If I as a producer take on a custom video project with the expectation that I will be marketing the video to the public, either in order to cover the balance of the cost or otherwise, it better be a well done video. If not, I should be charging more to the customer and not selling it for public consumption, or I should at least take the criticism like a man. Yes, I may say, she died this way because it was in the script, to explain why I shot her there instead of somewhere else, but as a producer, I shouldn't get over defensive, since it is the producer and the producer alone who decides which videos to market publicly.

At least that's my two cents worth.

Blue

[tommygun]

I agree with Blue. Once the custom video is being offered to the general community, the game changes, and it needs to be seen in that light. Presumably the custom customer was satisfied. But every other customer wants something that is well done and is capable of hitting a hot button somewhere. The reviewer will give his/her impressions of what is good, and perhaps not so good, about the video in that regard. It's a very fair process. Disregard the defensiveness. Hopefully, it was stated by the producer more in the way of explanation than excuse, but that isn't always the case.

[G-Man]

I also agree one can also critique custom videos, and I have done so.
(I.E. Blue's smoking or white undies videos or Choke Chamber's show bare feet in video to name a few)
Havin said that... also look at the video as a whole taking in account of the custom aspects.
Meaning does the victim still give a good death scene besides having a cigarette in her hand or not.
Also... another very important fact to understand... if it were not for the very thankful few who do pay for a custom...
we would have a lot less videos to choose from.
So if you really would like to see a certain sub-fetish in a video... get it made.
Hey, it may cost at least a few hundred dollars to do a custom...
but 20 years ago the price would have been a hell of a lot more to get something done.
I only wish I had half of the things that we have now back in my day.
I think in some ways a lot of you folks today are spoiled. At this time we never had it so good.
AND also... (AND TOTALLY UNSOLICETED!!!) help the community out and buy a video or two from a producer once in a while.

[elsullo]

Just be out front that it WAS a custom, and so might have some oddball wardrobe or fetish elements, or some unrealistic responses, or an inside joke of some kind, that not everyone might get. Criticism is good, as long as it is fair regarding the intentions of the souce..........................elsullo

[Max5s]

Just be out front that it WAS a custom, and so might have some oddball wardrobe or fetish elements, or some unrealistic responses, or an inside joke of some kind, that not everyone might get. Criticism is good, as long as it is fair regarding the intentions of the source..........................elsullo

I agree with elsullo. I would also add that I don't like to see criticisms of the actresses for things they cannot change. Saying that she flubbed her lines is fine, but saying her teeth are crooked or that she's ugly, fat etc. will draw an immediate rebuke.

[smudger]

Elsullo has hit the nail right on the head. Producers need to state clearly that it is a custom, and describe it with accuracy and honesty, as whilst some customs are right up my street, others are not.... and some of us actually quite like seeing fat and ugly models, Max! Variety is the spice of life!

[crwarr]

OK, IT'S MY TURN TO GIVE MY VIEWS...THERE ARE SITES THAT HAVE THE HOTTEST CHICKS LIKE CHOKECHAMBER BUT THE WORST STRANGLERS AROUND, THAT OLD FART THAT CC USES IS THE WORST. BARELY GETS HIS HANDS AROUND THE SEXY NECK AND THE GIRL PUTS UP A GOOD STRUGGLE BUT IT IS SO FAKEY. A LOOSE GARROTTE, LOOSE NYLONS USED TO STRANGLE AND HANDS, WITH HIS THUMBS DOWN BY HER BREASTS TO CHOKE THEM IS SO BAD. I HAVE TO SEE SOME GOOD ACTING OR IT IS A TURN OFF. ONE OF THE GOOD PRODUCERS ON REALITY IS PK BUT THIER PRICES ARE WAY OUT OF REALITY. BETWEEN 15 AND 20 BUCKS SHOULD BE THE PRICE FOR A GOOD CLIP. I MAKE A DECENT WAGE AND CAN BUY WHATEVER VIDEO I WANT BUT $30 IS WAY TO MUCH. THERE IS NOTHING SEXIER THAT A WELL BUILT WOMAN IN THE NUDE BRING STARNGLE OR CHOKE BY HAND BUT IT HAS TO LOOK REAL. I CANT WAIT FOR DANICA (IF SHE WOULD) TO LET US SEE HER BEAUTIFUL BOD, IN THE GRIP OF MR GREEN, BEING CHOKE TO DEATH AND DROPPED TO THE GROUND. NOBODY STRANGLES LIKE GREEN AND CLAIRE, CLAIRE WITH HER TRAUMA IN HER FACE AND PANTING, THE LANGUAGE "STRANGULATION" "COMPRESSING THE WINDPIPE" "DEPRIVING OF OXYGEN" AND GREEN WHEN HE GARROTES AND KEEPS WRAPING HIS HAND AROUND THE CORD OR NYLON HE'S USING AND TIGHTENING AROUND THE THROATS. ALL THIS ADDS TO THE PERFECTION THAT ONLY BLUESTONE CAN DO. WITH SEPT ROSE IN WA 3.2, STRAPED TO THE CHAIR, LONG STRANGLE FROM GREEN, SWEATING SO SEXYLY, NECK STRECHED OUT TO THE MAX, IS IN MY VIEW THE BEST VIDEO EVER PRODUCED. TOPLESS IS NOT ALWAYS NEEDED, TORN OPEN BLOUSE ON DANICA FROM GREEN IN WA 6 IS PREETY DAM HOT IN MY VIEW. OK THATS ENOUGH BABBLING...BLUESTONE IS STILL THE BEST OUT THERE!!! CRWARR

[Chris B]

I hope by CC you are referring to some other company besides Chris' Corner, I am not at all old and know how to strangle a woman.....That is one thing i have down!

When I see all capital letters I feel like I am being yelled at while I read....hahahaha

Okay, this is really simple, and Matthew and Esullo both have great points.

Here is the Bottom Line folks:

Anyone who commissions a custom video is entitled to criticize it however they feel they want to, in private, in public, or both.. They paid to have the producer follow the script, regardless of the wardrobe, or any other detail of the person's custom and should be able to voice their opinion about it. Same with any business, if you have a product be prepared to have it evaluated.

As far as people who did not commission the actual custom, but want to criticize it because it is not something they like, or it does not do it for them, they still have the right to free speech and can say all they want about it, but the difference is obvious, they did not write and pay for the custom so those who read their complaints will hopefully take that into consideration.

Sometimes I will say it is a custom in the description, sometimes I won't, because I put 45-60 preview pics and write a full page description about the video with all the details, so I don't feel I need to disclose every custom, if I did, I should actually just say which ones aren't customs since 96% of my releases nowadays are customs, and I guarantee most of the new releases from PKF are customs too.

About the price sir, that is also an opinion. Are you aware of how much we pay(the going rates) of a local model? How's about traveling model? What about flights, hotels, wardrobe, food, and transportation, not counting the light bill at the studio, testing, and all the other factors that people who aren't producers take into consideration when complaining about how much something costs. Oh and of course equipment and maintenance... It is making my wallet cower and try to run away just thinking about it. It is pretty easy to take jabs at people and their livelihoods, just remember some of us, including me have put their lives into this to make custom fantasies.

Just my opinion....... CB

[JohnM]

On Customs

I stopped differentiating what a customs was verses a story I made up in my head, because, in effect, they have always been customs.

Years ago, the customs were myself, with no overhead, paying actresses to make videos that I made up based on what I liked and what I thought would sell. Being a fetishist as long as I can remember, I have my own experiences to draw on, as well as being on the boards since 1997. Before I found the boards, I renting .47 cent VHS movies and copying every death scene with a hot girl I could find and making clip tapes----now long gone. :-(

So, essentially, everything is customs. If it is my money, I make it my way. If it is someone else's money, I make it their way AND my way. Meaning the angles I shoot, my style, and extra elements that appeal to everyone are included. In some cases, I adapt a custom for two different audiences with separate edits.

Why Customs?

Early on, when I was first starting, I could hire a local stripper or girl testing out her freaky side, for very little. Why? Because there were not set rates. This was all new. There was no local competition and there was no guide. But, partly as a result of Hank and my presence, other producers were spawned in this area.

In any case, things were new and cheap. Expectations were also lower. I could shoot in a hotel room, with almost silent screaming, and no one would ask why I had to be so quiet or have well places bits of carpet on top of the existing carpet to catch the blood.

And, I always took customs. It started a few....and every year increase to where it is at today---about 100%.

Why take them? Because they are the same as if I made movies, but instead of from just one perspective, many. And today, customs are essential. In fact, I don't have a dime to produce anything myself.

The reality is, the business model has changed. When I was doing it, there were a lot of other producers who were doing it part time, as a hobby and for fun. But as I grew, and people asked for more and more projects that needed the ability to control the shooting situation, a studio was needed. My first studio was small, and mostly just like a hotel room. My next studio was bigger, but we could not make noise, which was limiting. Finally, I decided I needed a building. But, that greatly increased the cost and I had to make a decision at this point. Continue myself, solo, and not full time, or plunge into this as a career. So, career it was, which meant, I needed to increase production, expand to lines of product outside the community, specialize within the community, offer quality customs and to support all this, hire people.

In the meantime, having been established for some time, acting rates for this type of production were established. Models were expecting more, to do this work, and I certainly don't blame them. So, we increased our compensation to be fair. We simple took standard nude photo modeling rates for the area, and after interviewing many actresses over time, established what was generally fair for this type of work, which, obviously goes well beyond a standard photo shoot. In addition, for our harder stuff, we peg our rates to the national average for amateur and professional adult modeling, depending on the actress. Our extras are paid as well. Back on the early Ruemorgue days, we had people act for free. That is not done today-- it is unprofessional and actually a liability issue. Everyone is paid. And to support all this, we have several employees, all making good, living wages and dependent on support from customs. For a fetish studio, I believe we are the highest employer with full-time staff and hired around 50 actresses last year.

So, how it works is:
Customs pay for the base rate of the actors.
Sales pay for the infrastructure of the studio and the rest of the production costs.

For instance, I may quote $500 for a strangling movie.

The $500 pays for the actors.

Then, I might pay $200 for the editing if it is simple, and there might be another $170 in crew labor, and other costs. The customer does not pay that. Sales from the video over years and years pay that, and that is part of what pays payroll, etc.

In this way, when someone has a big, $1200 project, I don't have to quote the real costs, which would be in the $1800 range. It allows people to save money on customs from our studio.

That does not mean all prices from all studio are the same. These are my prices, for the actresses I provide, for the quality I make.

Another studio might do the same project for $200 and they may get you that price for many different reasons. Different models, different location, different---everything, can make a difference on the price and the final product.

And lets talk quality. It is all subjective. I can pick out the things that are real. Editing technique, color quality, skill in this or that, blah, blah, but it all comes down to personal preference anyhow. You like what you like.

But, I guess lets get back to the point. The customs ARE the movies you buy. All of them. They are all someones custom production.

Which brings me to my comments on reviews. I had PM'd Matthew with my concerns. Mainly, it was for the customers who made the customs. In the past, some have altered their decision to do more customs when a review seemed critiquing them---Matt’s reviews have a special resonance--they are great to read, but if you are on the receiving end, they may come off a certain way. I should be thick skinned, but I cannot expect that of the customer, who often puts weeks, month and even years developing a project with me and getting funding. People sometimes take things personally. And, I would simply ask that, regardless of whether it is a custom by a customer or a producers custom, we still must put it into perspective.

In reality, these projects, based on what they are, should cost 10's of 1000's. With the amount of risk, overhead and what we are asking the actors to do compared to every other type of production--especially the ones the pay much more for way less skin and perversion--these are sub-specially. The expectation for them to be shot really, really cheap and then be really really good---and for some, perfect, is unrealistic.

For the most part, based on years and year and years of doing this, I would conclude that a reasonable amount of people find my productions to be good. I have had instances where scenes were compare with and concluded to be better then some mainstream sequence I might have been mimicking. I enjoy those compliments and knowing that it is just me, my PA---not a crew of 30---make me feel I have some skill. :-)

So, when reviewing, simply take that into consideration. What is being achieved here, for this community is amazing. Sure, there are come crappy movies, but there are many really, really good movies. And I am amazed what this community has grown to and in fact, you, the fans, have all made it happen. No producer would be around if there was not support. And while, we are limited without the hollywood budgets and catering trucks, we make up in sheer volume of production to choose from. If you are looking for a good strangling, you don't have a couple WAVE videos to choose from anymore, but nearly 8000 movies, produced over the last 18 years by various fetish companies----and not for an audience of 1000's, but just for a 100 or less folks. That is extremely specialized and why, for instance, you don't see movies selling for $3.99----if 1000 were selling, sure, but with 40 being an average, there has to be a way to pay for those production costs that are not being passed on to keep the custom prices low.

So, I have been rambling, and I will now summarize.

Reviews----Great
Context---Reviewer should take it into consideration--budget vs. amount of fetish vs. what would be done mainstream in stead.
Customs---All of them
Community--Is Special

Thanks,
JohnM

[Max5s]

.... and some of us actually quite like seeing fat and ugly models, Max! Variety is the spice of life!

I want to re-emphasize what I said: "I don't like to see direct CRITICISM of a model for things she CAN'T CHANGE". For example, don't say a model has ugly feet if you mean you think her nail polish is a dreadful color. On the other hand, if a person likes fat, ugly models, that's fine. One can find a way of describing that appreciation that is not offensive.

[Pennpaul]

while it is open season on any video, I always identify a custom simply because I and the models may find it difficult to really satisfy the customer let alone expect positive sales. I have had experience where-in a customer was unhappy that we had added some additional variation he had not requested. I have also experienced using a model who showed up but was pregnant. We did a second version of the custom with another model. The customer was much happier with the 2nd model.

All customs have not been offered to the public. If I do not foresee a market, it stays in the hands of the customer only. Until recently a freeze video has remained in inventory because there was no market.

While anyone can be a critic with free speech, constructive criticism is best. One important thing for viewers to know is that what is seen as the video is recorded may not really appear on "film". A good example is the shakey close ups. The videographer may not see the shakey blurred results until the editor says "WTF"

As JohnM has mentioned his op, critics may have to consider the actual operation of any given producer. Amatures face many restrictions in equipment and locations. Props are another potential restriction. And then there are the actors and producer/directors.

The best critics are those who have spent time in front of and behind the cameras. The average viewer critic merely uses personal preference for critiques.

[crwarr]

CHRIS B, I'M NOT YELLING at you and the CC I was refering to was Choke Chamber. I'm a normal guy and I like to see a good video, with good acting. Nothing sucks more than buying a clip and the choker/strangler is just plain poor. The old guy I was refering to does a lot of the Choke Chamber clips and he just sucks!!! Apparently you are from Chris Corner, dont think I have any beef with your stuff...CRWARR

[Chris B]

I was just being playful as usual, hahaha I already know you are a good customer and fan of Chris' Corner, was just funning you for the caps lock.

Some fantastic perspective here.

Thanks again! CB