Watching Netflix’s Sex Education? Here’s how the show choreographs its sex scenes while keeping it a safe environment for the actors.
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00:00You have discovered the wonders of your own penis, my friend.
00:03It's normal.
00:04It's not normal.
00:06Last night I looked at some cheese and I got an erection.
00:18We sort of look up, you know, finding the body mark of a hip bone
00:22and then down onto the thigh, will I get the actor to go,
00:25you can touch me there, and this area's out of bounds.
00:29Really important.
00:30What's so fantastic about sex education is it's telling the reality
00:34that sex isn't always beautiful and runs smoothly.
00:37Most of the time it's awkward, and especially for young teenagers
00:40who are finding their way, it's awkward.
00:50Everybody does sex, so we don't, there's not a specialist that we need,
00:54but of course we know if there's a physical choreography of a dance,
00:56you're going to need someone to choreograph it.
00:58There's a physical choreography of a fight, you know,
01:01you need to take care, there's a risk, and so you're going to choreograph it.
01:04And of course the risk is with the intimate content,
01:07it's your personal and private, intimate body is at play,
01:09and there's a risk if that's handled or dealt with
01:12in a way that's not suitable for you.
01:15So yeah, so I was able to go, actually we need a skill.
01:17You know, you have all the talking going on,
01:19and then it releases into the physical content.
01:21It's a physical dance, and that needs choreographing and taking care
01:25and giving a clear structure.
01:28The part of what we do as the intermediate coordinators
01:30is inviting that open communication and transparency,
01:33and that has to start from the get-go.
01:35Having everybody understanding what's wanted from that scene
01:39happens way before we even get to set.
01:41We'll check in with the director, check out what their vision is,
01:43then we'll check in with the actors, find out what their vulnerabilities are,
01:47what they're concerned about, and then we'll go and do the final check-up.
01:50And then we'll go and do the final check-up,
01:52and then we'll go and do the final check-up,
01:54and then we'll go and do the final check-up,
01:56and then we'll go and do the final check-up,
01:58then we'll go to wardrobe, we'll make sure that the different genitalia patches
02:02and modesty clothing is prepared.
02:04If I haven't worked with that first AD before,
02:06I'll speak to the first AD to make sure that we're going to work really together,
02:10holding a really safe and respectful closed set.
02:13What do you mean, like having casual sex?
02:15Otis.
02:16So there's the masturbation scene with the characters of Otis and Ola,
02:20and so the character of Otis has learnt the technique that he feels.
02:27And so he's trying to put that in practice.
02:30What I always do is break down the scene into beats,
02:33so this section is one beat, then the next section is the second beat,
02:37because there's the journey of the storytelling,
02:41from somebody being excited, and then someone being nervous,
02:44and then into the action of it, and then disappointment,
02:46and not knowing how to handle it, and then saying, OK, we'll stop.
02:49So all that journey, we're charting, so there's a really clear journey.
02:53And then we're checking out touch.
02:55I'm checking out with both actors, where's happy for you to be touched,
02:58where's out of bounds, particularly with the idea of wanting to tell,
03:03we want the physicality to tell the storytelling,
03:05but we want to make sure the actors aren't compromised in where they're touched.
03:09So we look at how can we cheat it?
03:11So we're looking at sort of the, you know, running a little finger down,
03:14we sort of look up, you know, finding the body mark of a hip bone,
03:17and then down onto the thigh, will it get the actor to go,
03:20you can touch me there, and this area's out of bounds.
03:24Really important.
03:25And then with that, then we'll choreograph it clearly.
03:27So I look into your eyes, you know, we have a kiss.
03:29I bring my hand down under your trousers, carrying on down,
03:35and then into the choreography, and then sort of,
03:37so into that moment of masturbation.
03:41Animal rhythms is another tool that we can use as an actor.
03:45Many actors in their training do animal studies,
03:48and so that's what you're using, and it's so useful, because if you look up,
03:51so I get the actors to explore different animal rhythms mating,
03:56and it helps you feel, oh, you know, perhaps a dog,
03:59breathy and quick, feels quite a young person, you know,
04:02perhaps someone who's a bit more older and embodied a gorilla-type feeling.
04:07And it just helps you to just stretch the actor's tool bag of possibilities.
04:14So with that masturbation scene with Amy Liu in series one,
04:19it's even more important when you have someone doing, you know, self-masturbation
04:23to help them not feel that they're exposing themselves.
04:26So we pretty much went through all the different animals,
04:30and it helped Amy Liu to really have something to anchor her,
04:33to have a really embodied quality as this character explored,
04:37you know, what the different, you know, kinds of masturbation can give her,
04:42right the way through to orgasm, and I've been, you know,
04:45we knew that that scene was going to be really important, you know,
04:48that it was a really liberating, you know, piece of art to be out in the world,
04:53and it has been. I met with Amy Liu last year,
04:56and she was saying that she gets, like, hundreds of texts every day
04:59saying thank you for that scene.
05:10I do feel so proud of, you know, this work coming into the industry
05:16and the ripple effects that it has,
05:18and what's important is that it's just empowering for everyone,
05:23and it allows everyone to work professionally.
05:25So nobody would dream of just grabbing someone and doing a kiss,
05:28you know, you check out touch, and again, once you get used to it,
05:31once it becomes inherent and ingrained and just part of the industry,
05:35it takes a moment. It doesn't have to slow things up, but it's just a shift,
05:39and it's just about, you know, agreement and consent,
05:42and working with respect, and helping us all be professional to make the best work.
05:46So that's what I want.
05:47I think I just had a very small orgasm.