Convincing people on the street to tell you their sexual thoughts and desires-or getting them to take their clothes off-is not the usual task of commercial directors. But Kenan Moran, who helms spots through New York-based Compass Films, had just that experience when HBO tapped him to direct material for its Real Sex specials.
Moran’s footage, culled from man-on-the-street interviews, has been used in the series’ latest installments-Real Sex: 24 and Real Sex: 25. The interviews air as interstitial pieces that bridge the feature segments of each hour-long show. Among the interview queries are, "What turns you on about your partner?" and "Describe your fetishes and fantasies."
Moran, who has shot hundreds of hours of interviews for the shows in New York and San Francisco, said he is charged with talking to a broad range of very diverse people. Unsurprisingly, this approach has yielded some eye-opening moments caught on film (or Betacam and Digi-Betacam, as the case may be). For instance, Moran recalls talking to one 65-year-old woman who unflinchingly described a favored sexual activity, while her embarrassed 20-something niece turned beet red.
The older woman was Moran’s biggest surprise, simply because she looked Midwestern and conservative-and seemed unlikely to spout such frank revelations. "As a director," noted Moran, "it’s great to have that contact with people and get them comfortable enough to express themselves without feeling inhibited, because it is a very racy topic. And it is HBO [as opposed to the networks], so they can say anything and do anything." Well, almost anything: HBO draws the program line at penetration, although nudity, profanity and graphic language are allowed.
Moran related that, although he has no man-on-the-street commercials to his credit, he does have a significant amount of experience from his five and a half years in MTV’s on-air promo department. Those credentials attracted Real Sex coordinating producer Katie Smallheer, who saw the work on Moran’s reel. Describing the HBO specials, he explained, "You keep the [tone] light in these interviews. People do get serious, and they are very descriptive, but we always keep it good-natured."
In one instance the show became something of a public service, albeit for a small public. Moran recalls that, while being interviewed, one couple discovered they both wanted to have sex in a parking lot-which is where they headed after the shoot. Reported Moran, "They said, ‘Thank you. We’re going to do it now.’ "
Because Real Sex is documentary based, it is considered news, so no film permits were required. Moran and a small crew (cameraman and boom operator) went running-and-gunning, usually on weekends, in crowded, party-like areas. Moran said that New York’s Bleecker Street-where he lives-has proved a popular place to find willing interviewees, as has the general West Greenwich Village area.
"I kind of feel it out for each couple," explained Moran, who said he has a 60 to 70 percent success rate in getting people to consent to be interviewed. "A lot of times, I try to shock them-to throw something out to see how they react, because it’s a strong indication of whether I can get them to open up even more. Sometimes people get a little inhibited, but generally I haven’t had bad luck getting most people to open up. A lot of times, it seems to work if you come directly to people with a camera and start talking to them immediately."
Moran noted significant differences between Real Sex and commercial directing, aside from the racy material. For one thing, there is no set-up; for another, there is much more intimacy between him and his real-people subjects. Moran is aware of this as he works: "I feel more exposed asking these questions with a camera versus sitting behind a camera and looking at a monitor," he observed.
Moran said he derived some inspiration from Ugly George, an old-school, New York-based amateur pornographer from the ’70s, who managed to get attractive women to strip for his cable access program, The Ugly George Show (now defunct). A precursor to such New York cable-access porn show hosts as Robin Byrd and Al Goldstein, Ugly George was a big, 6′ 8" guy with a very unkempt presence, who wore a giant backpack and had this really old video camera, remembers Moran. He would go around New York City to meet women, and then talk them into going into a phone booth or into an alley, and exposing themselves to him.
On the way to his first Real Sex shoot, Moran said, he was walking down Bleecker thinking about the job and about how the show’s producers had wanted him to capture nudity on film. "I just started thinking about Ugly George and I thought, ‘If this guy can do it, I can do it.’ "
