| Paul Markham |
04-22-2005 11:40 PM |
My presentation in Prague.
I never got to give it becasue I was busy with a potential client. But I promised a few I would post it after the show. Here it is.
Quote:
My name is Paul Markham and it?s been my job to photograph for the adult industry for the last 28 years.
I?ve sold everything from glamour to adult content, via mail order, magazines, Internet and now by way of mobile phone companies, and I?m still going strong. Anyone who wants to find me can come and talk to me later or pick up a brochure.
When I asked what I should talk about today, someone told me to talk about what makes a good photo. To be honest I could not tell you and if I had to earn my living as a photographer I'd be broke.
What I am going to talk about is what I believe sells, converts, and keeps THE ADULT CONSUMER buying again and again. Because this is how we get wealthy, or for some of you, stay wealthy.
Plus with all of the time, money and effort we put into selling our services, delivering anything less than the best will ultimately effect our bottom line.
Some say you can sell anything if it?s marketed right. My answer to this is that you can sell the wrong product once, and with the same marketing strategy, sell the right product a 10 times. Why would you want to waste time selling the wrong product? It takes a lot more effort to sell the wrong product than it does to sell the right one.
For instance, you can take the same work, on the same site, with the same traffic. The only difference is that you put a gorgeous woman on the front of one. That image fits the niche, catches more attention, turns more men on, and brings out more credit cards.
This is my general view of what constitutes porn, there are no hard and fast rules in porn, only guidelines.
First and foremost, always assume you?re selling to a repeat buyer. Porn buyers will be into their own thing and rarely switch from niche to niche. If he's into big tits he's always been into big tits. This is not the first time he's seen porn of a big tit girl. So assume the buyer knows what he?s buying.
ALWAYS RESPECT THE MAN WITH THE MONEY.
So what is a porn consumer looking for? Usually it?s sexual arousal and very often satisfaction. To achieve this they need to get a believable fantasy, THAT FITS HIS, HER OR THEIR needs.
They?re looking for a trigger to an illusion that includes them in some way. Can they be doing it, watching it or having it done to them? Never look at a picture or video and think, ?Would I like to get in there? Think to yourself, ?Would they like me to join them?.
This is the secret to good porn. How you portray the fantasy is important.
For a solo girl, is she inviting the viewer to look at her, worship her, dominate her or have sex with her. Could the viewer help her get off or in some way, or participate in the game she's playing? Or does she look bored, disinterested, waiting to go home, pissed off with the shooter, etc. That all seems simple. So why do I see so many pissed off and bored girls on Internet sites?
Body language is important, the angle of her body, the pose is all important in an image or video. Does the pose invite someone to look, join in or that she's ready for the viewer? When buying porn you not only want to see the bodies, you want to get the impression they're going to use them on you. All important things to our customer?s illusion.
This also applies to Lesbian and hardcore porn. Ask yourself are they into what they?re doing, or going through the motions to earn money? Does the scene invite you to participate, watch or are we getting to see something we should, as in the voyeur niche.
Again poses are important. Couples stuff is about them doing each other, so beware of content where the girls are always looking into the camera. The illusion is she is hot and horny ready to have sex. Her looking at the camera too much can ruin the illusion. She should be showing her body to the viewer making sure he gets the message, and on a few shots invite him over.
Then simply does the content fit the niche?
The TEEN porn buyer isn?t convinced by a 25 year old in pigtails and white knee sox, those into Fem Dom aren't looking for 18 year old with a cute smile. Legs and feet fetish is about worshiping feet, big boobs are for guys who want to play with tits for hours. Content like this needs to emphasize what the fetish is about, so no need to DP the girl when you will get a better reaction from massaging the feet/breasts with baby oil.
Then we move on to props, teens don?t need stockings and suspenders, but great for Mature or Leg Fetish. Look at the content and think if it all works and makes sense. Your customers are far more critical.
There are many fetishes, if you're going to sell them, learn them first. Don't try to be a tea-totaller selling wine to a connoisseur.
Problem is there are different rules for different niches and fetishes. Learn them.
OK what makes a good model?
Again there are different rules for different niches, a big tit girl is no good for Petite style and visa versa. That one is obvious, but look at the content and ask yourself if the model fits the niche.
There are certain guidelines with models. Besides having the right figure, and being good-looking etc. Most of them are naturally sexual, confident and enjoy the work. Generally we are portraying a model as open, confident, horny, and enjoying them self, taking the lead sexually.
They?re not trained actors so this would be hard to do if they were the opposite of what the market demands. You cannot pay someone to change who they are.
How many pictures per girl should a set be or how long a video?
This is important when buying content, so as many as it takes to get a good set, without tiring the model. However content is not a numbers game, it?s a poses and positions game. There are 24 basic poses for solo girl. You can shoot the model in all of them clothed, stripping and naked, then close up and wide, than turn the model, then the photographer from the left of the light source and then the right, standing, kneeling and lying down. Exposing Pink, Finger Insertion, and Vibrator Insertion. The model looking at you, looking at their body or the vibrator or the other model.
This can give you well over 2,000 variations and if anyone wants me to prove it I charge 1200 Euros a day. So if you?re delivered a set of less then 120 different pictures, tell the guy to go away and learn his trade.
The same rules generally apply for video, but with the model moving and doing things it's less critical. A guy watching the same scene for longer than 20 minutes will start to get bored unless it?s very well shot and directed.
Sounds great to say on the tour you have 100,000 images and 50 hours of video. But the member will soon be off if that?s 100 sets and 50 videos.
Our customers are paying us to supply them with jerk off material, that will take 15 minutes to hit a spot in his mind.
OK then this is my take on what impresses the surfer and you can tell me I?m wrong. But give us reasons more than stating sites that are successful for other reasons than having exclusive content.
This is what I believe impresses a surfer
Niche. The paying surfer wants the porn he likes.
Fitting the niche. Simple the content has to shot to certain rules and guidelines.
Quality. This mean the models look right and the shooting is right for the niche.
Value. This is a very competitive industry and unless you have enough content to compete you will struggle.
New. Exclusive to the surfer means he has not seen it or can?t remember seeing it. No good buying exclusive and giving it to 1,000 affiliates on the same day.
Twist. A site has to have some twist that puts it apart from the 200,000 other sites out there.
PORN. The guy is paying us to get his dick hard in the shortest possible time and keep it hard for as long as he needs.
Make surfers think models are more than pieces of meat, but rather objects of desire and you are on your way.
Take notice of this or just ignore me, however the guy sitting next to you is taking notes.
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