The Day I Shot an Adult Film in 2004: Fear, Chaos, and Missing Light
Chaos shooting an adult film in 2004: no crew, missing light, and a link to Hackford, Ferrara, Craven.
Steamy 2004 Kodak group shot
“Content Note: This post contains suggestive imagery and discusses an adult film shoot, but focuses on the artistry and humanity behind the scenes.”
August 2004: A Shoot Gone Wrong
It was August 2004, and my first day shooting an was unraveling fast. Around midnight, I got the call: my two trusted crew members—people I could rely on to handle actual film—were grounded by bad weather. Their flight was canceled, and they’d miss our 10 a.m. call time, if they made it at all. Finding replacements during a busy summer? Futile. Falling back asleep? Impossible. Resisting the urge to chain-smoke? A losing battle.
The sun rose too soon. I dragged myself to the set as the sole member of the camera and electrical department, trying—and failing—to hide my stress from the director and crew. The studio owner said I could “do whatever,” but I still snuck my next cigarette in the bathroom. I was overwhelmed, fielding questions from makeup, wardrobe, and the director, all while facing a bigger problem: I was missing two and a half stops of light. Without them, the next scene was unshootable.
Keith DeCristo's battle-worn Sekonic 508-Cine
A Technical Nightmare at 50 Frames In the bathroom, I smoked, wiped my brow, and muttered to myself: “Everything would be fine if I could keep my Eclair ACL (converted to Super 16) rolling at 24 frames per second.” But the director wanted 50 fps for a specific look, and I’d promised her we could do it—“easy as pie,” I’d said during preproduction. Now, my trusty Sekonic 508C light meter was screaming otherwise. I’d have to shoot wide open to get a proper exposure, which works when actors hit their marks. Problem is, this was an improvisational shoot—they had none. Keeping everything handheld and in focus felt impossible.
I called the film lab to ask about pushing the film—underexposing during shooting and overdeveloping later to compensate for the low light. The lab tech warned me: “You’ll get grain the size of golf balls.” That would destroy the aesthetic I’d promised the director, who’d already stretched her budget by tens of thousands to shoot on film. She trusted me. The thought of letting her down burned worse than the cigarette I nearly dropped on myself.
Tender touch in monochrome: a 2004 Kodak moment.
Finding the Light (Literally)
I burst out of the bathroom, opened my softbox, and found the culprit—a 500-watt bulb that wasn’t cutting it. Five minutes later, I swapped it for a 1000W tungsten globe. Ten minutes after that, I was reloading film magazines with fresh 400 ft loads of Kodak 7213, wrapping the last one with neon-colored camera tape. As I worked, I couldn’t help but wonder: did directors like Taylor Hackford, Abel Ferrara, or Wes Craven face the same chaos early in their careers? Turns out, they probably did—each of them worked under a pseudonym at least once, filming adult scenes where the talent was caught, quite literally, in flagrante delicto.
Black and White image of a tender scene
Naked Bodies, Focused Mind
I’d shot plenty of fashion-focused implied nudity before, so I romanticized this adult project. I pictured my biggest challenge being self-discipline—staying focused amidst beautiful, professionally promiscuous women, made up like goddesses, with a knack for excess, orgasms, and “accidentally” brushing against their cinematographer. But I was too busy to notice. I was worried about technical issues, about pulling this off without a proper crew. The only time I set down my light meter was to smoke another cigarette, recheck my lighting ratios, count film stock, or brood over my determination to shoot this literal cluster beautifully. If I stared at anyone obsessively, it was through my viewfinder. How boring is that?
Editor’s Note: A Reflection
Years later, while digitizing this image series, I noticed something. Aside from the director, most of the talent didn’t continue in adult entertainment. It hit me—they might have taken this gig to keep the lights on, pay rent, feed their kids, or hold onto hope for better days. I might have taken this job for the same reasons. Out of respect, I used Photoshop to alter their facial features, protecting the identities of some genuinely nice people who, like me, might have just needed a break.
Stay tuned for part two.
Steamy 2004 Kodak film still of a woman in a sensual pose
