It Takes Two to Tangle

It takes two to tangle!

Sometimes I finish a set and think to myself, "Did that just really happen?" One of the fun aspects of shooting damsel in distress for me is that it can be highly organic. You plan what you want, tell the models the general idea of where things will go and then you go for it. All those plans tend to go out the door when a model is kicking you in the back with a high heel and the other model is trying to hit you in the face. The gags get cinched a little deeper and the ropes get pulled a little tighter.

I am not for one second trying to say that you are mean to the girls. I'm saying that you really do feel a need to get them tied up before you lose an eye! They keep doing things to you that drives you to make things even more secure in order to get them to stop. I recently shot a video with Nyxon and Ludella Hahn where that happened. Nyxon was taken down first and fought me tooth and nail. Ludella was next and as she was being restrained Nyxon was kicking me and hitting me while Ludella tried to work free Nyxon's knots. I really felt I needed to do a great job or they'd get loose or at least make me see stars.

After long minutes of constant fighting against me I finally had them both bound hand and foot and face down on the floor. I knew that they'd get themselves loose and pondered where to go next. The original position was supposed to be both of them on the floor sitting next to each other and making pathetic whining noises. Then I distinctly heard one of the girls sputter through her gag, "wait until he goes and we'll untie each other."

That sealed the deal. After being kicked, scratched and having to fight for every rope I got onto each girl I knew what had to be done. I wrapped gauzed tightly around their already gagged faces to make that type of talk more limited and then made some magic. I hogtied both of them but together in a way where one's ankles went to the others elbows. It was tight, kept them away from the knots and made every movement by one agony for the other. It was an absolutely wonderful final position born totally out of my competetive need to make sure that the wily Ludella and escape-artist Nyxon did not escape my ropes. And they didn't!

Image courtesy of Tightly Tangled Twosome with Nyxon & Ludella Hahn.

Carissa Mummified

Electrically insulated ... for her safety!

I will fully admit that I have mixed feelings when it comes to custom requests. On one hand you have to set aside your own projects to make time for customs. On the other hand you get a chance to deal with some interesting people with ideas that you normally wouldn't have though of yourself. That's the part that really intrigues me about customs. When you shoot regularly you get into a pattern of things that you know work well and can be done in a timely fashion. With a custom request however you can't do that. They force you to creatively break yourself out of your mold and try new things.

A wonderful fellow named Mike presented me with the opportunity to do a custom mummification. In my own work I hadn't done a full mummification for video only because they tend to be lengthy. Fans seems to want a mix of short and long clips but with the long clips being broken into 15-minute segments. There's just know way to do that with a mummification because I don't feel there is much of a market for people wanting to see 15 minutes of me wrapping tape around someones legs. I was very wrong.

Mike requested Carissa Montgomery which put me in a bit of a conundrum. I had never worked with her and only had four hours of time to shoot both my material and this custom. Because the client was just so pleasant to converse with I decided I'd do it. I ordered a lot of wide electrical tape, signed Carissa up for it and put aside the 60+ minutes necessary to get everything shot necessary for the custom.

I loved it! I've done a number of mummification sets and had forgotten how delightful it is to wrap someone completely up and then have them dependent totally on you. Poor Carissa at one point was wrapped head to toe in tape. Her ears were covered as well as her eyes and she pretty much only had her sense of smell remaining. She stood there without support with me next to her. I can't even imagine the thoughts going through her head. Then I put her on the ground and let her struggle. Well, she couldn't struggle so I let her wiggle a little and try to deal with the drool pooling in her mouth.

At the end she said it was hard as hell and fun as can be. She smiled broadly and blew a kiss to the camera still mummified. Yes, mummification sets will be much more frequent around the studio and yes Carissa will be brought back again and again and again ...

Image courtesy of Carissa Mummified in Electrical Tape with Carissa Montgomery!

I love microfoam!

The prescription is shut up! Doctor's orders.

If you follow anyone in the bondage community you've probably seen microfoam tape. The stuff is one of the great inventions of the world. For a rigger it goes fire, the wheel, penicillin, sliced bread and then microfoam. Yes, it is that incredible. Imagine being able to tape someone's face quickly and easily with a substance that adheres just as well as duct tape, has the elasticity of electrical tape, is thicker so it muffled cries more and then comes off with ease (provided you have use of your fingers that is). Did I mention that it is stark white and looks great?

I started using this wonder of modern medicine about five years ago and have been hooked ever since. The medical industry is a bondage enthusiast's best friend in so many ways. Staples at every shoot for me now are two kinds of medical tape, safety scissors and gauze. Yes, I said medical tape. Microfoam was created to hold dressings for injuries. It sticks to the skin like glue but can be removed without damaging skin. It causes no irritation and breathes, so there is not bruising associated with it. Even better it does not stick to hair, so it can be wrapped around anything!

This doesn't mean that duct tape and electrical tape are going anywhere. You'll see them on damsels forever. It just means that the box of goodies a rigger carries around is like a great tool box for a carpenter. You will find a vintage screwdriver right next to a brand new, high-tech wrench. To steal from an old adage, "Find new bondage materials, keep the old ... one is silver, the other gold."

Image courtesy of Nylon Encasement Nightmare with Hannah Perez.

Nylon Encasement Nightmare

Holy crap that does not look comfortable!

I quite frankly didn't even know this was physically possible until I was filming the position. That's the only way I can describe the image. I plan most things out because I'm an artist. I get a picture of things in my head that allows me to work up a scenario that plays out around that picture. This though really took me by surprise.

The plan was to do a nylon encasement with a tape hogtie and everything started out just like that. We got poor Hannah completely encased in nylon then set to work adding 40-50 yards of wide electrical tape. Legs pinned together followed by an arm sleeve from wrists to elbows followed by a lot of tape holding her arms to her chest and waste. Then a tight wrap gag was added over her already huge ballgag. The only thing left was to put the gal into the hogtie which we did by taping her ankles to her thighs and then taping her feet to her forehead. No, that isn't the behavior of a proper gentleman but she wasn't complaining. Of course wearing a face full of shut the hell up keeps most people from complaining.

That's when the coolest thing happened. Hannah started struggling and because electrical tape is elastic she was able to do something that I'd never seen happen with duct tape versions of this position. She was able to stretch the tape just enough to get onto her side and when she did the tape compressed her body like an accordion.  I call the position the pretzel and do with it with rope from the shoulders to the ankles. I've never seen it done with a face to the toes! It was just incredibly compressed, incredibly tight and incredibly incredible to watch. I have many moments that I remember well during my career, but this was one of those rare times that when she first compressed into that tiny ball you can see the camera shake because I was just plain floored by how cool it was. Thanks Hannah!

Image courtesy of Nylon Encasement Nightmare with Hannah Perez!

Catsuits and crushed elbows

Over an hour of jacked bondage!

Something that always amazes me are those moments when you think you're being too taxing on a model and they keep going without pulling the plug on the set. You reach a point where every minute that passes you think is the last minute of film you're getting of this punishing position on an exquisite girl. You even get to a point where you have your finger near the button to shut the camera off, but that moment doesn't happen.

I had already put Chrissy Daniels through a snug chair tie where she struggles her ass off for a very long time. She drooled, kicked, moaned and thrashed not only tied up tight but also cinched tightly to the chair. Those chairs are not comfortable and having your arms crushed up against bare wood is not exactly spa treatment. After about 30 minutes of dealing with that she put on a black catsuit in less than 2 minutes and was again in a terrible predicament. There was rope everywhere and her elbows were wrenched behind her but good. Just like before she was crazy in the ropes and never stopped moving. I actually had to pull the plug on things because I had far more film than I needed of the set.

That's when the magic happened. This wonderful gal shook her head and told me to keep going. I had already kept her tied up for more than 60 minutes total in two really tough positions, and she was telling me to do more. What can a guy do? I put her on the floor, wrapped tape around her face and them cinched her into a strict hogtie. I let her go at it again. She had dealt with the chair tie, dealt with the catsuit tie and was now wriggling around in a just plain mean gag and a punishing hogtie. After 14 minutes, and I'm am not kidding, she finally tapped out and still let me do an interview with her tied up at the end.

I'll explain those 14 minutes from my perspective. When it started I thought we'd get 2 minutes max and it would be over. After 5 minutes I didn't even know how I was going to film more. I'd already rushed through all my panning script to get the right angles convinced it would have ended by then. Every time she blinked I was sure she was giving up, but then she'd just start struggling again like it was the first position of the day. After 10 minutes I had to put the camera in her face to make sure she was okay. I was worried she was so worn out she didn't have the ability to say she was done, but she just started struggling again. Finally 14 minutes had passed with my finger on the pause button the entire time. It was only then that she stopped moving and nodded when I held up the "are you done" signal.

I've put people in that hogtie and not had it last 4 minutes. She went 25 minutes counting the gagging, being put in the hogtie and being in the hogtie. She did that immediately after another 25 minute set. She did that with only a 2 minute rest from another 20 minute set. That must have been the most grouping hour+ of her life. I know it was for me. I was in action mode ready to jump in and cut her lose at any moment, and it never happened. It was just plain incredible!

Image courtesy of Therapy Gone Wrong Episode Three with Chrissy Daniels.

Chrissy Daniels plays the classic damsel

Chrissy Daniels drools all over herself!

 Every so often you just have to find a way to make classic damsel in distress happen. I used to shoot what I refer to as classic damsel in distress all the time but some of my more popular series have pulled me away from it. The Hogtie from Hell means panties only. He Tied Me So Tight I Had To Tell means layers of rope and tape. The Kitchen Sink series gets all different colors or ropes involved. That's all damsel in distress but not what I call classic damsel in distress.

For me the classic image is Sweet Gwendoline. Heels, hose, a short skirt and a ruffled blouse on a girl that just can't stay out of trouble if she tried. She always ends up bound hand and foot with crisp rope. 
When I saw some of the outfits Chrissy Daniels brought along though I just had to pull out a story that I've dabbled with for over 5 years. The idea of a therapist in trouble isn't anything new. It's been around for a long time. I did my take on it with Angelique Kithos about 3 years ago. I recently saw a nice spin on it done by Serene Isley and David Andrews as well. When Chrissy showed up though I saw an outfit that perfectly matched a story idea I'd jotted down about 2 years ago. I have to clarify that when I say matched it was right down to the grey skirt, the purple heels and the ruffled, purple blouse. Hows that for fate saying, "um, excuse me?"

Before you know it Chrissy was ballgagged and neatly but tightly tied to a chair with strands of tight white rope. I gave her ten minutes to make headway and she didn't get anywhere. She did manage to drool all over herself though. Her chin, her pearl necklace, her chest ... the trail when almost down to her crotch. For those not familiar that is a hell of a lot of drool. The outfit was great, the damsel was perfect and in the end she was still just as snugly tied and wet with her own drool. That is helpless!

Image courtesy of Therapy Gone Wrong with Chrissy Daniels.

Bitgags make for great drooling!

When I was working with Natalie Minx I heard her on the phone say something like, "mostly ballgags." This was soon followed by, "I guess nobody buys clips with bitgags." The very next set I decided to use a bitgag because I don't find that to be true. I use a healthy mix of gags focusing on ballgags, layered gags and bitgags. I don't find a huge difference between the three which leads me to believe there are fans of all of them.

For me the gag should compliment the strengths of the damsel as well as be a challenge. Ballgags are an obvious challenge because they fill up the mouth and distort the lips. They look like a pain to deal with. Layered gags are a challenge just because they are. They compress your face, make you hot and soak you in your own drool. They're just not comfortable and make for a great damsel feel.

The reason I think a bitgag is just as challenging is that my bitgags are pliable like a ball but cylindrical instead of spherical. They sit in the mouth and can curve to allow them to be strapped in just as tightly as a ballgag. This lets them pinch deeply into the cheeks. Even better there is no way the damsel can stop from drooling. Natalie has a wonderful face, beautiful lips and drools like crazy. Why would I not bitgag her?

Courtesty of Ravishing Redhead Ready for Rope!

Ultra-strict hogtie for Carissa Montgomery

My shoot was in the works with Carissa since before Fetishcon this year, and I'd already decided that I was going to revisit some of my favorite video series with her. She's tough as nails and cute as a button which is a dangerous combination with me. There's nothing I love more than a cute gal in tight bondage and with her durability we did some amazing sets. Add to that dozens of emails requesting more of some of the most popular clip themes we had a day full of massive amounts of rope, punishing gags and lengthy progressive restraint sequences.

The first set was a great warm-up and had her sweating all over. I don't mean the kind of sweating from being hot. The house was 67 degrees, and she was almost nude. This was the type of sweat that happens when the ropes really sink in and are pulled as tight as possible. We went right into the hogtie from hell after that. For those that are unaware, the hogtie from hell is 350+ feet of thin cotton cord applied tightly until the model is in a crushingly strict hogtie. A challenge in itself she also has to deal with a ballgag covered with tape or gauze at full stretch so her face is hugged tightly.

After 30 minutes of painstakingly applying tight ropes, and a lot of them, Carissa was ready for the gag. We strapped it in tightly and then wound tape around her face. The tape is stretchy, so it was pulled out before applying so it would squeeze as much as possible. After several wraps the strain was obvious and she was noticeably fighting the discomfort of the still incomplete position. We finished things up with a hogtie that pulled her into an arch. I love when you see the fingers touch their high heels.

The agreement was to go seven minutes, and she did. She looked like she had gas in the tank, so we stretched it out to 14 minutes total. She was spend at that point. I let her hands free and made her hold the camera with shaky hands while I removed her gag. When the ball came out of her mouth 14 minutes of spit and drool flooded out at once and covered her gigantic breasts. The tape markings were still very evident on her face, but she managed a smile.

This is by far the longest predicament restraint I've done this year. The ropes were thin and biting. The restraint was ultra-strict. The gag was punishing. The final position was agonizing. On top of that Carissa willed herself through the longest hogtie of this severity I've done on anyone except Angelique Kithos. The Hogtie from Hell Returns is fast becoming one of my personal favorite clips of all time!

Natalie Minx Learns the Ropes

I had the great pleasure of working with Natalie Minx for two days while she was in the area. I had actually dialoged with her a couple times through email over the last three years but to no avail. Either she was in the area while I was traveling or I was available and she was on the West coast. Such is the way with these things. Timing can be a very cruel mistress.

When she contacted me again this time it was for a period smack in the middle of my most busy shooting schedule in the last five years. What was I to do? I said they hell with it is what I did. I threw caution to the wind and made the time. You can tell I was pleased with her modeling abilities because one day of shooting turned into more shooting the next day. When you like the material you are generating you take advantage of the time you have available.

The first position we did was jacked to say the least. It featured a massive panty gag with tight taping and a mile of rope that resulted in a chair tie that became a vicious hogtie. I was sold at that point but after the next position being just as stringent with both restraint and gag I was officially hooked as a Natalie Minx fan. The rest of the two days were filled with punishing gags, intricate positions, super-heroines in distress and some of the most sensual and realistic struggling I've ever seen. When Natalie kept re-iterating that this was the toughest bondage she's endured in a very long time I knew we had some great material. Even better she is an absolutely lovely person to talk to. Angelique and I highly enjoyed finally getting the chance to work with her and get to know her a little bit.

The first release with Natalie is called Ravishing Redhead Ready for Rope. It was actually the last scene shot on day one and features a glam restraint that progresses into a difficult standing tie and finally a rigid strappado. If you want the definition of strict bondage take everything you think and push it aside for a moment. Doing one set with someone that is just plain strict is one thing. Doing a FULL DAY of sets with them and ending it with a strict strappado ... that is strict bondage!

I've always gotten a kick out of the reasons why I start shooting certain scenarios. I've never been a big fan of spread leg scenarios when I shoot. The main reason is that I like panties, so I shoot a lot of material with people wearing them. Another major reason is that with realistic scenarios it can come across as implying that something bad will happen to the damsel. I'm more about implied drama instead of in-your-face peril.

That said, I used to not like ballgags. Then I shot with one for a custom request and fell in love with them. Well that just happened with spread legs. I always want to keep the damsel in a predicament where she is forced to choose between struggling and protecting her dignity. I like that balance and feel it makes for compelling video. When you take a girl and tie her legs to her ears I don't feel that balance anymore. The girl is just plain out there and becomes too much of an object for me. I WANT the damsel to have some control and to be a person. There's no drama if the damsel can't do anything. There's no drama if the damsel is an object

A great guy started inquiring about customs with me inquiring about spread positions. At first I didn't know how I felt but as he started explaining the scenario and sending samples it hit me that the first person perspective made it work in a way I didn't think possible. The damsel actually did have control. By controlling the camera like a captor viewing a captive there is an interplay between the model and the camera. She can still work to protect her dignity. I also saw that if I give her enough ability to wiggle she still can't prevent herself from being in full view but there isn't an ability to just stick a camera down below and gratuitously film. Even better, her ability to guard her dignity comes at the expense of her own comfort. The choice is there.

The first shoot I did like this was with the wonderful Hannah Perez. When she kept blocking her face with her knee and actually bumped the camera a few times as I moved in for close-ups I knew we had something. Although very exposed she still had to ability to fight being on display and the ability to attempt to ward off her captor. The balance was there, the damsel was there and the drama worked for me. Color me converted and get ready for similar material to Forced Yoga Practice in the coming months!

Please tie me up!

I really think too much about what I'm going to say sometimes, especially in this blog. It's really not as hard as I make it. I tie people up for a living ... write about that. See, that was easy. I've always been that way when it comes to writing though. Over-analysis lead to paralysis, and I really over-analyze anything written. They hell with that, let's talk about tying people up!

The rest of the year is pretty much petal-to-the-metal when it comes to shooting. I have customs, shoots, drawings, DVDs and everything else bondage coming out of my ears. And I love it. First up we have Hannah Perez. My wife has wanted to put her in a super-heroine outfit for a while now, and that means I get to be a bad guy most likely. If that's not lucky enough I have my own shoot with her split between some custom work and what I'm sure Ms. Perez will consider incredibly jacked restraint. That's in 3-days so we're in the planning stages. I'm thinking right now we'll do a take on the whole "please tie me up" burglar scenario and perhaps the hogtie from hell series. I haven't seen any encasement work with her either, so I'm sure we'll do at least one nylon and a lot of duct tape scene!

It's called a square knot ... you're welcome!

I get asked a lot how I keep my knots from coming undone when I'm using nylon rope. First of all it's called a square knot: learn it, live it, love it. Don't waste your time looking it up. Just remember to go over then under the first time and then reverse it to under and over the second time. If you pull from one side it gets tighter. If you pull from the other side it gets tighter. You're welcome!

Oh, the second thing is keep your nylon rope fresh. The fibers break down after so many uses and once that happens youre on your own. There are plenty of knots that work great with worn out nylon but if you need those then try explaining how many girls sweat is built up in that rope you're wrapping a model up in. In fact that's a great rule of thumb. If you're nylon rope won't hold a square knot anymore than it's time to toss it out. Seriously, models wear self-tanner, make-up, glitter and other girl-magic. I'm funny that way, I treat ropes like hotel sheets. You just want to know they are super-clean before the mention of crotch-rope comes up.

And since I brought it up what is girl magic? Girl magic is when someone who looks perfectly fine goes into a bathroom, opens something with a zillion cases full of stuff you've never seen because you're not allowed down that aisle at the department store and then starts using a combination of what could be loosely considered part artist tools and part torture devices. When the door opens again they've gone from looking cute as can be into something that would make a cartoon wolf's tongue roll out onto the floor and his eyes pop out with an "aooogaaaa" sound.

Speaking of that, if you like "aooogaaa" and nylon rope and square knots all in one place take a peek at Nyxon.

We give the studio a test run

The fun thing about having a revamped studio is that when someone says, "let's go shoot some fine art, I'll let you do some shibari after that" you can just go do it. There's no moving couches or setting up backdrops or spending on hour on lights. Almost everything is all set up already. A process that used to take a half day to set up takes minutes.

It's been a blast not only because it's a pain in the ass to destroy the house to shoot and that pain is gone but because we shoot so much more now. If I have a cool idea odds are we'll shoot it. If Angelique needs some updates for her portfolios it's as easy as grabbing my camera. And as with today's scenario she will always let me get a clip in afterwards.

An added benefit is that before everything was in closets, tubs and boxes. If you had a cool idea searching for the components was a nightmare and almost not worth it. Now when shibari came up I had the hemp right there and some spare rope to make a nice gag to go with the position. Folks who do this regularly know what I'm talking about. You can spend 3 hours to shoot 50 shots and a 15-minute clip. We spend 30 minutes shooting all of that. That means more energy, more productivity and the rare opportunity to have a light bulb go off in your head and just go shoot it and see what happens.

The moral: I love the new studio. Angelique does as well but you couldn't tell from this image we shot and put up today. I called it 240 Feet of Hemp Rope Hogtie Hell. It was a tough one, but we're finding those are easy to do now. When you don't have to worry about clean-up you'd be amazed just what a gal will let you put her through!

An oldie but a goodie

One of the only reasons I considered starting a clips store was a huge backlog of "vintage" material. Now by vintage material I don't mean movies from the 80s, everything I have ever shot has been DV or higher. It isn't up to the same standards I hold myself to now though with lighting and other equipment. Plus I've learned a lot from the many mistakes I made during those days. Therefor I call them vintage just to put a line between shooting as a hobbyist and shooting professionally.

Back then I was fortunate to work with Sammie Sparks several times. One of the reasons my shoots with her always gave me great material is that her husband was a fabulous cameraman. There was no wasting the model's energy moving tripods around with allowed me to be rougher in my handling of the "damsel" and her husband just knew where to have the camera pointed at all times. He knew how she struggles, so he'd be ready when she'd change positions and get just the right shot.

It still stands out though as a hallmark in someone actually trying to get away.

He Made My Tits Bulge The Take-down courtesy of Ted Michaels Damsels.

Respect your co-workers!

It should be obvious by now that I have great respect and admiration for the models I collaborate with during shoots. Too many people treat them like meat that they can just abuse for a couple hours, and that really pisses me off. Everyone has different comfort levels that need to be respected. Failing to understand those levels or even worse purposefully pushing past the limits is reprehensible. The ability to understand limits and stay within them is what makes us humans. Violating those comfort levels makes us no better than monkeys.

That rant over, I find it creatively inspiring to have limits to work within. I used to work with about 100 artists. Some of them would bitch and complain because they didn't have what was necessary to be creative. Some of them however could take whatever you gave them and make magic happen. True creativity requires limits to make you work around perceived obstacles. Total freedom in my opinion leads to paralysis whereas limits make you inspired.

The image today is from a shoot I did with a girl named Lola. You'd think by looking at it she had no limits but she did. You just don't walk up to someone, jack their elbows, tie their breasts and throw clamps on their nipples. You discuss a list of options and make it very clear where the lines are. And you respect those lines! Just because you see a picture of someone like that doesn't mean they'll do anything and it doesn't mean that they'll do it with you. Comfort is often something that's earned. Holding up money and expecting nipple clamps and breast bondage in return is easy. Establishing a rapport through conversation and honest exchange of ideas however is inspiring. I'll take inspiring any day.

The short version is that the work I do comes out well because I work with talented and motivated people. We communicate well and we respect each other as creative professionals. Because of that mutual respect the material comes out well. People work better for you when they can get along with you. They get along with you when you treat them with respect.

Orgasm Hell with Lola courtesy of Ted Michaels. Enjoy!

A trio of firsts!

This has got to be one of my favorite images of all time. I mean, it's of my wife the lovely Angelique Kithos but I liked it before we even started getting serious. It breaks my heart to this day that there is no video of it, but that's what happens. You shoot video and go to yourself, "that would have made a great photo." Then you're taking photos and you realize that you're missing on on great video. Regardless, I got a wonderful photo and that's all that matters.

The first thing that jumps out at me are that Angelique's expression is perfect. I asked her how she could pull it off and she said at the time she literally hated me. Photographers do this thing that really piss models off. They say they need 5 more shots and then they see an angle that is just too good to pass up so they take 3 more shots. I think this was the 14th or so shot past that, but it was worth it. Anyway, she was sore and hurting and pissed off. She didn't call the safe-word though, so she must have know the material was going to be good.

The next thing that makes it special is that she has wonderful legs. The angle makes them look even longer and they run right up to those pulled-down panties. The really special part is her breasts and arms. She had done some tough bondage, but I was the one that got those elbows to touch. I also convinced her to do real breast bondage. So there she is, shoulders on fire, breasts aching, panties at her knees, drooling on herself and almost 20 shots past the point where she absolutely couldn't take it anymore. And yet she let me keep shooting. It's not a bad day of shooting when your first shoot with someone ends with her elbows toughing, her breasts bound and her naked ass sitting on your couch.

Ted Michaels

Adding depth to your video

To each their own but I don't understand why so many videos just focus on the model and sometimes if your lucky a background. I mean yeah the idea is to showcase the model, but the whole thing is about struggle and tension and drama. Now I will fully admit that before I had nice equipment I had to do just that because of focus issues, but once I could control my focus I added an interesting element: foreground elements.

When telling a story sometimes you want push the damsel back and get some things showing in the foreground. Yeah, you even want to partially obscure her for a little bit. Insane you say, but I disagree. Pulling back and showing foreground elements lets the viewer understand the damsel is part of a larger world. She doesn't exist in a tiny corner with a couch, 200 feet of rope and a gag. There's an entire room with drawers that might have scissors, end tables that hold tape and a phone that she knows is there. She's tied so tight she can't make it to the phone. Her hands are numb so she can't open the drawer. What is he going to do with that tape?

Part of story-telling is not just about showing the story, it's about setting up elements that let the viewer paint scenarios in their mind. It gives you the ability to show that things will get more intense because he still has more rope. That applies to audio as well. I have a bunch of pre-recorded audio of me fumbling around on my desk an in my office. You'd be amazed at what that adds to a sound-track that is very dry. The moral: don't be afraid to let the viewer know there's only a damsel. Give them hints at the bigger world and you might find that her dilemma becomes all the more compelling!

Pinched and Pawed in Pink with Amaya Solace made available by Ted Michels Damsels.

A very tough tie

I've always been a fan of lotus ties because they somewhat achieve their normal goal. Traditionally the position is used to align the body in such a way as to allow for meditation. Well, the tied version certainly does align the body in such a way but I'll be damned if you're going to be doing any meditation. As I've said before I love contrast, and the contrast between this position allowing alignment but preventing meditation is wonderful.

I do the position two basic ways. The mean way and the really mean way. Poor Stacie here got the really mean way. The year before I used the position on her but was nice and tied her ankles to her torso by the chest. This puts all the stress on those strong back muscles. The really mean way I go around the neck. It doesn't choke or anything dangerous but it puts the strain on the back of the neck which forces the damsel to use her abdominal muscles to help relieve some of the pressure. If you look at Stacie's face here the strain and slight redness isn't from the ropes causing pressure, it's because she's been doing crunches for about five minutes!

If that's not bad enough I put her on her side on a tiny ottoman. Her elbows are welded, she can't use her legs for support and her face is crushed down to her feet. Combine that with a ballgag and you have some fun almost-struggling. She commented that she couldn't move at all :)

A Lotus That Gave Her Something to Think About with Stacie Snow. Enjoy!
Ted Michaels

Anime angles

I wish I could remember when I started shooting extreme up and down angles. It probably stems back to my years of drawing comic panels. In a drawing extreme angles portray action. In video they do the same thing.

I've found over the years that the extreme upward angle gives the feeling of isolation in the scene. When you film at eye level it gives the impression you're seeing what the antagonist is seeing. Extreme angles put the perspective in the scope of the damsel being alone and helpless. It's a neat feeling for video as long as you don't mind break dancing all over the floor to shoot it right.

Since I have a propensity to tie peoples ankles apart the models will often splay their knees apart as they struggle which gives what I call the anime angle. If you've seen enough anime and manga you'll know what I'm talking about. Wenona was great for this. She knew where the camera was at all times and made sure her knee never got in the way. It really served to isolate her in the scene as a bound, gagged and utterly alone damsel. It is also one of my favorite scenes from FC two years ago!

Welded in White courtesy of Ted Michaels Damsels.

Keeping It Fresh

I just love this picture. There are things that you keep writing into stories over and over that you just never can do. I'm always jotting down transport sequences that involve a crate or container of some sort. That's all well and good until you realize the shoot is tomorrow and the model is 5'10" ... good luck making a crate that big by the next day.

When I got the chance to shoot with Amaya I joke that I would put her in my tub for equipment and drag her around. She said do it, she's tiny enough to fit. And she was! It's kind of funny that I'd planned it for years and it just sort of happens by accident. That's the way most things go though. You have to be flexible because the cool things are often the things you don't plan for. And so it was that poor Amaya is all taped up unconscious, stuffed in a tub and dragged downstairs to be dumped unceremoniously on the carpet. It just goes to show you that if you do something enough eventually all opportunities will come your way.

Amaya in Agent A Is MIA available now!

Back to basics

There are no magic formulas when it comes to bondage content. Sure there are trends that can be reliable, but just like the stock market the fickle nature of the business can make things shift in unexpected ways. One week you are convinced that a mile of tape all over a gal is the ticket and then that clip tanks. The next week you make bank with a hogtie only to have the next hogtie fizzle. You find a model that everyone loves but they don't like her in straps.

That's why I've been going back to basics. I put together a list of things I felt creatively empowering a long time back. As I attempt to meet the expectations of people there's a risk of shifting too quickly, getting too far away from what you do best. That's why sticking to the core of what you like doing is a key to maintain focus in a dynamic industry. Every clip I've done that holds true to the elements I wrote down in my mission statement has done well. Over the last couple of weeks that strategic regrouping has met with promising results.

That doesn't mean I'm not taking chances. It doesn't mean I'm not taking feedback. In fact I'm taking more chances and incorporating feedback more than ever. The foundation isn't changing though. I have developed several areas that I feel I do well and create a branding for my work. In taking chances you run the risk of walking away from too many of those elements. That's a bad thing. You need to explore and take risks just enough to test new areas without stepping out of realm that people expect you to be working within. Keeping a solid and recognizable core keeps people interested while letting you test new areas.

The latest clips I shot was a great example. I get a lot of response to my living room feel for my videos. It gives the impression that it could be happening anywhere, even right next door. That gets boring though, so I took a chance on shooting at the beach while on vacation. I didn't have all my equipment, but the new location made for an interesting story idea that I feel works. The location pulled me out of my normal villain character, made me more bold and the interaction showed that. I took off the mask, the spanking was harder, the take-down was rougher and we even did a simulated scene in one of the clips. Normally we'd cut that out but it just really worked with the clip as a whole. So we left it in!

The Bitchy Beach Babe Pissed Off the Wrong Renter with Angelique

Panty gags it is

I'm not really shocked that my recent poll had panty gags as the winner. If I like something I have to assume that other people will, but it's handy to know that they are the favorite. I used to say I'm putting panties in your mouth to some really odd responses. Now I'll just say that fan polls suggest this is the way to go. Hard to argue with statistics. Even harder to argue with panties taped into your mouth.

It fits in with some of the storyline material I'll be shooting the next couple of months. I've cycled back to classic damsel in distress as of late. I moved away from it for a bit because of an ankle injury that has healed up. It's really hard to do a take-down, on-screen restraint and then carry a girl around when you can't push off on your left ankle. That's not an issue anymore though so the last couple of shoots have featured a lot of hands-on action. I just love shooting a full take-down where the girl is caught unaware, is bound with items on hand and then just can't seem to attract any attention despite her best efforts.

My favorite scene has always been the heels-only motif. A girl starts clothed, gets grabbed, forcibly stripped and during all that ends up bound and gagged with some element of her attire in her mouth. Socks, cloth strips and panties packing pretty faces just doesn't get any better. One of my favorite experiences was shooting Nyssa and Taylor. I grabbed Nyssa sleeping, wrestled with her, stripped her and eventually she was tied and gagged with her own panties wearing only high heels. While being mauled by me Taylor enters to endure the same fate as Nyssa rolls around.

The sequence really speaks to me because of the raw nature of the take-downs and restraints plus the realism. Girls are caught unaware, gagged with their own panties, tied with elements on hand and stripped down to almost nothing. The appearance of a roommate doesn't mean help, it just means two girls sharing the same fate. Pretty panties no longer guard virtue but provide silence instead. Even if they could hop to a window, they are naked ... freedom means showing it all for everyone passing by outside. The mix of realism and potential shame is wonderful. The girls have the choice to let everyone see them naked. Do they days trying to free each other or do they spend hours getting to the window and providing a peep show get free? The choice is up to them.

Image courtesy of Trouble for Two: Ropes, Gropes and Orgasms!

Pink on white just ain't right

You might notice a few things about today's image. Angelique looks hot as hell, pink latex and perfect hair on a beautiful gal. The restraint is fine, crisp and neat. Angelique's hair looks wonderful. The bitgag is sunk deeply as a bitgag should. Oh yeah, it looks like she's in a basement. Actually for that set we wanted the look of an area under renovation, but that's not the final plan. It's a set space, so we need it to look like a completely finished corner ... an any-room. That's just my term for a set area that you can re-paint and re-furnish for shoots. One shoot it looks like a living room, the next it's a bedroom and the next it's a secret laboratory.

Our old house was terrible. It was about 25 years old, had dated looks everywhere and couldn't run an A/C unit for more than a week without breaking down. The carpets were this sickly blue that was faded and I'm sure the height of rug fashion in 1982. Maybe Duran Duran would comment kindly if they ever visited but for shooting it was a terrible color. Everything was dark. The windows were small and none of the hardwoods had been pruned in over a decade, so shade was everywhere. It was a rough living space and an absolutely dreadful shooting space.

The dining room was a different story. It had beautiful hardwood floors, earthy red and green walls, crisp white trim and actual light. That was because of Angelique though. She had me go out and take down three of the sickliest beach trees you'll come across. That's a post in itself. If you've never dug out the root system of three trees I would recommend paying someone to do it or investing in dynamite. With the trees gone sunlight invaded the hell maw and we had nice, even lighting in the dining room. Even better the colors suited models well and were easy to light. Earth-tones tend to absorb light instead of reflecting it and fair-skinned models hate when blue or green walls make them look like something 13 minutes into a zombie flick.

That's the plan for the set space, and my task for today. I get to spackle, paint and add trim until we have a convincing corner of a dining room. Well worth it I'd say with Carissa Montgomery being the first to become a tight little bundle there. Unfortunately for her having two complete walls as part of the set means the suspension rig is secure and totally safe. Might be time for that upside-down duct-tape mummification I've been planning.

Brought to your courtesy of Pretty Tied Up in Pink with Angelique!

Everything but the kitchen sink

I have a lot of boxes in my office, and each has a tiny label on it. I used to keep everything in boxes without labels which sucked a lot of time out of my life. Where did I put those stress balls? Damn, I know I bought some cotton clothesline. I could swear I made a larger black ballgag. Moving out of my last house gave me the opportunity to change that. Normally if you empty 60 boxes onto the floor you make a gigantic mess and end up with a non-functional house. When you move though you don't really care about the mess because the house is non-functional anyway. I said the hell with it, brought box after box into the living room and started making piles. I went through every box, sorted things into logical groups and then re-boxed everything with labels. It took a long time, but when someone stops by and I want to do a nylon encasement I know EXACTLY which box has all the extra-large pantyhose. Yes, I'm referring to you this coming weekend Carissa Montgomery!

My shooting boxes have some mundane names like chargers, tape, cables and of course rope. A couple of them though have some interesting names. One even has a label that says, "Throw This Stuff Out Packrat!!!" Another says, "Quick Kit" and to no surprise has about 100 feet of rope, a roll of tape, a ballgag and a blank DV tape. One in particular has become my favorite. It has the label kitchen sink because when it comes to tying someone up it has everything but the kitchen sink. As you tie people up over and over you amass odd collections of small bits of things that can't be used for a full restraint. I don't want to throw out those two red ropes, or those three brown ropes, or that one black rope. That electrical tape roll still has a couple yards left one it and that belt needs to go somewhere. Before I knew it I had a box full of enough bits and pieces that alone made for a lame restraint but together made for a sweaty and wiggling bundle of going nowhere.

My last couple of shoots that box has gotten a lot of use. I've grown fond of seeing someone in crisp, neat restraint made from odds and ends. My latest clip with Ashley Graham, The Robber Stole More Than My Television, has made the best use of it yet. Instead of just tying her up with contents from it I cycle through as many of the odds and ends as I can. Four types of gags, five colors of rope, a couple belts and some tape on top of that made for a challenging 30 minutes for the poor gal. She got to appreciate the difficulty, but I got to enjoy the fun of restraining her with a realistic hodgepodge of items that a real burglar might cobble together. I don't think I'm the only one though because the second I uploaded it has become one of my more popular clips. Of sexy lady in a classic blouse and skirt combination certainly doesn't hurt!

The making of a real-life damsel in distress

The thrill for me in bondage boils down to being creative and helping people explore their own boundaries. Don't get me wrong. There are many gals out there willing to let you tie them tightly and bundle them up into tight packages of sweat-glistened flesh. There are even gals out there who don't care too much for bondage but still appreciate it's artistic quality. I never said this but there are also a few gals out there that hate it but do it anyway. I can be creative with any of those gals. Exploring boundaries though requires a certain trust factor that compels a model to jump from being an actress in a scene to becoming a true damsel in distress. I am refering to my own rarefied interpretation of damsel in distress in this case, the real-life damsel.

The classical damsel in distress is a beautiful female placed in a dire predicament and needing rescue. A key element to melodrama in literature and film, this damsel is often foolish and ineffective, almost naive, and thus requires saving from herself. It's not difficult to achieve this in bondage photography. You tie someone up and have them struggle. Although the outward appearance can be misogynistic, it is a classical approach and and allows for a fun and loose interaction between the model and photographer. The damsel is in total control behind the scenes. She knows that she can get loose if she wanted and had a little time. She knows that quick release is but a safe-word away, and that her gag would let her cry out at the right time to attract attention. These type of shoots are often filled with joking, laughter and fun exchanges between the model and photographer. It is more of a romanticized experience. Note the word used is not romantic but romanticized. It allows the model to play at being the beautiful maiden waiting for a night in shining armor, but it is play for she controls the scenario whether the photographer knows it or not. Once the romanticized curtain is pulled back the model loses interest.

Another type of damsel is the one that doesn't have much of a romanticized view on bondage and helplessness but still appreciates the creative and artistic aspects to the process. She generally doesn't enjoy bondage, but enjoys the photographic process. Able to recognize the artistic vision of the photographer she allows herself to be placed in positions of helplessness and discomfort in order to create compelling visual works. These damsels will explore themes such as shibari, suspension, challenging gags and strict restraint as long as the comfort level doesn't grow too high or last too long. These models make great damsels because they have limits that they have not explored because of their general disinterest in bondage as something other than a creative pursuit. Almost every picture I've taken that got the response, "I worked with her and had no idea she could do that!" was of a model that likes creativity more than bondage. She explored those limits.

The final damsel is the only true real-life damsel. They are the trust/confidence damsel. In the romanticized world a damsel knows she will be rescued. In the creative world a damsel knows this as well but also knows she can work herself free if she has too. In this case though the model knows she will be released but only after experiencing true helplessness at the hands of the rigger. The ties are tight, the positions are punishing and the gags are huge and silencing. The experience is a true physical and mental challenge. I call these models true damsels because they are willing to place themselves in restraints where they are totally helpless and totally within the control of the rigger. They can barely move and rescue is their only option. They will never be free of their own accord. There is no chance of untying themselves, cutting themselves loose or drawing attention to themselves for rescue. The romance of a knight in shining armor does not exist. The driving force of gritting through it because the material will be great has been washed away by the discomfort. There is only biting restraint, aching jaws and being bundled up so completely they can continue only on the trust that it will be over and their confidence in their ability to endure.

Creativity in traditional film and media requires faking. If you think for a second that studio lawyers and insurance companies would let an actress be placed in a restraint that won't pop off immediately then you are deluded. Creativity in bondage photography however requires real-life helplessness. No matter the level of restraint they are all putting themselves into the hands of the rigger. The real-life damsel for me though is the one that lets you take the restraint and gags so far that they are totally dependent on you as the rigger. You can put scissors on the ground and they won't cut one rope. You can put a phone by their face and they won't manage to dial the first number. They are so helpless and uncomfortable that the rigger is their only hope of freedom. That takes confidence. That takes trust. Loss of physical freedom is about 5% for me. The voluntary and knowing surrender of that freedom is the other 95%. That is a true damsel.

If you want an example look at poor Tomiko here. I shot with her as she was recovering from back and neck issues. We discussed things and made some necessary concessions but even with that she was uncomfortable the entire shoot. The image I've chosen really drives the point home though. I used a ballgag that was larger than she was accustomed to having in her mouth. It pried her jaws open and was very uncomfortable. Then I wrapped cellfoam tape around her face. This drove the ball deeper into her mouth and squeezed her face. She couldn't get free from the chair, couldn't cry for help and was mauled by me throughout the scene. Afterwards she told me her jaws were on fire and the discomfort was intense, but the scene was going so well she didn't want to pull the plug. She allowed herself to be totally helpless and totally dependent. More importantly she trusted in my ability to shoot the scene quickly and was confident enough in herself that she could endure. The expression on her face isn't faked, it is a real expression of extreme discomfort. More importantly I didn't take that expression from Tomiko. She gave it to everyone, and that makes her great model. Tomiko in Tight Trouble is a great example of what I call a true damsel in distress!

What is your favorite gag?

Gags for me are even more important than restraint for making a damsel completely helpless. The tightest and most devilish hogtie conceivable is nothing against a scissors-toting roommate just one shout away. That's why it's important to make a gag not only effective but challenging. The more a damsel has to deal with wearing a gag the less she'll be able to struggle. She can try to yell but opening her mouth lets that bit gag sink even deeper and pry open her mouth even more. She can try to scream but all that mouth-packing held in by gauze makes it hard enough to breath. She can try to shout but then all the drool backed up behind that huge ballgag will spill out all over her bare breasts.

A challenging gag presents a damsel with both limitations as well as choices. She can struggle but when you can only breath through your nostrils you run out of breath very quickly. She can scream but not too loudly because there's so much drool and packing in her mouth she needs her tongue to push it away from her throat. The poor girl has to fight both the physical demands of the gag as well as the mental demands. Their mouths are pried open, their lips are sealed and their faces are encased. It's often far more uncomfortable than even 500 feet of rope. I've had people tied into pretzels but it's always the gag they want out first when it's all over.

My own gag preferences have evolved over the years. I still find it amusing that I used to hate ballgags. Now nobody gets through the door without having one popped into their mouth. Layering is my favorite thing now. Ballgag a damsel, tape over it, gauze over that ... the more the better. If a gal keeps saying something and I reply, "What?" over and over I know the gag is done right. And there's just something about the struggling you get when a damsel knows it's the real deal and not a simple ballgag. A model told me that when you can't breath through your mouth or swallow your drool you want it to be over. You don't know if you can bear having the gag taken off and then put back on again so you just keep wiggling hoping that the next thing the rigger says is, "got it, lets get you out of that." Of course, they wiggle a lot longer than they'd hope!

The image is from Kendra James in I Can't Get Away If You Tie Me Up Tight!

Escape is sometimes an option

I tend to lean more toward escape being impossible, but I must admit that I like letting a damsel get away if she has to work for it and if she has to make certain sacrifices for her freedom. I've tried escape scenarios in the past, and they always turned into attempted escapes. I just tie far too tight and intricate for anyone to get away. Yes, the occasional damsel will struggle until something pops loose or they get a knot undone, but hundreds of feet of tight rope and dozens of knots make one slipped rope or an undone knot worthless. The damsel always runs out of steam or can't take the discomfort before getting anywhere close to loose.

After getting numerous requests for escape scenarios I was forced to revisit the idea and come up with a formula that worked. Restraint is about tipping points. Where does the balance swing in favor of the struggling damsel and how does the captor make sure the balance is always on his side. In general that's easy: tight, intricate and a lot of rope and a girl is furniture. That really doesn't work for an escape sequence. You can't just throw scissors at someone and instantly make escape a possibility. I've tied people up with scissors, knives and box-cutters within easy reach and had them get nowhere. Hell, I tied up Ashley Graham less than two months ago with scissors right on the floor with her and she never even got a hand on them. She didn't even have to go anywhere for the scissors, but the balance was far much too in favor of going nowhere ever. A nice escape sequence requires the balance to be at going nowhere fast.

Having tied up a billion people (I'm prone to exaggeration) it's very obvious that if you control the hands, you control the damsel. If they can't use their fingers effectively or get their hands to the right spot all they can do is wiggle and roll around and hope something gives. That's a recipe for being on my living room rug all day and not for getting away. Having cut more than one damsel out of an excruciating tie it's also very obvious that nylon rope requires a few cuts and it just falls off while cotton rope requires cutting a lot of rope before it starts giving way. That's where the darn tipping point comes into play. Once a damsel starts cutting herself loose it's like a landslide. She's helpless and then free almost instantly.

My solution was to use cotton rope, dull scissors, an elbow tie and wearing next to nothing. I don't care how seasoned the model is, a gal will always try to be modest when she can. If you put someone in nothing but high heels, hose and a garter they have a choice between an awkward cut with the scissors and showing the goodies. I have yet to find a model that will just sit there with her legs wide open as she cuts away. Sometimes she has to but she will most often work at a more awkward angle and take longer to free herself utilizing a position that is more modest. As for awkward cut, dull scissors and elbow ropes will really slow a gal down. The hands have a lot of movement but the angle is limited by the elbows. Combine that with dull scissors and you have a lot of slow sawing instead of cutting. You also have a lot of failed attempts. On top of all that she has to deal with the cotton rope. Imagine the elation of getting through one rope but having everything still hold fast.

Nyxon experienced a text-book escape scenario in Painful and Pantyless Escape. She was frogtied and wearing next to nothing. She got to the scissors easily but found out that getting them to the ropes was an uncomfortable challenge with her elbows together. She tried desperately to get the scissors to the ropes on her legs but they were too dull to cut. She tried sawing but needed to splay her legs to get close enough. The poor gal tried to be demure but needed to show all to get those dull scissors to work. After long picking and sawing at the ropes her legs and hands were free, but she faced the challenge of getting those elbows free. The balance was perfect. Nyxon had to work for release and the pacing was even. She was never free until those elbow ropes came off and even then had to ungag herself and rest up enough to walk on wobbly legs!

Heels, hose and helpless!

I consider myself a bit classical in nature when it comes to bondage. I was around during the days when pretty gals wore the bare essentials and got tied up tight. Images of ladies wearing nothing but high heels, hosiery and panties (and a lot of rope) were everywhere. I've always focused heavily on that but until I started going back into my video archives I never realized just how much. It seems like every model I've worked with at some point has been down to nothing but heels and hose. There's just something about the tease of being almost nude and the embarrassment of being helpless in your scandalous hose and heels. It takes the elements that a woman uses to tease men when fully dressed and making that her only bit of coverage. Amazingly those elements still hold just as much allure when that is all a girl can hold onto for dignity.

The above image is from Black, White and Helpless All Over with Lyric. If features what I consider the number one outfit for a damsel: black heels, black thigh highs and black panties. To be honest that probably ties with a garter instead of panties, but both rank well above anything else for my tastes!

Pretty Tied Up in Pink

I love statistics and check traffic on all my portals frequently. Something that I really like is to see so many visitors from all over the world. There is no better feeling than knowing that what you do is appreciated by people from so many countries. A huge thank you to everyone who visits my website, this blog and my clips stores. I couldn't properly say thank you without pointing out the tremendous number of hits that I get from Germany, France and Italy. I speak none of these languages so forgive me if I am incorrect when I say danke, merci and grazie!

My first poll has ended and thank you to everyone who voted! I frankly expected to get no votes and although the turn-out was slim it was meaningful. We had a vote for almost everything which means we'll keep doing a variety of dress for upcoming shoots, but I will be focusing more on sets that feature nude except for heels and garters, hose and heels. I have to admit I love a gal wearing only heals or topless and bottomless but not fully nude, so I got a smile seeing the results. Sales are my primary way of knowing what people like, so I like having this as another way to help me keep tweaking upcoming shoots to have what you want.

Things are getting very hectic in a good way. The studio was a lot of work but I like having a new area to utilize. I've already shot Angelique and Deanna Deadly out there. I also have Chrissy Daniels coming soon to roll around in the studio with Hannah Perez, Ashley Graham, Kendra James, JJ Plush and Stacie Snow waiting in the wings. The nice thing is that having a space that doesn't involve destroying my living room has resulted in a lot more shooting and that means a lot more damsels. Although I like the basement feel that it has right now, we're thinking of creating formal sets with painted walls. I have plans to make facades that give a warehouse feel because somethings you just need dingy.

When I'm not shooting and updating clips I plan to work on my website some more. I get a lot of hits and that deserves rotating content through there more often. I keep getting asked why I don't have a paysite, and I can't really answer. I guess I just don't get around to it with everything else, but I know if I buckled down I could get something up and going. I have a look that I like which is always the hardest thing for me, so maybe I should start buckling.

The image is from the first shoot I got to do in the new space was with Angelique. She wore this awesome pink latex outfit complete with a little latex bow. We wanted to do something with more intricate but simple ropework (less rope but cleaner restraint). Since she was doing latex I decided to just tie her up and start filming. The set was wonderful. I got some images to update my photography portfolio and a fun clip of her in a bitgag sweating and drooling! I called it Pretty Tied Up in Pink.

How do you like your damsel dressed?

I put up a new poll today. Correction, I put up my first poll today. I view my work as adaptive and evolve my content and style based on what is selling the best and more importantly the many emails I receive about likes and dislikes. Looking at the number of views I've been getting I wanted to try putting up some polls to give everyone a chance to express what they prefer when it comes to damsel in distress video. I still want those emails to keep coming, but this could be a great way to quickly take the temperature of everyone when it comes to bondage material. The first poll as the title of this post indicates concerns the attire of damsels. I'm always asked why I don't do more nudes or more stockings or more costumes or more latex. I shoot what I think looks nice is the simple answer. If I know what people are looking for then I'll shoot more around those preferences. No need to vote if that's not your thing, but any I do receive bring me closer to what you are looking for in future content!

One of the categories of the poll is garters, hose and heels. My formative bondage years were in a time when that was frequently seen in bondage images and movies. I've always had a strong preference for it going back to the beginnings of my photography. In fact the beginning of my photography was almost always that with some panties thrown in from time to time. Some of my favorite movies and images of this attire come from the film loops of the late 70s and early 80s, and they had a lot of garters, hose and heels. Hell there was even a bondage magazine called that. A little bit back I decided to try my hand at reproducing that look and style. The elements that I needed were a vintage looking model, the constant thrashing of the model, slight graininess to the film stock, the slightly accelerated movement speed, the look of 8mm celluloid film and that wonderful soundtrack.

The model was easier than I expected. I worked with this gal that called herself Betty Page and showed up to a shoot with this tussled throwback hairstyle and showing me the vintage shoes she just got at a rummage sale. I always keep garters and hose on hand, but would she go for the idea? I had worked with her twice before and although the bondage was strict the content was very mild. I went through all the elements from those loops that I could think of and she didn't balk at any of them. I was elated: noose, vibrator, groping, topless and bottomless were all now on the table. My video idea was one step closer to being complete. I coached her about the movement, and she nailed it. Gagged with her own panties held in by a strap she was dragged in by a noose and her sometimes rhythmic, sometimes thrashing movements were perfect.

Betty had given me perfect emoting and perfect movement. She had pulled off the vintage look and the movement from those old 8mm loops like she'd done it a hundred times. I had my footage, but the rest was up to me. The graininess was easy even shooting on DV film instead of celluloid. You can do it in post-production or while filming. With Betty I decided to shoot the video slightly underexposed and then bring up the brightness in my editing software. The grain effect came out perfectly. The slightly accelerated movement speed of the film proved slightly more difficult. I tried a dozen things. I sped up the play speed. I removed frames. I used plugins. I posted in forums. Everything I did though made it play far too quickly or made the playback jerk and hitch. I spent days on this effect and it was a fail. I decided to work on the funk soundtrack to at least make some progress. I found a great royalty free CD for around $60 and grabbed it. The songs were wonderful and very similar to the music tracks heard on the videos made using those old loops. That's when a very cool thing happened. I turned off Betty's audio and turned on the funk track. She seemed to be moving slightly faster. I turned her audio back on and she was moving at normal speed. I though I was going crazy, but somehow she seems to thrash more quickly with no sound or with the funk soundtrack. I decided that there must be some brain mechanism that makes time perceptions change when detached from the auditory experience. Regardless of the reason, the effect was there. Three cheers for dumb luck!

The last element was the look of old film stock. Anyone who's seen these loops or has some old home movies knows that the film has scratches, dust, blotches and those crazy hairs that float around while you play the film. They have plugins for that, but I didn't like the looks I was getting. I went back to looking and found some videos of actual 8mm film and videos that people created artificially. The actual 8mm was a bit distracting. The borders jumped all over the place and quite frankly gave me a bit of a headache. That's not a good thing watching a bondage video. The artificial one looked great but was a bit repetitive which made it seem artificial. The easy answer was to just pick one and be done with it, but I'd come so far to compromise. Again, there was a happy accident. In testing things I had both the actual 8mm and the artificial 8mm overlaying the video. I'd turn on one and turn off the other, but I accidentally left both on once and it looked wonderful. So I trimmed out that annoying border and used both merged. This did two things. It resulted in the longest video render of my life, but more importantly it nailed the look of the old 8mm film I wanted.

With that Betty in The Priss was born. As an homage to those loops I kept the story similar. Betty was a prissy wife who scoffed and her husband's bondage desires. Just like those loops a masked antagonist is brought in to teach her a lesson and make her into a compliant bondage model and toy for her husband.

I've got questions, do you have answers?

I haven't mentioned it but my garage is being converted into a true studio space. This has taken up a lot of time over the last week, but it will be worth it. After a lot of moving, shifting, toting, lifting and trashing of things we are on the verge of framing the studio walls and hanging lights. It will allow me to hang a green screen, repaint when I'm feeling peckish for red walls and not trash the living room because that Victorian chair looks better for photos than the blue couch. There is even a high-output portable air-conditioner so the ladies can be comfortable while I make them very uncomfortable.

Speaking of uncomfortable the first guest at the studio will be Deanna Deadly, and I'm really looking forward to her visit. She has a super personality, an extensive latex collection and a look that I haven't gotten to work with in a while. She'll be shooting super-heroine for Angelique Kithos' store and jacked bondage for myself. The exciting thing is she has done tight bondage before but never anything ultra-strict. She's looking to delve more into that type of material so I get to be the first to really turn up the heat on the rigging. I'm already a fan of her work as the bound and gagged damsel in distress, and I get to see just how she deals with a real physical and mental challenge. Yes, I've been wringing my hands a lot thinking about it.

I'm currently rendering my second compilation focusing on hogties. As I do so I can't helping thinking how sweet it is to have enough material posted that I can't start doing compilations in the first place. You need a variety of people and enough footage that you can do themes. It's kind of cool to be able to rummage through a myriad of restraints and cherry-pick scenes. And by kind of cool I mean really damn cool. I know I've got a long way to go before I have some of the backlog that others have, but having started with 5 clips I think things are moving in the right direction. The reason I started putting together compilations was a request for a custom blu-ray of select scenes. This second one made me realize something though. Shooting on production-quality equipment means I'm not up-sampling DV footage to grainy blu-ray. I'm taking blu-ray footage and down-sampling for my clips. That means I can do hi-res blu-rays as well as high-quality DVDs.

The question then becomes is there any interest in that type of format. Are people content with clips and streamed full movies or does anybody out there want full movies in DVD or even Blu-ray quality format? I'd love to know your thoughts and will be happy to get some emails on the topic. Please don't hesitate to drop me a line at tedmichaelsdamsels@gmail.com about it or about any other suggestions you might have.