Don't Leave Me Hanging

For years before I made Do Not Disturb I'd had this crazy idea of a girl hanging on the back of a door struggling while outside anyone who heard noises would see the sign on the handle and assume it was a couple having a good time. They'd be partially correct. Although the girl was having no fun at all at least her captor would have something to enjoy!

The problem the idea posed is that suspensions aren't just something you throw at a model or even yourself. It takes a firm grasp of what you're doing and a model confident in her abilities to handle the suspension. More than that, suspension with a rig is totally different than using what is available. And that is what my work is about. My heroines face perils that are born of the immediate surroundings and items that will fit in a small bag. Who carries a suspension rig around for crying out loud?

Then I got the chance to work with Maria Shadoes. We did the usual capture sequence, a chair tie, a hogtie and an aggressive mauling scene but I hadn't tested poor Maria enough. I'd seen her work and knew if I didn't do a suspension or put her in a split I was wasting a great opportunity. That's when the door idea started to form. Before you knew it I had created suspension points out of nothing but rope and a closed door. Poor Maria was upside down with her ankles spread, gagged with a 2-7/8 inch ballgag, head-wrapped, elbows crushed and her head pulled back by a hair knot.

The position was everything I strive for in a rigging. Every struggle was agony and effort. At the end she is completely exhausted, and I don't mean tired. I mean she couldn't move and just hung there motionless as she was untied, her gauze hood frothed with her own drool. Even more delicious is that I was her only rescue. The position relied on the door being closed. If anyone opened that door the suspension would fail and she'd fall face-first into the floor. The position tested her to the very edge, the effort totally broke her and the predicament prevented any rescue. In every sense she was totally dependent on her captor and that my friends made her a true damsel in distress.