Actors demand action over 'disgusting' video game sex scenes
Actors demand action over 'disgusting' video game sex scenes
They say the scenes, which they often don't know about in advance, leave them "shaken" and "upset."
TL;DR: Video game actors being told to mo-cap sex scenes without being told beforehand
A summary of the story, scene breakdown and scripts should be distributed to all cast members in advance.
performers should be able to request a closed set where access is kept to a minimum.
A competent intimacy coordinator should be engaged.
These are not big asks.
In one recording for a major game she first learned it was explicit only when she turned up for work.
"This was actually a full-on sex scene," she said.
"I had to [vocally] match the scene and through the glass in the booth was the entire team, all male, watching me.
"It was excruciating... at that stage I had been in the games industry a while, and I had never felt so shaken".
Not unreasonable to say that this situation should not be repeated.
Yeah, what they're asking for is pretty standard stuff in other media. A friend of mine is an actor who played a scene where he had to shoot a masturbation scene. He was alone in a room with like 3-4 people: sound guy, camera guy, director, and I think the intimacy coach was there too.
Having a whole team watch you pretend to have sex is not okay, what the hell.
I mean, most of the team should be watching because they're trying to do their jobs, not because they're ogling the actors. And this is even more removed from sex than movies' simulated sex, because I assume they're in full mocap suits and everything.
Hell, you don't even need both people doing motion at the same time, as long as you have the poses roughly correct. You can edit the motion curves to make the rhythm match.
Having a whole team watch you pretend to have sex is not okay, what the hell.
the problem here is the consent and awareness, not the actual scene. It should be entirely illegal to approach production like this.
They are the bare minimum that should be expected. Honestly, the studios who did this should be named and shamed. The actors shouldn't ever have to deal with this, and I'm sure the studio would lose far more money than they could wish to gain by being deceptive. It's capitalism. They're after profit. Make honesty the most profitable option or you'll get dishonesty.
I don’t believe you’re wrong here in saying that. These don’t seem like unreasonable asks at all, and something I’d expect to be normal standards for the industry.
Yes, these precipts seem to be common in the TV industry
Ms Jefferies stresses the guidelines are not trying to put boundaries on storytelling ... She says - and "these guidelines are just to bring it even more in line with the best practices in the film and TV industry".
And I can't think of news stories that show this is a problem in terms of leaking a story.
So, why not have the same degree of safety and protocols in game development?
I wonder if that would be a genuine use case for "AI". If the voice actor consents to have his voice represented in such a scene but doesn't want to play it out in a studio, the computer model could take over that part.
With THIS context added, yeah I see why people are mad. I thought this was the usual "Video games are too sexy!" nonsense we've had ever since we saw Princess Toadstool's ankles for the first time back in 1964... But uhh, wow.. This
This is just outright fucked, I would even argue this could legally count as a form of sexual assault. IANAL though
ok so like, is video game acting like the worst field on earth, could you not just, refuse to do this? Seems like a fully reasonable thing to do to me.
And on the other side we have the Baldur's Gate actors praising Larian for hiring intimacy coordinators and not requiring themselves to mocap the sex scenes.
Edit: Ah, just saw that this is addressed at the end of the article.
Intimacy coordinators ?
Actor here. Doing intimacy scenes is surprisingly difficult, arguably more so than combat, because usually people train and get certified in sword and dagger, rapier, firearms etc to get cast
When working a job, putting your mouth on another person's mouth is a very unusual act, and you want your actors - regardless of gender - to feel safe, comfortable, professional and not exploited - not to mention you might spend 2x 14 hours days on this sequence from multiple angles getting it the same every time
People who help other people who work on scenes that involve intimacy to make the whole process as pleasant as possible for everyone involved.
It's a somewhat new job title, but it's now becoming standard across the movie industry.
What game is motion-capping realistic rape scenes? Jesus Christ.
Probably David Cage games lol.
Fear and Hunger if it wasn't rpgmaker level graphics
Next we need to mocap him beating your head in with a hammer. It will hurt at first but you won't feel much afterwards.
*feel
Sex scenes are common in modern games - and are often made by filming human actors who are then digitised into game characters.
Is “common” referring to cringey low budget Steam games? I don’t think I’ve seen any sort of on screen simulated sex in a game, ever. Granted I tend to only play well publicized indie games and larger releases. But how common is this? Am I out of the loop?
Mass Effect, The Witcher, San Andreas Hot Coffee Mod, Sega Bass Fishing 2, Cyberpunk 2077.
It's pretty common.
Dragon Age, too. Then ask the Fahrenheit line of games. There's a lot overall.
TLOU 2
ME is like cuddles that fade to black, The Witcher is funny little drawn cards you get after a fade to black, San Andreas was a mod as the actual function was never part of the released game - and those animations definitely were not mo-capped, no idea wtf a fishing game has, CP2077 kinda the same as ME but a bit more raunchy I guess. But even those very non explicit examples are a tiny fraction in the grand scheme of things, even among "adult" games.
Actual sex scenes are incredibly rare. In most cases, which are still rare, it is implied with some cuddly scenes that fade to black. I think the most "explicit" sex scene I've seen in a regular game was in TLoU Part 2.
Sometimes I forget how unprofessional the game industry still is or how little respect people have for well being of others. I'd like to say I'm surprised but that would require having some expectations towards those companies.
I hope more VAs speak up about stuff like this so we can have some real changes.
I'd say that isn't the game industry, but it's basically every company and employer everywhere. Nobody matters. Nobody is important. We're all expendable seems to be the world.
I focused on game companies since that's what's this article is about but yeah, that's true.
Yeah, that sounds like some pretty fair demands.
Sex scenes in games (and movies) are useless 90% of the time
Yep. It's usually always cringe fan service. The sex scenes in cyberpunk are awful.
I don't even understand who enjoys them. Just go on the internet for your smut!
And also largely nonsensical in how they occur and are written. It's so boring. I mean I would love an actual intimate relationship to contact such a broken world but the devs of course won't let me, instead I get fanfic writing.
The remaining 10% being games that exist solely for the purpose of being interactive porn.
What do they mean sex scenes are common? None of the games I have played in the last couple years haves had those kinds of scenes. Some minor flirting and romance, but no sex.
Geralt of Rivia: Let me introduce myself
Hot take but I wish sex scenes were just eliminated from games entirely. A nice fade to black is a million times better than awkwardly watching some 3D models gyrating along with weird exaggerated "this is what sex sounds like" acting.
Important topic but the headline is terribly misleading.
What video game sex scenes? Hell isn't sexual content basically just not allowed in video games anymore because of the "Wider moral audience" that executives keep insisting exists but clearly doesn't given how thirsty people get anytime a woman or man in a video game looks even remotely attractive?Edit: Misleading title, in actuality a video game actress did a sex scene without being told it was a sex scene then a bunch of male brodudes saw a digital recreation of her getting railed by a fictional character. Situation completely misread, when I saw the title I thought outraged soccer moms were complaining about seeing Chun Li's legs again.
I'm completely on the side of the actors, that straight up sounds like it could (and should) legally count as a form of sexual assault and the studio owes her both an apology and a heavy paycheck
It's not just a digital recreation, it can involve physical acting as well. This article quotes a motion-capture performer:
Ms Jefferies told the BBC she was once asked to act out a scene with a male performer involving a sexual assault with no prior warning.
"I turned up and was told what I would be filming would be a graphic rape scene," she said.
"This act could be watched for as long or as little time as the player wanted through a window, and then a player would be able to shoot this character in the head.
"It was just purely gratuitous in my opinion."
She refused to act out the "disgusting" scene - which was made worse as she was the only female on set.
"There's no nudity involved, but its still an act and there's an intimacy in that act and also a violence in this situation," she said.
"So yes there may be a layer of Lycra between us, but you are still there and still having to truly immerse yourself in this scene."
In the end her concerns were listened to and the scene was not recorded.
Jesus fucking Christ, glad the scene was cut. I'm definitely in the "Modern Games are too tame, stop cutting shit out of re-releases and remasters" crowd, but... Fuck, the scene itself sounds just as tasteless as trying to force it on this poor woman.
idk if that would be sexual assault. It's certainly not great though.
She didn't actually do the scene.
"I turned up and was told what I would be filming would be a graphic rape scene," she said. "This act could be watched for as long or as little time as the player wanted through a window, and then a player would be able to shoot this character in the head. "It was just purely gratuitous in my opinion." She refused to act out the "disgusting" scene - which was made worse as she was the only female on set.
I am an adult. Im not prudish. I watch porn. And whenever I see a sex scene in movies/tv shows/games I cringe.
They are usually most unnecessary to the story, and IMO a good movie makes you know it happened without showing it happening (without at least wiping the cock afterwards of course).
This made me hate Game of Thrones for example. I simply referred to it as midget porn. I even hated on it in front of my friends, they put it on to prove me wrong and lo and behold a midget is fucking a whore on screen.
Yeah, I know where to find porn and they even show genitalia there, thank you very much.
I agree. I typically skip sex scenes in movies. Those scenes very seldom add anything to the story imo.
Unless it makes sense. In "What Women Want" with Mel Gibson, I believe that is a great example of a sex scene adding to the movie. The whole premise is him reading women's minds, so him having sex with Marisa Tomei and hearing their thoughts while in the act added to the premise.
So when I see a movie that is just like "hey these people are hot and we should film them go at it" is just boring imo.
Meh, some of my favorite shows and movies have a lot sex scenes. Sometimes, they just add realism or contribute to aesthetics. Other times they show personality, relationship dynamics, are symbolic of other things, or are important to the plot.
I don't see sex scenes as any different than other potentially "unnecessary" scenes, like a long shot of a dripping faucet, for instance.
But, yeah, most sex scenes in games make me cringe.
I feel like some nudity and sex scenes when it's appropriate are better than not. Really ruins my sense of immersion when there's a naked person with a random potted plant conveniently blocking your view of their bits. Either commit to them being naked or don't have them naked at all is my take
You sound prudish. Some story tellers prefer to show not tell. That’s why they aren’t writing books ya dimwit.
Edit: /S. I was just making a joke cause GoT is based on books lmao
i was confused for a minute, as to why actors for video games cared, considering like, it's a video game. Thinking it was voice acting or something.
It wasn't.
I have no idea what game has a realistic rape scene in it. All I could find for her credits in video games was this:
– Unknown9: Awakening (Video Game)/ Casting Director – full performance capture cast & all additional voices./ Dir. Damien Goodwin.
– Peaky Blinders (VR video game)/ Casting Director – full performance capture cast. / Dir. Kate Saxon.
– Warhammer 40K: Battlesisters (VR video game) / Casting Director – full performance capture cast. /Dir. James Horn.
– The Witcher Series 2 (TV) / Casting Associate for VFX & SFX with Sophie Holland Casting.
– Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League (video game) / Casting Director – motion capture cast. /Rocksteady Games.
– Little Hope (video game) / Casting Director – motion capture cast. / Dir. Nick Bowen.Did you read the article? She stood up for herself and it wasn't filmed
The fact that the scene wasn't mocapped doesn't mean it wasn't in the game at all, or that they didn't get someone else to mocap it instead.
If i had to guess it would be Little Hope. It is a horror interactive movie and the games by that team tend to be pretty edgy for a modern dev.