Shooting BDSM is a very different thing than the rest of adult erotica. The first and most obvious difference is that the entire goal of each scene is to produce pain and psychological/emotional submission. Sure, sometimes there is sexual activity, but the true heart and soul of a bdsm scene lies within the psychodrama of what we call “Erotic Power Exchange”. 

This can lead to some occasional difficulties when working with models and actresses that are not “into” the bdsm scene. These can range from not being able to leave any marks on the model because she is booked the next day for a glamour shoot, to discovering on the first spank that she has very little pain tolerance and really is not a good candidate for performing a realistic bdsm scene. And then there is the emotional issue. Models with little experience in bdsm play can at times have deep feelings come up when being punished or humiliated in a scene. 

For these reasons, over the past 12 years of shooting for Wasteland, we have always tended to work with “lifestyle” bdsm players that know exactly what they are doing, and enjoy every minute of it. 

My advise to any new folks that are planning on producing bdsm content is: 

1. Hire a very experienced Dom or Domina to “run” the scene. This is critical, as he or she will know the protocol, and have the experience of how to best work with a submissive for maximum effect; 

2. When hiring submissives, try to recruit from within the bdsm community, as well as models that specialize in this sort of activity. This will go a long way in minimizing “surprises” during shooting, as well as get the most intense performance footage for your library. 

3. With those two assets in place, scene planning, negotiation, establishing limits and safewords and the rest of the bdsm protocol fall into place very nicely and pretty much guarantees a successful experience for everyone.