One girl. One word. One take.
A camgirl gets ready to shoot.
She starts playful, sexy, almost comical. She looks at the camera, at us, and says one word: No.
She laughs. She keeps going.
She doesn’t stop.
Title: No
Director: Cameron Manion
Genre: Experimental Short
Year: 2024
Country of Origin: Australia/United Kingdom
Language: English
Run Time: 3:55
Screen Ratio: 16:9
Shooting Format:
Sound:
Camera Used:
I was speaking with a friend in Berlin after she had done some consent workshops. She was a bit disappointed - it was a good workshop, but it was for generic situations that rely on the other person caring, more or less, about your well-being. It relied on a particular situation, a particular cis privilege.
She told me how she, as a trans sex worker often working through apps and not agencies, didn’t always have the option of being firm and standing her ground. In some situations, the reason people hire her is for the power dynamic, the sense of control they feel. If she says no in a firm voice, she ruins the mood. She might anger him. She might not be able to leave.
The idea of how some people have to say the word no - how it must be sexy, soft, palatable, stayed with me. This micro short is an ode to that - that million ways one person can say no, the power behind the word regardless of how it sounds.
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How do you manage and work alongside gender dysphoria?
How do you make sure your intimacy coordinator isn't hired for clout?
How do we work together in a way that makes that meaningful, impactful, for the future of set protocol?
How do you control a set when there are particular concerns of trans and racial identity at play?
There was a lot to consider for a micro-short.
Once I found Samantha, we met up and started rehearsing. I wanted her to feel comfortable screaming in front of a crowd of people, and there was a lot to work on for that. A lot of gender dysmorphia with the sound of screaming, with the sound of your voice, on top of making yourself vulnerable in front of a crowd of new people.
So while we were rehearsing I would scream with her. We sat in a small room in London just screaming for two hours at a time so she could feel fine on the day.
Then we had an intimacy coordinator, and I didn’t want it to be just for show. I wanted a trans person of colour to be there for Samantha so she could really feel someone was in her corner through the shoot.
This is the difference between making a film being made about the community versus a film being made with the community. I wanted to work alongside Samantha, to put myself in the same discomfort and dysphoria so she wouldn't be alone. I wanted the intimacy coordinator to be someone she felt she could speak to on a real level, not a one.
INTRODUCING: SAMANTHA LANGE
Samantha is a model and fashion designer from Venezuala. She recently displayed her collection Muñekitas at London Fashion Week and was the recipient for the Outstanding Fashion Concept & Context Award. This is her first acting role.
PRODUCTION
DIRECTOR/PRODUCER
DOP
1ST AC
2ND AC
GAFFER
BEST BOY
PRODUCTION DESIGNER
SOUND RECORDING
INTIMACY COORDINATOR
MAKE UP ARTIST
STILLS PHOTOGRAPHER
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
CAMERON MANION
OLAMIDE SHOYINKA
ALEXANDER KAIRO
TASDFASDF
GAFFER
BEST BOY
PRODUCTION DESIGNER
SOUND RECORDING
INTIMACY COORDINATOR
MAKE UP ARTIST
STILLS PHOTOGRAPHER
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
POST
EDITOR
MOTION GRAPHICS
SOUND DESIGN
SCORE
CAMERON MANION
MATTHEW CUNNINGHAM
CAMERON MANION
FILIP BADIAR
PRODUCTION STILLS
Our
Story
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