As film and TV productions start to resume under new COVID-19 guidelines, the industry is trying to figure out how to deal with one particular challenge: filming sex scenes.
Earlier this week, industry group Directors UK published its guidelines on 'Intimacy in the Time of COVID-19'.
It offers a range of recommendations on filming intimate scenes, kissing and simulated sex while the pandemic is ongoing and physical contact is restricted.
The guidelines suggest that filmmakers should schedule intimate scenes towards the end of the shoot and "assume there will be no physical contact allowed between performers".
Filmmakers are encouraged to "be innovative" and find new ways to convey sexual desire and intimacy on screen beyond the traditional ways.
The guidelines also suggests: "You may find inspiration by revisiting classic films such as It Happened One Night (1934) or Casablanca (1943) - some of the greatest screen romances ever made and all filmed under the Hays Code, which prohibited the depiction of sex on screen.
"Consider what tools classic works offer for contemporary storytelling."
Intimacy coordinator Chelsea Pace spoke to The Hard Shoulder about the guidelines and filming intimate scenes in the COVID-19 era.
Chelsea suggested that even before COVID hit more filmmakers were already considering the way such scenes were shot.
She explained: "I think over the past several years with more thought being given to how intimacy is integrated into the production process, we're seeing better storytelling happening through the intimacy work.
"I think these guidelines are really well-written - I think they're really good work. I'm based in the United States, and production here is still almost exclusively suspended because of the virus, but based on what I'm reading... I think these are really well constructed.
"They take into account actors' boundaries, but also places the responsibility on the production for making sure folk stay safe.
"They're giving filmmakers and intimacy coordinators a lot of leeway to make safe decisions for storytelling."
"I hate to ruin the magic..."
Chelsea said there absolutely are ways of filming intimate scenes without direct contact - just as is the case with action sequences.
She observed: "I hate to ruin the magic for anybody, but if you see folk punching each other on screen they're not really punching each other. It's very much possible for us to do similar tricks for staging intimacy.
"In film, we can really carefully [choose] where the camera is to help trick the eye to believe something is happening when it isn't.
"Whereas in the past it might have been an actor that was uncomfortable with a particular kind of touch or had a boundary about kissing a particular actor in a scene... now it's about a virus. But we're able to apply those same techniques to trick the eye and still tell a story."
Chelsea also suggested there's no single way to approach on-screen sex or intimacy.
She observed: "If it's a movie that would really be served by seeing a realistic depiction of intimacy, then I think that's the answer.
"But often times what the imagination can do is a lot more powerful than anything we could actually show folk on screen... there's certainly room for both."
