The True Opponent in Filming an ENF Mortal Kombat Parody - Nature!

                  

 I have been looking forward to this Memorial Day weekend for a month ever since I booked the shoot with Skunk and Violet for what would become Embarrassed Kombat. The video game itself is all about humiliating your opponent with a gruesome finisher. Even the non fatal finishers imply a sense of embarrassment. How humiliating is it to go from being a tough martial arts warrior and become reduced to a baby?

 

I explored the idea of humiliation and stripping an opponent of their clothes in my Mortal Kombat Fanfic, Finish Them! In it, the fighters get stripped during battle, with their special abilities being used to accidentally or intentionally damage their opponent's clothing. I didn't finish the series as I moved on to writing my own erotica however, the year I made the plan to make ENF films,  I knew a long-term goal would be to shoot a two-model video parodying Mortal Kombat. With your support within my first year, I felt ready to make the leap and bring the idea to life. As exciting as it was to write the script, inventing my own characters that parodied Princess Kitana and Sonya Blade, the shoot would not be without its challenges.

With Global Warming impacting the intensity and stability of weather patterns, Michigan's weather is even more unpredictable. As I write this on Memorial Day weekend, it's actually in the high 40s. When Skunk and I first met and planned to shoot, it was delayed because we had a snow storm...in April.

                              

This fella visited me minutes after Skunk and I agreed to reschedule shooting Officer Undressed

Experiences like this make me used to the unpredictability of what can happen leading up to, during, and after filming an ENF video. I have found the mantra, "It will not turn out exactly as you planned" to be helpful in grounding me so that I am not overwhelmed or panicked when things happen unexpectedly. It's not that things will go wrong, but rarely have shoots gone 100% the way I wanted. Weather changes, scripts changes, making adjustments to costumes/props, and travel are factors that can affect a shoot. Embarrassed Kombat was hit with multiple unexpected moments.

The unpredictability of the weather was the first issue. In April, temperatures were averaging at mid 40s to 50s, which if you've ever been naked in these temperatures, it's not very tolerable. It's also risky because it could result in health issues for exposure to cold temperature for long periods of time. In that sense, I was ready to reschedule if the temperatures were not going to rise. With this comes another challenge, booking. Scheduling with one model takes time and a lot of communication to figure out the right time because we all have our own schedules. Booking two models adds complexity because I had to coordinate between Violet and Skunk's schedules to make sure all three of us could meet to shoot at the booked outdoor location. With a lot of back-and-forth texting, we had our day and I knew that rescheduling could risk further delaying the video if Violet and Skunk couldn't meet on a second day.

 By the week of, things were looking to be better, it seemed it would be in low 60s with sun. It was not my preferred condition, but better than what I had feared and with that, we made the choice to try to shoot. I did let both models know that if they felt uncomfortable or needed to stop then we would because I want to prioritize safety and health of the performers above everything else.  With props, costumes, and robes in hand, we went to work in this wonderful outdoor wooded location that reminded me of the forest fight scene in Mortal Kombat 2

 I was more anxious than I typically feel with shooting, more because this was my first time shooting a two-model scene. I also felt pressure running against the time of nature because I wasn't sure how long we would have sunlight and worried we would lose it. Lucky for me, it was cloudy because...Michigan, and we got a total of 5 minutes of sunlight, so problem solved! I usually shoot things in linear order of the story, but given the time constraints of temperature and lighting, I prioritized efficiency and shot scenes in order of action, stripping, and eventually dialogue. Skunk and Violet handled this all with amazing grace and talent, their motivation and enthusiasm created a fun energy that kept us moving throughout the shoot.

 

 

 My current equipment setup includes a Sony ZV-E10, a Rode Video NTG mic and then my camera phone. The nice part about the Rode mic is it can plug into my Sony and allow me to check the quality of the sound while recording. That day, it had difficulties holding a charge, it would a low battery even after charging all day. It was likely that it would die out during shooting, Luckily, the camera has its own built in mic that I was ready to use but my saving grace would by my camera phone.

My phone has a better quality camera built in than what I've previously had. I still prefer to use my Sony for better image quality, but it does get the job done when needed. I first used it as a second camera with Embarrassment Quest as a wide angle shot.

 

 I regret forgetting to use this more consistently during filming as I only got this shot for the second half of the battle. Despite only using a few scenes spliced with the close-up shots, I liked the transition between wide angle and POV shots because I felt it resembled the camera changes in Final Fantasy 7 combat scenes. With Embarrassed Kombat, I knew I was going to do a section that would parody the actual side-angle shot of the original video game and made sure I had enough space to run the camera phone during the whole shoot. This choice ended up making it the MVP when another issue would happen....gravity. If you watch the video, you can see the fun blooper of my camera lens reaching its end when the stand tipped and landed lens first. This is a bad habit of mine of leaving things unstable and letting them fall, from leaving objects on the edge of a table, to light stands, and the ZV-10 kit lens.

                           Violet's concerned face seeing the last moments of my lens before I could.

At this point, halfway through the shoot I was down my primary camera and no microphone. It was not great however, I didn't panic. Again, the mantra that things will not turn out as I planned helped ground me. I also knew I had my phone camera set up to get a wide angle shot on run the whole time and luckily this was our saving grace because thanks to that, I got every shot I needed and I had decent enough audio to mix with the shots on my Sony camera when the microphone battery died. So, lesson learned, always have a backup camera ready and also make sure your camera stand is stable XD.

 The other unexpected challenge that day was the wind chill factor, bringing our 60 degree temperature down to more of a mid 50 degree temperature. This meant the amount of time being naked outside that was tolerable and safe was a lot shorter. Typically, I try not to rush through takes or if needed, reshoot a take to make sure we have the shots we need. With the temperature a factor and with Skunk and Violet the ones who are naked, I wanted to be mindful of their safety and eliminate any time of unnecessary reshoots. I kept checking in with them for the rest of the time, offering to stop and reschedule if needed. To their credit, they were on board with finishing the shoot and we quickly shot the rest of the script. There might have been a few points from the original script that were omitted, mainly some dialogue, but this was something that wasn't central to what I wanted - an ENF parody in spirit of the videogame Mortal Kombat, not necessarily just the story. Like Embarrassment Quest and Embarrassment Quest 2, I wanted to tell a story that resembled the game mechanics and that meant I could coach Violet and Skunk during their solo fights rather than stop and start multiple takes with scenes involving dialogue.

 By the time we wrapped up shoot, I was anxious if I got everything I needed to edit a coherent story. My hope was to have two parts to this Mortal Kombat themed ENF shoot, something I wanted to film ever since I planned to make films. Having watched it in full sequence, from splicing in the music, the fight sound effects, and my own attempt at mimicking the Mortal Kombat narrator voice, I am overjoyed with this long film Violet, Skunk, and I created. We hope you enjoy it. I would love to make this a series, and so your support in buying the video would be of great help because once cost is covered, I can definitely plan a sequel and I already have a few ideas as to what it could be.

 

Shooting an ENF video game sequel

 We're ending the year with another video game ENF parody! I'm happy to release Embarrassment Quest 2, with the return of Riley Jane! Embarrassment Quest was one of the few videos that had multiple positive comments (this always helps my stores so if you like them, please rate and review!). Rather than do another combat based story, I wanted to film another trope in video games - selling items or in this case, clothes!

 

                                             Selling and robbing clothes of townsfolk in Skyrim
 

I feel like I have seen this setup earlier in my days playing video games, but where I saw the specific idea was in the web series, The Guild. In it, one of the players has his keyboard hijacked by the protagonists, and they sell his avatars' clothes until he is left naked although it is never shown. In video games, like in reality, we want to dress our characters, who are sometimes an extension of ourselves, in the best/most badass look possible. This is why I like the idea of stripping away that "best self" and exposing one that we wouldn't want to be seen, because I find that this is best type of exposure and embarrassment. The heart-print underwear is always a favorite of mine, but it was also my nod to a classic video game Ghouls N' Ghosts, where the Knight in that came will be exposed in his strawberry-print underwear when his armor is destroyed by one hit (I just learned that it is strawberries NOT hearts!)

Initially my plan was to have Riley strip in one long cut as she negotiated for the sword she needs to use to slay the dragon. It occurred to me the day before that a more "video game" effect would be a jump cut where her clothes vanish after confirming the sale of an item. In one way, this would make shooting easier because it makes for a shorter take before cutting and moving to the next clip. The challenge becomes in having Riley freeze and then start the next take in as close of of a position that resembles the last one. Overall this went smoothly, with some very small differential placements. What helped as setting up the merchant table and leaving some items in frame that remained still in between each cut.

 

The other challenge was adding the other images/sounds/music to mimic a video game. The first time doing this in Embarrassment Quest it took two days. This time around things went a bit quicker now that I knew what animations I wanted. The added time can be exhausting but looking at the final cut make it all worth it because all of these elements remind me of video games I used to play. 

 

 

This was also the film that made me laugh the most, so much so I ruined some takes because I couldn't contain my laughter. I knew using the confetti popper was going to be funny, but the large amount of confetti that shot out made me laugh so hard. To avoid laughing on take two, I had to look away. Riley absolutely understood the idea, how it was meant to be silly and over-the-top, breaking the meta by writing her as a player who is aware there is a game. 

 

I couldn't wait to release Embarrassment Quest 2 and I hope y'all enjoy that in addition to the first. I don't know when I'll shoot a third sequel but I do have some ideas that I will save in the future because there are so many tropes I can make fun of.