Over the years I’ve shot hundreds of bondage videos, some good ones and others complete duds, especially in the early years. But from shooting so much material, I’ve become aware of many errors that you often see in bondage and fetish videos. I’m still no expert in photography – I still often screw up and there are always new things to learn, but I’m a lot better than when I was starting out. And just to be clear, I’m not trying to be snarky in this blog post or put down the work of other producers. Every single error I’m discussing here is something I’ve done myself numerous times; some of them are mistakes that I still make, though hopefully not so often. And to be honest, well, this is not really a top ten list – I just needed a catchy title for the blog post! But it probably is about ten items long, more or less, with most of these points inspired by a list of photo and video tips that I did on Twitter in early 2024.
Of course, the most common mistake in bondage videos is sloppy bondage and loose gags, especially wrinkled and poorly applied tape gags. I want the gags, especially tape, to be just so – tight and smooth. Someday I’ll do a tape gag that’s so well done that I won’t be able to top it, and I might just have to call it quits! For me though the gag is always the most important part of the bondage, more so than the ropes.
Aside from issues with the bondage and gags, one of the most common mistakes I see in bondage videos – actually an audio issue – is the clicking sounds that you often hear caused by the camera operator’s hand movements being picked up by the camera-mounted microphone. The mic will pick up any sound and if you move your fingers around or are just breathing heavily, you’ll hear every little movement and exhalation! Similarly, you’ll often hear clicking and snapping sounds from the tripod when it’s being panned or tilted. The real underlying issue is usually the camera operator not wearing headphones to monitor the audio while they’re recording. I get it – it’s a pain to have to put on headphones for each shot. It’s very easy to just say, “Oh, the audio will be fine, I don’t need to check it.” But with the microphone usually right there on the camera, you will pick up ANY hand movement, even if you just adjust your grip a little bit. For me, if I end up with a shot with clicking sounds, I don’t use it. Bad audio ruins the video. And unfortunately, even producers who have been shooting for years will still sometimes have those tell-tale clicking sounds in their videos. I would say this is maybe the number one error in bondage and fetish videos. It’s certainly very common and once you start noticing it you will hear it everywhere.
Something that’s almost just as common is shaky poorly shot handheld video with the camera jerking this way and that. It just looks terrible. When shooting video, it’s better for the operator to find the frame and commit to it. Then change the frame when it needs to be changed, perhaps adding a cut. But don’t drift around with the camera. This is a common mistake you see in bondage videos, where the camera operator probably thinks that they’ll add excitement or energy to the scene by moving around with the video camera. But it usually doesn’t work. You can certainly add some camera moves while shooting but they should be done smoothly and without any jerking motions, which is not easy to do. One of the worst offenses is when someone actually takes the camera off the tripod during the scene and still uses that part of the footage in the finished video. The clicking and snapping from the quick-release lever sound awful as the image jerks around.
Another thing I recommend is never do a zoom during the shot and leave that part in the final video. It’s so hard to pull off a smooth and unobtrusive zoom on most video cameras and it’s the kind of camera move that draws attention to itself, usually in a bad way. It’s okay to change the focal length with the zoom lens but it’s better to add a cut between those sections and don’t include the actual zoom. Zooming in just looks amateurish and again you’ll often get those tell-tale clicking sounds while executing the zoom. If you want to move in closer during a shot, it’s much better to physically move in with the camera rather than relying on the zoom lens. Moving the camera on screen takes practice, though, and should be done smoothly and silently, of course. A camera move can be effective when handled well, but not while zooming onscreen. This isn’t a Robert Altman movie.
I also try to remove all the crap from the background, including bondage gear and clothes and water bottles and empty cans of Red Bull. All that stuff is distracting. I’ve seen bondage videos where the background is just piled up with crap, and it ruins the atmosphere. It’s one thing if it’s a warehouse with stuff in the background or a construction site with material in the background. But if it’s your dirty clothes hamper it’s always best to remove it.
Another thing you often see in bondage videos are lights and light stands and tripods visible in the background. Whenever I see light stands or a tripod right in the frame, I always find it distracting. (Glass-covered pictures and mirrors can be a royal pain too and will often show reflections of all the photo gear!) And again, I get it – when you’re shooting bondage videos, you’re under a big time crunch. There’s a LOT of stuff to do and you want to get the material shot before the model taps out, which happens way more than people think. Many of my videos have ended abruptly just because the model had reached their limits and had to be untied. And to walk over and move that light or tripod takes time and it’s so easy to say, “Oh, it doesn’t matter that much,” or “No one will really care.” But believe me, people notice that photo gear in the frame.
One other thing to avoid is relying on auto-exposure when shooting video, (same with auto white balance). Sometimes you can get away with this, but the problem is that the exposure will often shift if you pan or move the camera, especially if part of the scene is brighter and another part darker. The hunting and shifting looks amateurish. It’s usually much better to set a manual exposure and commit to it. If you need to change the exposure between shots you can usually make adjustments by changing the ISO, which controls the sensitivity of the sensor to the light, but don’t change it during the shot.
The next point is more an observation: One of the hardest things is to see what’s right in front of your eyes. It’s so easy to shoot a scene without realizing the model’s collar is twisted up in a weird way or the wig was slipping up or the ropes were slipping off their shoulder. Seeing what’s really going on can be incredibly hard. I’ve missed so many things over the years, and in some of my videos all I see now are the mistakes and things that I didn’t notice. It can be heartbreaking to come home and look at the footage and realize you missed something that was right there in front of your eyes.
Related to this last point, I don’t know what it is about messed up collars on blouses, especially on satin blouses, but they just seem to be so prone to getting twisted up in weird ways. This is another thing that I’ve missed dozens of times. I remember shooting one video a couple years ago where I was fighting to adjust the collar of the blouse for most of the scene. And even though I was aware of the problem I still had shots where I hadn’t quite fixed it, and many of those shots I just discarded. Sometimes the pressure of the ropes against the blouse can cause the material to twist up, and a few times I’ve even redone the chest bondage to try to fix the issue. It can be crazy making when the problem persists.
Some other random mistakes: When you’re tying someone, it’s easy to accidentally drag the rope across their face, which is not only annoying for the model – I’ve had riggers do it to me – but will often also mess up their hair. I’ve certainly done this to some of the models I’ve worked with and then not noticed afterwards how their hair was now sticking up in a weird way. If I’m lucky I’ll immediately notice the problem and go fix their hair – and apologize for dragging the rope across their face! – but it’s a very easy screw-up to miss.
Another equally easy thing to do is to accidentally stand partly in front of one of the lights and cause your own shadow to fall across the model while you’re recording video. Again, this is SO easy to do. Sometimes if you’re not moving and the shadow isn’t that noticeable you can still get away with using the shot, but I’ve taken so many shots where once I start to slowly pan or tilt the camera you can suddenly see my shadow moving. I can’t count how many times I’ve done that! It’s better to change where you’re standing or move the lights a little to keep your shadow out of the scene.
All of these are of course my own observations about things that I’ve noticed over the years. Again, I’m not trying to put down any other producers or be a know-it-all. I still make mistakes on every single video that I shoot – sometimes lots of mistakes.
Having said all this, the main concern in shooting bondage is always safety. I never want someone to get hurt or have an awful or traumatic experience while tied up. There are intense things I’ve wanted to do but that just felt too risky in the moment. My stuff can be very strict but I always prefer to err on the side of caution. Thankfully I’ve been lucky and have had very few scary incidents. I’ve gotten hurt a couple times myself while tied up – and I’m glad it was me and not someone else. My injuries (mild nerve damage from which I thankfully recovered) were caused by my own stupidity, pushing myself too hard in overly painful bondage when I should have called it quits. And I’ve heard horror stories from professional models, mostly genetic female models, who work and get tied up a lot and have gotten hurt, some of them seriously and with lasting consequences. As sexy as it is, being tied up can be tough on your body and can take a toll over the years. It’s not always a big bondage orgy.
On that note, if you’ve read to the end of this rather long blog post, thanks for checking it out. I hope some of it was helpful or least somewhat enlightening or entertaining. The main point is that it’s a good thing to have a critical eye towards one’s own work and one’s own mistakes and to keep trying to improve. It’s an ongoing learning process that never ends till you call it quits.