Far-L

32. What is the difference between Gonzo, amateur, pro-am, and reality porn?

These are my definitions forged in the hell fires of porn's eternal damnation and smithed by years of hammering out title after title and tempured by experience. You don't have to agree with them:

Gonzo - For all you lit majors out there I equate this with a first person omnicient narrative device. In essence, the person behind the camera is also part of the action. I believe the term was first coined to describe the type of porn inspired by the pioneers of that style, Buttman John Stagliano, Max Hardcore, Seymour Butts, and then copied by many others.

Amateur - Amateur is sort of oxymoronic in so far as if a person is getting paid then how can you call it amateur but I see true amateur as being homemade videos by people that are doing it for a one or a few more times kick but certainly not looking to make porn their day job. The best amateurs are shot by couples that simply set up a camera and let it roll. The Pam and Tommy tape i consider to be the most classic true amateur video of all time. Authentic amateur should have that "home movie" sort of uninhibited casualness in which having fun takes a way bigger priority over whether or not the camera/body/light/sound etc is "just right".

Pro-Am: This fills that big grey void between pro, am, gonzo, and reality. Essentially, pro-am features higher production values than amateur, is generally shot by professional full time porn producers, features models who want to be porn stars, and tries to appear "amateur" but emphasizes good lighting, sound, make-up etc.

Reality Porn - I consider Reality style content to be an echo of the gool ol' raunchy days of what used to be called "loops" back in the 8mm days of porn production. In the eighties and nineties, this style of stuff was also called "vignettes". The premise is to create a simple fantasy situation with a modest amount of narrative to introduce the sex. However, "reality porn" draws a certain degree of inspiration from the gonzo style stuff by employing a "verite" shooting form, where the camera shoots in a documentary style and most of the dialog is unscripted improvisation to make it seem like the action is a real life situation.

If anyone disagrees then please let me know now...

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