Friday 14 March 2014

First Kiss, First Handjob, Touching Strangers



Published on Mar 10, 2014 by Tatia Pilieva
FIRST KISS
We asked twenty strangers to kiss for the first time....

Our longing for romance would have us want to believe that "20 strangers" means 20 strangers but it would seem this short film has a back story. The L.A. fashion label WREN sponsored the making of this film as part of their contribution to Style.Com's video fashion week.

Fashionista - Mar 11/2014
Wren’s Melissa Coker on How That Viral ‘First Kiss’ Video Went Down by Dhani Mau
“We make these fashion films every season,” [said Melissa Coker, founder and designer.] “I strive to make them an interesting film that exists on its own rather than something that feels like a commercial, and it seems to be touching people — not only people who are in fashion and would see this, but also random guys who aren’t connected at all. I’ve had random guys texting me, ‘I saw your video, it’s — and I’m probably not saying this right — on the cover of Reddit.’”

Coker also dipped into her expansive friend group to cast the film’s 20 kissers, who, yes, are cool and attractive — especially model/illustrator Langley Fox (sister of Dree Hemingway). While a few outlets have already criticized the film for not being as real as it purports itself to be because the cast members are “models,” that’s not exactly the case either. “I emailed a bunch of people I know, though my personal life, through Wren. I tried to be diverse. Some of them are musicians. But the guy with the tattoos, he actually works at Wren.”

So, they weren’t all people who are used to kissing strangers (but were obviously willing to), and they were in fact all strangers. The main challenge in choosing who would kiss whom was the not-having-met-before caveat. “Who does Z not know?” she said, referring to Z Berg of girl band The Like. Other than that, she considered height and “who aesthetically would be a nice pairing,” as well as “who are my guy friends who my girl friends would think are cute.”

So, was the film "staged"? Coker adds, “Action was never called, so a lot of these people didn’t necessarily know if they were being filmed or not, so you see these real moments.”

Nevertheless, some feel the real story behind the film negates whatever realism was intended.

Slate - Mar 11/2014
This Video of Strangers Kissing Is “Beautiful” Because It Stars Models by Amanda Hess
Actually, it’s an advertisement for clothes, and most of these strangers are professional performers who are experienced in acting out love, sex, and intimacy for crowds. The cast includes models Natalia Bonifacci, Ingrid Schram, and Langley Fox (daughter of actress Mariel Hemingway and sister of model Dree); musicians Z Berg of The Like, Damian Kulash of OK Go, Justin Kennedy of Army Navy, singer Nicole Simone, and singer-actress Soko (who also performed the melancholy indie music that accompanies the short); and actors Karim Saleh, Matthew Carey, Jill Larson, Corby Griesenbeck, Elisabetta Tedla, Luke Cook, and Marianna Palka. Is it really unexpectedly touching that when gorgeous and charismatic Italian models, French actors, indie band leaders, and Hollywood royalty get together to kiss one another—under a soundtrack that prompts, “If you’re not ready for love, how can you be ready for life?”—the results are “beautiful”?

I’m betting that if Pilieva had filmed the video with a more diverse cast of all the people in the world who constitute “strangers,” the result would have been more unsettlingly comedic than searchingly romantic. It would also have been more interesting, if infinitely less sharable. The video peddles the fantasy that beauty can spring from an unexpected connection between two random people, but what it's really showing us is the beauty of models making out. It's like the hipster Bachelor. I doubt that millions of viewers would be so quick to celebrate a video of randos kissing if they were all less thin, hip, stylish, charming, and well-manicured.


But maybe we're just taking this far too seriously.


Published on Mar 12, 2014 by Pimms Girl
FIRST HANDJOB (First Kiss Parody)
We asked twenty strangers to jerk each other off for the first time...
Pimm's Girl Comedy parodies WREN's First Kiss.




However, photographer Richard Renaldi did bring total strangers together for a series of moving images. It is interesting how the simple act of touching can connect us.

Published on Aug 14, 2013 by guypeters
Richard Renaldi's "Touching Strangers"
Clip Courtesy of CBS SUNDAY MORNING: Richard Renaldi is a New York photographer whose "Touching Strangers" portrait series brings an unlikely intimacy to photographs. For each shot, Renaldi grabs strangers off the street and poses them like adoring family.



References

WREN Studio
Fashion label based in Los Angeles founded in 2007 by Melissa Coker

Facebook: Pimm's Girl Comedy
Los Angeles based sketch comedy group and personae non gratae at housewarming parties.

Twitter: Pimm's Girl @PimmsGirlComedy

Richard Renaldi: Touching Strangers
Richard Renaldi was born in Chicago in 1968. He received his BFA in photography from New York University in 1990. ... Renaldi's most recent monograph Touching Strangers, is to be released by the Aperture Foundation in the spring of 2014.

Twitter: Richard Renaldi @richardrrenaldi

my blog: Relationships: The power of touch - Dec 24/2010
Touch is a fundamental part of human existence. Studies on infants have shown the importance of regular, loving touch and holding on brain development. These benefits do not end in childhood. Life without physical contact with others is a lonely life indeed.


Published on Mar 13, 2014 by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
YouTube: First Lick: A Film by Jimmy Fallon
Jimmy asked 20 puppies and kittens to kiss for the first time in this "First Kiss" parody.


Published on Mar 14, 2014 by YouTube Nation
The Story Behind "FIRST KISS" | YouTube Nation | SPECIAL
Jacob chats with people behind the viral hit "FIRST KISS" about the process of making it and why it's so compelling.


2014-03-14

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