Any Domme who sells clips has come across, likely on a regular basis, complaints about the cost of their clips they sell. Often these complaints are non-verbal, with a viewer electing to try to find the clip for “free” on a piracy site, rather than pay what they perceive as an overly excessive price. But is it excessive? How many clip buyers truly understand what goes into producing the clips they so desperately want to see? Are clip producers making money hand over fist and charging outrageous prices, or is there more to producing the clip than most would ever imagine? With an eye towards that, I contacted Miss XI several months ago and we began discussing what a “behind the scenes” feature might look like. Peeling away the mystery of how a clip is made, the costs involved that are borne by the Domme herself, and the time invested to produce what we love so much would hopefully make consumers pause before turning away from paying for what they want, and increase the appreciation for just how hard Dommes work to produce their magical clips. In the feature that follows you will go behind the scenes, experience what I saw, and felt as I watched the clip production process unfold and was “tutored” by the lovely Miss XI. Her process is her own, but much of what you read will apply to what your favourite Dommes and clip producers go through just to produce your favourite clips each day. Enjoy this glimpse behind the curtain, so to speak!
Initially, the plan was for me to attend a filming session with Miss XI and experience the process firsthand. That is a part of this incredible experience, but I also had the good fortune of the filming taking place while the amazing Lady Bellatrix visited from Paris to shoot with Miss XI. You’ve likely already read the interview I did with the amazing Heavy Rubber Domme herself, and if you’re like me, ache for more about her. I had the immense privilege of chauffeuring her to the video shoot, with a stopover for dinner on the way. During a wonderful meal, I was able to interview Lady Bellatrix herself before we drove to pick up Miss XI. For the rest of the evening, I drove the ladies to their shoot, carried their bags and did whatever else I was told to do. I was granted the opportunity to see them set up for, plan out, and then carry out a 3 hour filming session that featured, among other fetishes; scissorholds, ballbusting, coerced bi, trampling and a heavy dose of latex.
During breaks in the filming and before it started, I was permitted to take the pictures you see in this feature, as well as film (albeit with my phone so the quality may not be up to standard). I witnessed the setting up of equipment within the shoot space (done by the Dommes themselves with help from their amazing camera person, Ordained Images, who also acted as their talented videographer). I was introduced to their two willing victims in the filming, including Johnny Banana, who took a ball busting that will haunt me for a very long time, and Sub zero, who survived some of the most amazing head scissoring you could ever witness! By the time the evening concluded and I drove Lady Bellatrix back to where she was staying, dropped to my knees and kissed her feet and thanked her for the experience, I had a wholly new appreciation for what it takes to produce clips. In just 3 hours of set up and filming, I saw hard work, attention to detail and a commitment to producing excellence. And as Miss XI would later tell me in a follow up coffee meet, that is just the beginning of the process, with editing and promotion of clips still to come and making up at least half of the work done! So the next time you see a clip price and think to yourself “that’s so expensive”, perhaps ask yourself how many hours went into making that 5 minute clip you want so badly. How much energy was expended to carry out a detailed process that is so much more than most would know about unless you actually do the work? My hat is off, and I bow down in appreciation for the hardworking clip producers out there, and I’m thankful they do what they do. Paying their prices is the least we can do to show our gratitude. Maybe instead of complaining about the price, we should consistently add a markup code, or send a tribute to make sure they never begin to feel that making clips isn’t worth their time. Imagine a world without the amazing clips we love so much…
The Process
- as this was to be a cross promotional shoot for both Miss XI and Lady Bellatrix, arrangements needed to be made between the two Dommes to plan a time to shoot together, to discuss attire and the theme of what they might shoot together for both of them to add to their clips content
- an appropriate filming space needed to be secured. This involves finding and renting an appropriate space, or maintaining a play space/studio.
- given the nature of the fetishes involved, two submissives were needed and were contacted and arrangements made to have them attend the shoot. Careful consideration must be given to ensure that the subs that attend are able to carry out what the Dommes wished to shoot.
- as Lady Bellatrix was traveling for this shoot, consideration of filming attire had to account for her only being able to bring a limited amount of extensive wardrobe.
- equipment, lighting, the arrangement of the sets for filming and recording options needed to be worked out. Fortunately again, Ordained Images is extremely adept, has an extensively equipped studio, and is a skilled videographer. Even so, both Miss XI and Lady Bellatrix were moving lights, setting up equipment and getting everything perfect prior to the shoot.
- once filming begins, if it is well planned out and the submissives perform as they should, the Dommes are able to quickly move from scene to scene and it flows like choreography. It was amazing to watch as Miss XI directed her submissives in and out of the scenes as needed, adjusting as things moved along seemly effortlessly, because she is very experienced.
- Of course, the filming and setup is only a part of the process, and what I did not see in person, but discussed in detail with Miss XI was the editing and promotional process. As this was a Double Domme shoot, Miss XI and Lady Bellatrix needed to determine how to share files, and who would use what. More to come on that specifically speaking of Double Domme shoots.
- I was hoping to determine a formula for how much time editing takes, foolishly thinking that if could be boiled down to an amount of time per minute of actual clip. The reality is quite different. Editing varies greatly depending on many factors, including the type of clip, any special effects, the desired number of clips to create from the shoot, and any number of other elements. Suffice to say, it can be tedious and time-consuming and it plays a very important role in a Domme maintaining the quality of her work to the standards she has set.
once a clip is fully edited it is then ready to upload to clip stores. Speed of upload will vary for each clip site and from there a Domme must determine what categories a clip belongs in, descriptions must be written and key words (tags) determined. - to promote a clip, a promotional gif or preview must be made and edited. A Domme must decide how best to advertise and promote this clip now. While Twitter is still currently allowing it, much of social media has become particularly unfriendly towards adult content, making it difficult to post. Auto-tweets, which are used frequently, do put a Domme at risk of being shadow banned or having her account suspended. They can also stagnate the number of followers for a particular account. Miss XI’s quote is a Japanese proverb “The nail that sticks out shall be hammered down”, meaning you want to publicize without being persecuted with piracy and bans. Promoting a clip enough to have it sell but not too much so it is noticed by those wishing to pirate or those looking to shut down adult content can be a tricky balancing act for each Domme and with every clip they produce.
Clip Production Costs
Below are just some of the costs that a Domme faces in producing quality clips as Miss XI and Lady Bellatrix have done consistently for years now. While each clip is different, much of the costs below exist for each round of filming:
- wardrobe and toys (2 latex catsuits were ruined during the filming shoot, including a rather perfectly positioned blowout of Miss XI’s suit above. The average cost for a catsuit of the quality you see in pics and clips from this shoot runs around $700 CDN (before customs and shipping)
- studio overhead (rental or monthly costs if owned)
- internet package (huge usage and fastest speed are an absolute must!)
- HardDrive space to store and backup (Miss XI has 6.5 TB of HD space & now uses backblaze.com as an additional backup in case her hard drives fail and she loses her work)
- hardware and software (computer and editing software, camera)
- music usage and licensing if you wish to use it in your clips
- special effects (overlays of clips you might purchase to use) – some are free but can be very hard to find
and might be sub-standard to the required quality of production – as Miss XI says, she could cut corners and spend less, but it would make a noticeable difference in her production and she takes pride in the standard she has set with her previous content. And while some Dommes use special effects and overlays, for Miss XI, her expenses here lie with the editing software itself, which is the Adobe Suite/Adobe Premiere. She chose this one as she likes to use the accompanying suite programs like Photoshop etc… that not everyone else will need.
Pricing
So what goes into determining the price of a clip once it goes to market? While each Domme may use different factors to determine the price, this is what Miss XI considers before assigning a price to each clip:
- what went into the making of the clip
- market value of comparable clips both produced by her and by others in that genre
- previous sales – ie. going rate in the industry and within her previous sales
- are clips your only source of income? Every Domme does their clip pricing a little bit differently. Many Dommes are clip-only, and carefully strategize their pricing while other Dommes consider the filming aspect to be a side income next to real time sessions.
Licking The Boots of Latex Ladies
Ferocious Ballbusting By the Latex Mistresses
Double Domme Dynamic
- Miss XI tells me that she usually prefers to shoot with Dommes that have their own clip stores, as it makes the content share breakdown easier. This way she can film exclusive content for each store. Otherwise, each party will pick 50% of the content to have “first dibs” on posting in their store, and then release the other 50% months after the other Domme has posted it. Different clip studios may simply hire a Domme for exclusive content, or arrange revenue share splits.
- A common process used is for Clip A to be published by one Domme, while Clip B is published by the other. After sufficient time to sell, the Dommes swap clips which results in driving traffic for both stores and cross- promotion
- specific genre specialties might decide who takes what parts ie. Miss XI specializes in scissorhold content while Lady Bellatrix does more coerced bi content. This may determine which aspects of the filming shoot end up in which Domme’s clipstores
