When it comes to creating each film for XConfessions, the filming is just as important as the post-production editing. Adding special effects, music, sound and knitting the story and sex scenes together to create a complete narrative throughout the film. So to tell how it’s all done, meet my Post-Production Director Noel, who is not only very talented at what he does, but is also a new wave Director himself, creating beautiful and erotic homosexual films under the name Noel Alejandro.
Noel on the set of PANSEXUALS.
“The best thing about working for Erika is that I have never felt like I have been working in porn.”
What’s your job description at Lust?
I am responsible for the post-production department at Lust films. I mainly edit Erika’s Films, selecting ans combining shots to turn them into sequences. I also select sound effects and music that can help create the right atmosphere in the pieces. I also coordinate technicians who are involved in post-production, as the sound and color editors. I collaborate and learn a lot in the creative role, when I’m invited to creative meetings, I am among those who shouts the loudest.
How did you end up working here?
After finishing my studies in Film and TV production and my Masters in Editing I looked for a steady job for a while with no luck. A couple of years later, I started the job hunt again (in complete desperation) and I came across an ad in Loquo. I had an interview and I was selected. It was clear they were looking for a young inexperienced editor but eager and enthusiastic to learn and work, and there I was, promising absolute dedication to the company.
“In 2012, when I started, there were just Erika, Pablo (her partner) and me at the office. And now we are 15 people!”
You have been one of the longest standing members of the Lust team. When did you start? What has it been like to watch the company change and grow so much in the last 10 years?
I’ve been here for four years. I’ve seen the company grow and change very fast, but almost without noticing.
In 2012, when I started, there were just Erika, Pablo (her partner) and me at the office. And now we are 15 people! We keep growing. We’ve changed offices twice and now we’re in a amazing one, which is great. Logically, I think we’ll have to move again soon since we’ll no longer fit!
What is a typical day working at Lust Productions?
I feel very successful whilst working here, we are a team of young people that connect a lot and we usually give each other feedback about things we’ve seen around. As my job is 50% creative, I think it is always a good idea to find time to absorb things from the internet and from the rest of the team. If I can find the time, of course. But a typical day of work here is not too different from any other office, I have my dates and schedules, like everyone else.
Noel (right) as a waiter in IBIZA SPLASH CRUSH.
What is the best part about working with Erika?
The best thing about working for Erika is that I have never felt like I have been working in porn. And I am doing what I love the most, which is editing and audiovisual production. I have a lot of freedom to be as creative as I want being part of such an interesting and groundbreaking project! Plus the offices are in Borne and so close to my home in La Barceloneta… Every morning I come in by walking, WALKING.
“I think that’s the best part about working here: to learn.”
You have a key role in the production of XConfessions as Video Editor working alongside the creative team very closely from the initial idea of a film to its final product. What’s unique about working with Erika Lust in this highly creative role?
To learn. Communication is difficult, and planning a short film to be recorded in a single day involves knowing how to synthesize the ideas really well. In a way, this is a challenge. Being part of a creative team like this, means to learn a lot.
I think that’s the best part about working here: to learn.
“I realized how much you could experiment with porn and all the things you could say to reach the audience in a different way.”
What are the challenges on a creative level in an industry like this?
To capture the viewer, not only with the sexual part, but mainly with the fiction and storytelling. There is no production company like us today in Spain and we have to stand out in a very distinctive way from the rest of the world. To be able to offer two short films to our supporters a month means working pretty fast, and to no surprise the story involves a huge effort, creatively speaking. We stretch our brains to offer the audience a unique product.
Noel on set of SKYPE SEX.
You also own your own production company, Noel Alejandro. Does working at Erika Lust influence our own work?
When I started working here I realized all the possibilities the adult Industry genre offered and how weak gender boundaries are. Also, I realized how much you could experiment with porn and all the things you could say to reach the audience in a different way.
I just wanted to venture myself and doing so I found in pornography a wonderful gateway to communicate stories and feelings to the viewer, with the advantage of being easily financed if you know your way around the Internet. I’ve also realized how difficult it is to engage in social media when you have a product that contains explicit sex. I felt the exclusion in many artistic communities just to use sex as a vehicle to reach the audience. Our access to users is more hampered. But here I’ve learned that sex is a discipline and there’s nothing wrong about feeling proud about it.
Why do the future holds for you at Lust?
I’d like to continue working with Erika for several years and also spending some of my time with my own productions as I do. Also I see myself working in mainstream cinema in the future aswell.
