| Review:
Since our first visit to this site a couple of years ago there have
been a lot of improvements (at the time it had just launched). This is now quite a good site,
but it could
still be a bit better.
First the good news: Suze Randall is one of the most well-known adult
photographers in the world, and she only works with the best. The site
is full of "behind-the-scenes" video clips of her working with
Jenna Jameson, Tera Patrick, Briana Banks, Jill Kelly, and many other big names. The talent on display and the
production quality itself is of a very high level.
The videos come in three formats: 150, 300, and 700 kb/s. The first
two are just for modem users (or to be used as previews). There are
also super high-res videos running at an awesome 2000 kb/s that you can
download . . . for a price. Don't be fooled by this one (read
what it says on the tour). A membership
isn't going to let you download these movies (though you can grab the
trailers, which are a treat). It's an extra $3.99
(members do get a discount) to grab a 15-30 minute video. The picture is
great, though nothing we've ever seen advertised as "DVD
Quality" looks quite as good as actually watching a DVD. But it is
as close as you're likely to get. Someday all video on the Internet will
look this good, or better. For now this really is the "cutting edge
of the XXX future!" (You can check out what movies are available in
this format on the site tour. There were 13 when we visited.)
Total content: Looked like around 400 videos total. These range in file size a
bit, but most seem to be in the 5-10 minute range. Updates are twice
weekly.
Type of action: Well, we really didn't like the category system (more
on that later), so we'll tell you that in general what you have are solo
posing, lesbian, hardcore, and interview videos. If you know Suze's
photo style then you know what to expect. This is
"sophisticated" porn for the "connoisseur". It's
obvious that wardrobe is a priority. The women look sexy and elegant.
And they get handled a bit like props.
Is it hot? Well, we don't mind the elegant look, but we do have
problems with the "alienation effect" of the behind-the-scenes
format. Alienation effect refers to the foregrounding of camera
equipment (and even Suze herself), lights, props, make-up people, and
other stuff to remind us that we are watching a photoshoot. Production
are high (with maybe a bit too much editing for the meat-and-potatoes
crowd), but this is all in aid of
making better pictures, not better videos. The action is all
quite stagey, and
it's hard to get excited by looking at people pretending to act aroused
(as opposed to simply acting aroused). Even the mis-titled "Trash Talk" only has stars
being interviewed about sex. They aren't really talking dirty.
How weird does this alienation effect get? How about watching Stacey
Valentine getting a double facial and hearing Suze--yes Suze!--going
"Oh wow, wow, wow, oh yeah, yeah, yeaaaaaah". Shouldn't Stacey
be saying that? Or the guys?
Our overall sense was that this was a site for collectors. It's
obviously all exclusive video, and of a high quality, so if you need
some clips of a favourite pornstar that you haven't got, you
should be able to pick some up here (note that most of the models have
2-4 clips--it's unlikely you'll be getting any more of a particular
name).
Now, while we're being critical, here are a few other things gave us
trouble:
(1) You're not getting any pics. None. There are plenty of links to
photo galleries to go with the videos, but you can't access them without
a membership at Suze.net. All these links got a bit irritating. We got
the sense we were just visiting the video annex of Suze.net. Would it
have been too hard to give a sample of pics from the shoots, if not a
full set? We say this also because the videos only come with a single
thumbnail, and the thumbnail is a pic from the photoshoot, not a vidcap
of the movie you're actually going to download (and there is a difference).
(2) The different categories. These are confusing. Let us give you
some advice: Use the model index. The Girly-Girls is a lesbian section.
After that it's not as clear. XXX Sex is extra content. Then there are a
bunch of hardcore and solo categories. They tend to overlap.
(3) In addition
to having more thumbnails, we also thought the individual
movies pages should have provided info on the length of the clip and file size. It's a
little thing to do, but it's nice to have that information before you
start downloading.
(4) There is still too much wasted time in the videos with slick lead-in title
screens and long end credits (over 20 seconds in at least one
case). On the other hand, hats off to the producers for leaving out the
floating titles! Let's get rid of those everywhere.
(5) Part of Ms. Randall's creation of an elegant mood is the Andrew
Blake-style editing. Given the fact that, especially in the solo posing
videos, there isn't a whole lot of variety in the action, it would have
made more sense to us to stick with a single shot a little longer. But
that's a matter of taste, we realize.
(6) We thought Ms. Randall herself could have been more involved. She
seems to have very little presence here. Perhaps she's more involved in
Suze.net. No diary, notes on the shoots, message board, vision
statements, or other extras that you find even with name photographers.
This site continues to mature. When it started it was all streaming.
You had to buy tokens and couldn't download anything. There's been a
huge improvement in that department! The talent and professionalism are
a given, and there's a lot of stuff here for collectors. But aside from
being into elegance, you also have to have a high tolerance for flashes
going off, camera equipment lying around, people talking in the
background and everything else that goes with the
"behind-the-scenes" atmosphere.
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