Interview with Aurora Snow and Hannah Harper

There are a lot of performers in the adult entertainment industry, but it's hard to find two performers who speak more intelligently about the work that they do than Aurora Snow and Hannah Harper. Recently, I had the unique opportunity to sit down with these two talented performers to talk about their upcoming DVD releases.

How is it to perform in a scene that you're directing?

Aurora Snow: It's really tough. When you're in your own scenes and you're supposed to be directing them, you're heavily relying on your camera man to get the shots that you want. So you've got to know your camera man's style, you have to have maybe worked with him before. You give them an overview of how the scene is going to go, where you're going to be going, what you're going to be doing - the basic shots that you want. You hope that he captures them because from your side of the lens, you can't really tell. You can't tell if the camera is kicked up at just the right angle to catch what you want it to catch.

Yeah, because you're kind of busy.

AS: Yeah. Usually I'll have someone in the crew keep an eye on the monitor to make sure lighting is okay, the camera is where it should be, making sure there's nothing in the background that shouldn't be. So the crew comes in handy.

What's the biggest lesson you've learned directing adult films?
AS: How important it is to do your own casting. I do all my own casting and it's really nice. I know it's not a dating service, but it's really nice to put people together who are going to have good chemistry. It's really nice to be able to say to a performer, 'So who do you want to work with?' and then be able to go and get the person they want to work with for a scene. That's going to be a hot scene because they want to work together. As opposed putting people together who you think will look good together, and then when you get them on set, having problems. I had this happen to me - there was this guy who I had for a scene. I called him and told him who he'd be working with and he seemed pretty cool about it. But when he got on set he didn't seem to be having the best of days. Before the scene, he pulled the girl he was working with aside and told her he wasn't really looking forward to doing the scene because the last time they did a scene together it didn't really work for him. She handled it really well and said, 'Hey maybe it was one of those days' and was really positive about giving it another shot. But they weren't locked into doing the scene. I'd rather not shoot a scene than have people who aren't into it.

Do you think that chemistry is essential to getting a hot scene?

AS: Yes! I mean editing can fix things, but usually the top scene of a movie is the one which has a lot of good chemistry, one where the energy is just flowing and things are just moving around. Maybe you say, I want these three positions, but instead of getting those three positions you've got six different flip-arounds, because they're going from the couch on to the floor, you know, just everything because they're so into it.

What scenes have you done where you look at and think, that is a HOT scene?

AS: Assploitations 2 - Hannah Harper, Ashley Long and Jay Ashley.

So, what made that scene happen? How did it get to be a hot scene?

Hannah Harper: I think Aurora put a lot of thought into how that scene was going to go, and how Ashley and I were going to be dressed, the fact that we were going to start off doing girl-girl together, the whole thing with the butt plug. Aurora said that Ashley and I were going to have butt plugs in already when we started the scene. We had these white tops on, and she made us get in the shower and get all wet, and we were taunting each other - 'I'm going to fuck you hard' and we ripped these clothes off each other. We pulled the butt plugs straight out of our butts and into each other's mouths, and that was just a really hot start for a scene. Then we started having girl-girl and Ashley is very good at that, she can be aggressive which is good because I'm naturally submissive, so that worked. Then Jay came into the scene, and it was just one of those scenes that flowed really well. It was very spontaneous and everyone was putting a hundred percent into it.

How is the experience different being directed by a woman director like Aurora versus being directed by a guy?

HH: It was definitely nice to be directed by Aurora because it was exciting. I think women have a different way of looking at things, especially girl-girl scenes. Sky Blue, for example, she doesn't cut the action. I did a scene with Brittney Skye in Fidelity Inc, and she let the whole action go through, like it was Brittney licked my pussy, used toys on me, did everything to me, and then we turned it around and I did everything to her. Sometimes the guys break it up too much, me lick her pussy and then I lick her pussy, without letting the scene flow. Women directors seem to be more focused on letting the performers perform.

What scenes or films have you done that you particularly like?

HH: Fidelity Inc I really liked. I did three scenes in it and every scene was good chemistry with the people I worked with. Devil's Playground was a cool movie to do, which is one I just did. I got to play the devil. It was funny, I was supposed to be the Devil and Evan Stone was supposed to be a virgin. Maybe we were kind of pulling it off until the sex started, and I was just like, 'Oh, okay... take me!'

How much attention do you pay to the new performers coming to the scene?

HH: I think we're very aware of new talent. Aurora directs and I run an agency. So we're both pretty on the ball, on who's hot and who's not.

It seems that there's been a lot of new talent on the scene lately.

HH: You're right, it seems to come in waves, with two or three girls who really stand out.

AS: Yeah, there are usually two or three really hot ones with great personalities that everyone wants to work with.

Who are the cream of the latest crop?

HH: Lisa Lee, Teagen.

AS: Yes! Teagen, and Lauren Phoenix.

HH: I also have to say Arianah, even though she's been around for a little while, she's just so good.

For a new performer, what is it that gets them the attention? Is it a good scene? People having good experiences working with them?

HH: It's the whole package. When we recruit girls we're looking for girls that have a nice attitude, are reliable, enjoy what they do and look good. So it's the whole combination.

How in touch are you with your fans, and how much of their feedback impacts the scenes you put together in your movies?

AS: I ask fans for input, but a lot of the time fans are so excited and they are very enthusiastic about what they want, but they don't know how to describe it very well - 'I just want this really hot girl-girl scene with a hot blonde or something' - stuff like that. Nobody really has a detailed view of what they want. Like the way that Hannah and Ashley started their scene with wet t-shirts and butt plugs. Nobody's that descriptive. So it's very hard when fans have general requests without a level of detail behind it.

Do you think that Directors who have a more detailed or specific view of a scene do a better job of crafting a good sex scene?

AS: Yeah, I do. It can help really start it. If you have the same sex scene where you tell the performers, 'Start kissing and then move into your first position', that's going to start a lot differently than, 'Shove this up you your ass and start screaming at each other' - it starts the momentum.

HH: I think for me if the Director is passionate about what their doing, passionate about what they want their performers to do, you feed off that. The fact that Aurora was so excited, like 'Oh, I've got these little outfits for you, and you're going to do this and then this,' that made me much more excited.

So if you're having a lot of fun, then the scene is going to be fun.
HH: Absolutely!

AS: Yes, you have to have fun.

What kind of impact has the shutdown of production earlier in the year and the HIV scare had on the industry?

AS: It was a big dose of reality.

HH: People were starting to think that they were invincible, and it was a reminder that we're not. It was a big wake-up call. It was a lot like 9/11; after that happened it was the safest time to fly. It's now the safest time to be in the industry because people are a bit more responsible about what they are doing professionally and in their personal lives.

So what things are you working on?

AS: Sweet Obscenities - it starts out with these girls who are really sweet and innocent who talk on camera about how they go on dates, guys who buy them flowers and how they have sweet sex, but that sometimes they'd like to have a really good grudge fuck, that they just want a guy to grab them and just fuck the shit out of them. And then a guy comes on camera, grabs her hair and says, 'Is that what you want bitch?' and then they go into the scene... It's Sweet Obscenities - sweet girls who fantasize about doing really obscene things and then it happens.

Is this a title you think will do well with women?

AS: It's a Mayhem title, and I think in general, most Mayhem stuff, because of the harder edge it carries, is geared more toward the male fan base. It's not a nice couples fru-fru sex scene.

Is there hardcore porn that is more women friendly? Perhaps something a woman can bring home to her guy and they can enjoy together?

AS: It really depends on the couple, what they do and how open they are.

HH: I really like scenes where one minute a guy is stroking the girls hair, and the next minute he's pulling at it. One minute he's caressing her, and then maybe he gives her a little smack on the bottom.

Affectionate playfulness verses straight on aggressive?

HH: Exactly. Scenes which are aggressive all the way through are much more male oriented.

What other films are you working on?

AS: Hannah and I are both in Payback.

HH: We both just signed with Digital Sin for another two years, so you're going to be seeing a lot of us.

You can catch Aurora Snow on the web at AuroraSnowXXX.com and Hannah Harper at HannahHarper.net.

- Christopher Thorne

All The DVDs mentioned in this column can be purchased at AdultDVDEmpire.com - X Critic's Exclusive Adult DVD Store.