Ariel Anderssen – Location Hogtie Self Bondage (Restrained Elegance)

Ariel sets herself a challenge – can she tie herself into a hogtie for a video? She talks us through it as she goes, starting with a chest harness and sits harness crotch rope, then a rope ladder on her legs, a ballgag, and the final tricky rope to turn it into a proper hogtie! Success!

I don’t think Ariel really understood why I always hit “the wall” on-location shoots a couple of days in and have to stop for a while to recover… until she took on the producer role herself for some of her own videos with other people in. Now she understands, oh yes!

Everything is on you: all the decisions, all the little problems that need sorting out, making sure everyone has food, the lights are working, the bondage gear is all here, everyone’s safe and happy, the backups are done, you don’t wipe the cards until you’re sure you’ve got three copies, the batteries are all on charge… You have a constant constant river of responsibilities and decisions, and often thousands of pounds of your own money invested in the shoot. For mainstream TV and film, they always separate the producer role really early on even in tiny teams. When you are also the director, camera operator, scriptwriter, and bondage rigger, it can get a bit overwhelming. We’ve both found that you sometimes need a little bit of space just to collect your thoughts because you don’t even really get a proper lunch break- while the rest of the crew and eating, you’re making sure you’ve backed up all the cards then grab a sandwich just as everyone else is ready to get back to work.

This was our first location trip in over a year since the first COVID lockdown, and even though it was just the two of us and Ariel is as collegiate a professional and personal partner as you could ask for, I was out of practice! I flaked out after lunch on the third day and just had to take 40 minutes or so to recover and refocus. Ariel very kindly shot this film completely solo while I did that!