Mar 30, 2020

Sex Moves by Alex Bernas: New Short Film Offers Antidote to Porn (Exclusive Premiere)

Sex is fun.

This message may seem self-evident, but in Alex Bernas' view, it is about to be erased. Alarmed by the insidious impact pornography has on society, the animator set out to reclaim sex as a pleasurable activity. The result is Sex Moves, a flamboyant, goofy, and never explicit celebration of carnal desire. The two-minute film is available exclusively on Cartoon Brew and will be released directly online. Watch it below:

Bernas studied animation at Bournemouth University and the Royal College of Art in England. His graduation project from the latter, "White Lilacs," caught the attention of the cross-media production company Partizan, which signed him to a contract. Since then, he has worked as a 2D animator between London and Los Angeles, and "Sex Moves" was produced at Partizan's in-house animation studio in London.

The challenge with this film was to strike the right tone, conveying the pleasures of sex while avoiding pornographic conventions altogether. Below, Bernas tells Cartoon Brew the story behind the making of this short:

Bernas: I was sick and tired of failing to sell for a year, so I took a month off to scratch a creative itch. Sex Moves is based on a chat with some drunken friends. It was in the back of my mind for a year or two, but it took further shape in reaction to a couple of articles I read about pornography. The articles were published in The Guardian newspaper when I was getting ready to make the film. One article discussed a study that found that British teenagers were increasingly viewing pornography because schools were not teaching them "what to do" in sexual encounters. Another commented on the prevalence of rape and abuse videos on the pornography website Pornhub.

I think it is generally accepted that the sex depicted in pornography is not realistic, but I feel it goes a little further than that. And while I do not mean to criticize them for being fetishistic, what is lacking in these works is awkwardness and humor. This has led me to want to bring a bit of tomfoolery into the act as an antidote to other readily available depictions of sex.

I proposed "Sex Moves" as a short film to Partizan and they were very supportive. Working in a studio in London, I loosely made the film in a couple of days and enlisted some friends to help. The whole process took about a month, and the core of the production was completed in two weeks.

We discussed how to keep things positive. One of the key things was to make sure the characters were smiling throughout and happily talking to curious young people about the sex they liked. We thought it would be more humorous if people mimicked the movements rather than demonstrating them. From the beginning, we wanted to keep the film as far away from pornography as possible, but still make it about sex.

In general, I try to work with a limited color palette. This makes for quicker cleanup and coloring, and sometimes forces me to make odd decisions, such as characters with green skin and purple hair. I tend to favor a more "cartoonish" aesthetic and don't spend much time on backgrounds, so I find bright colors work best.

Anyway, I wanted "Sex Moves" to be happy and accessible, so I looked at a lot of pop art. Keith Haring, in particular, uses heavy line drawings and bright color choices to capture the raucous energy! A celebration of clumsy sex.

To see more of Bernas' work, visit his website and Instagram.