Directors shooting intimate scenes in pandemic should take inspiration from Casablanca, new guidelines suggest

Guidelines from Directors UK suggest replacing physical contact with ‘emotional intimacy’ where possible

A new set of guidelines have been published for directors shooting sex scenes during the pandemic.

TV and film sets initially shut down in March as the UK went into coronavirus lockdown, but with measures now loosening, filming has started to resume on a number of projects.

This has brought with it some questions regarding scenes of intimacy and how they can be filmed while still complying with social distancing guidelines.

In response, Directors UK, an organisation representing 7,500 screen directors, released an updated set of guidelines for “directing nudity and simulated sex” on Thursday (20 August).

The suggestions for directors include reviewing scripts to see whether physical interaction is necessary or could be replaced with “emotional intimacy”, as well as planning to shoot sex scenes at the end of the shoot in case rules change.

Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal in ‘Normal People’, which was filmed before lockdown (BBC/Element Pictures/Hulu)

“Work on the assumption that no physical contact will be allowed, so have a plan B,” they state.

For inspiration, Directors UK suggests looking to classic movies such as It Happened One Night or Casablanca which were filmed in the 1930s and 40s under the Hays Code which banned sex from being shown on screen. These films are used as examples of showing tension and desire without explicit sex.

If physical intimacy is necessary, they recommend reviewing whether the actors could quarantine for two weeks before filming, although accept that this is a big ask.

The document questions whether performers’ real-life partners could be used when contact cannot be avoided, which is a method being used on the set of US TV show The Bold and the Beautiful.

However, Directors UK acknowledges that not all partners will be comfortable with this and that blurring the boundaries between the personal and professional may inhibit the performers.

In Australia, long-running soap Neighbours was one of the first to resume filming, with actors required to stand 1.5 metres apart at all times and kissing banned.