How to Make Your Own Porn

Since the pandemic started, you might have experienced skin hunger — prolonged lack of physical touch that leads to irritability, sluggishness, sadness and sleep deprivation. If you’re living with a partner, children, family and/or roommates, your time alone might take a backseat to the emotional work of navigating new relationship dynamics. One way to chase away your pandemic winter blues: elevate your masturbation routine by making your own porn. Skin hunger is no match for the cortisol-banishing powers of masturbation. This is a perfect opportunity to take a break from dicey arguments with loved ones, Zoom fatigue, and mind-numbing loneliness. Aside from skin hunger, masturbating in front of the camera can cure two common arousal killers: dysmorphia and dysphoria. Body dysmorphia is an obsessive mindset over your body’s “flaws,” which is so overwhelming that you’re unable to see your body for what it actually looks like. Dysphoria is a feeling of helplessness, guilt and shame about the body. Trans, gender non-conforming and non-binary folx may specifically experience gender dysphoria, the feeling of dissonance between one’s gender identity and their physical body. Masturbating in front of a camera can improve body dysmorphia and dysphoria, which can lead to more self-confidence. You can stash your homemade video in your own digital library as a celebratory reminder to practice self-love. If you feel comfortable, you can send it to your partner(s) to show them how you like to receive pleasure. When you’re feeling dysmorphic or dysphoric, whip out that self-tape to remind yourself of how beautiful you are. Approach these eight steps to making your own porn with gratitude for your body for being exactly who they are.

Clean Your Space

Ever been in a middle of having really hot sex only to be distracted by a pile of smelly laundry in the corner? Sometimes, a cluttered space can totally kill the mood. Take a second to look at the backgrounds of the porn you like to watch. Usually, they keep the space minimal so that you can focus on the actors.

The right lighting can elevate your session. Think about the time of day you’ll be masturbating on camera.

Imagine looking up at the camera after a sweaty ride with your favorite sex toy and looking onto Ryan Gosling’s ultra sleek apartment in Crazy, Stupid Love — or at least, as close as you can get to that ideal in your own space. Ah, what a relief. Throw in a few extra touches like candles, flowers, twinkle lights, salt lamps and essential oils to set the mood.

Prepare Your Sex Toys

Preparation is key. You don’t want to get up in the middle of your video to spend time cleaning a toy. You may start out thinking that you’re not in the mood for an anal plug, but change your mind five minutes into the session. It would be such a buzzkill to have to get up, rummage through your nightstand to find the right toy, and spend some time cleaning it. You might also want to add additional props to your lineup, such as whips, lube, ben wa balls, handcuffs, nipple clamps, and bondage rope. Keep everything where you can see it.

Find Your Light

The right lighting can elevate your session completely. Look around your space and think about the time of day you’ll be masturbating on camera. If you’re shooting in the daytime, prop your recording device near a window with the camera facing toward you. If you’re shooting in the dark, play around with your lighting. Keep in mind that overhead lighting can cast shadows on body parts in weird ways. You’ll probably have to add a second lighting source to overhead lighting to get good results. You can also point a desk lamp at your body for a gentle spotlight effect. Pro-tip: This trusty $17 LED desk lamp from Ikea casts a dramatic spotlight while still preserving the effects of candlelight or twinkle lights in the background. A worthy investment.

Position Your Camera

It’s best to use a laptop or digital camera to make your video, but a phone camera should work just fine. A digital camera that can be propped on a tripod offers a stable angle that won’t shake while you’re bucking, gyrating, and writhing on your bed. You can achieve the same effects by moving your nightstand or a small table near your bed, stacking books or delivery boxes until you get the right height, and then positioning your laptop on top of that stack. Phone cameras are a bit trickier to finagle into a stable angle, but you should be able to do it with the right support to prop the phone up. A pro-tip for the expert Tik Tok splicers and video editors who want to capture that multiangle feel: If you have an office chair with wheels, stack some books or delivery boxes on top of the office chair, and then position your laptop on top of that stack. You can gently push the chair into different angles around your bed to capture different angles and splice the footage together.

Seeing your body in all its glory can lead to surprise, delight, and arousal:. Damn, I look good!

You should also consider the mode of storage that feels the safest for this video. A digital camera is less likely to get hacked. Since your phone goes with you almost everywhere you go, the likelihood of misplacing the phone altogether is higher than other devices. Consider looking into apps that encrypt your footage, if you want to make sure your content is completely secure.

Fluff Yourself

On porn film sets, there might be an extra person called a fluffer who helps keep the actors aroused in between takes. Since you’re a one-person crew for this project, you get to be your own fluffer! Working those angles can more than enough to get you riled up and turned on. Seeing your body in all its glory can lead to surprise, delight, and arousal:. Damn, I look good! If you’ve started slapping your ass, scratching your thighs and bending over to inspect your angle, you’ve probably already started fluffing. Get yourself aroused by engaging different textures and temperatures. Warm cold fingers by slowly gliding them from your knees to your hips, across your belly to your nipple, from your nipple to your mouth. Tease yourself with gentle touch. Whip out those nipple clamps and play with the intensity of the sensation. If you need music to set the mood or to muffle your moans from the neighbors, this would be the time to turn it on. And then go ahead and make some noise. Give the camera a show it’ll never forget. Your unique and incredible body has been surviving during this strange time in history — you deserve every second of this ecstatic pleasure!

Press Record

You might feel a little silly or awkward after hearing that little recording beep. Five seconds in, you might also be filled with unexpected fears of having your roommate walk in on you, misplacing the video in the digital ether somehow, or that you’re being weird for thinking that you could make a porno in the first place. Thankfully, you’ve done all the work before this very moment to help yourself stay present in this generous video project you’re making for yourself or your partner(s). You’ll quickly glance around your clean room, remembering that you’ve thought of every little detail to help you enjoy every sensation in your body at this very moment.

Switch Positions and Rotate Toys

Thank Goddexx that you laid out all these options to keep going after the first few orgasms. Reach for that one toy you haven’t been using lately. Hello, old friend. I’ve missed you. Switch positions and thrust deeper. If you’re using the office chair pro-tip, swivel the chair to the other side of the bed to get new angles.

Cool Down

Whew, that last orgasm was off the charts! You’re sweating and your heart is still racing from watching your beautiful body move on camera. Take a minute to lay down and rest. If you’re into pillow talk, talk to yourself in the camera after you’re done. You can also hold your used sex toys up to the camera, admiring all the liquids on the toy and your fingers right now. Taste yourself, if you’re into it.

Admire Your Work

Now it’s time to watch your masterpiece. If you’re editing your footage, you might pause here to admire your professional-looking film work with all the good angles. If you’re keeping it simple, you might rewind to rewatch a part that was particularly blissful, taking note of the positions, toys and props that you liked. At the end of the day, your investment in this makeshift film production is going to pay off big time in sexual confidence and self-awareness. You may even find that you’re getting aroused again while replaying the footage. In that case, you still have that office chair all set up… you know what to do next.