What's up guys!

First off, thank you all so incredibly much for the wonderful response to our most recent download "The Raft: Lilly." She loves how much you guys liked it!

It's now time for our monthly poll!

This month, the topic is about preview pictures for a scene. And what we want to know is...

'Should all of the mess used in a scene be shown throughout the preview pictures for it?'

This is naturally somewhat limited by the fact 24 preview pics are the maximum, but that's usually enough for most producers (I assume).

Vote and let us know why you chose your choice in the comments below!

I want it to be a surprise.

I think, by this point, you've earned the right to surprise your audience. Three years (and counting) for your store, you can just tease some of the action, and the fans won't be disappointed. That way, when we see the end result, it's WAY better than what was advertised.

For instance, the rock-paper-scissors skit. You never posted who lost, did you? That way, it'll be a surprise for the fans.

That's just my opinion.

For me personally, it's *Sterling Archer voice* a little column A, little column B.

I definitely want to see something to give me an idea of what I'm getting or, more importantly, to let me know there isn't anything that makes me wanna pass. But I definitely think there should be some stuff that's held back for the purchase only.

So if you've been around long enough, you've been "burned" by a scene being crappy and not having many pics.
If someone doesn't want to know what's in the scene they can simply scroll past the pics. But if a person wants to know and there are no pics then the person is just out of luck.

I've bought one too many "hot girl green slimed" videos that turned out to be "hot girl's shoulder green slimed then she rubs it on her cheeks but only a little bit and then immediately wipes it off".

That said, I'd be open to surprises in your scenes because the trust is there. If you advertised only the premise and models, then left the mess itself a surprise I'd probably still buy because you've delivered time and time again and I know I wouldn't be dropping $15 on a pied forearm or something.

I like to see enough pictures to have an accurate idea of what the scene will be...but I also like a surprise being thrown in. I voted "No," but my answer overall is more of a mix between the two options.

EDIT: On the "surprise" note, I don't have any specific WAM "turn-offs" other than toilets either being clearly visible or playing an active part in a scene, so as long as there isn't that, I'm usually OK. But if your tastes are really specific, then obviously you'll want to know exactly what's going down.

I post pics from my own site so I'm not limited to 24..... In fact I've posted upwards of 40+ for one scene before! (Although, granted, my scenes seem to be WAAAAY longer than the standard these days.)

I would say a few well-chosen pics will get the job done. But also, if you've got multiple gags and messes, you probably need to show some sort of visual evidence or risk a customer passing on your scene because it didn't have X, Y, or Z.... when it did. So it's a fine line.

These days, I've found that the amount of pics makes little difference when it comes to sales. People are buying based off the looks and personality of the model as they kinda already know what I do by now. A couple GIFs or a good trailer might sell it a little better....?

I only had one scene where I posted ZERO messy pics and made it a complete surprise. Terrible sales out of the gate. And then, over time, it's sold pretty well. So again.... No right answer.

My tastes tend to be kind of particular (as I feel is pretty common in the WAM community), so preview images do play a significant part in whether I decide to buy the video.. There have been times where I decided against a purchase due to the uncertainty, and other times where I took a chance and regretted it.

However, you did reference "all of the mess".. My enjoyment of a scene is often largely determined by the initial round of mess, so "surprise mess" at the end, after the subject was already covered, usually wouldn't influence my purchase (unless another clean girl joined the party, or the initial subject took a shower and started over fresh).

So.. yes and no to your poll?

Definitely need to see what's going on. Like a lot of others, having my own favourite tastes / sub-niche I need to know it's got what I want and more importantly hasn't got what I don't like before spending money.

Honesty and transparency should be at the forefront of your teaser or preview pics. Using misleading pics or descriptions to sell your scenes is not allowed. I understand not wanting to give too much away. That is just my take. I also dislike seeing "bonus" footage pics used to sell a scene I am not buying the scene for your cut footage. There are a few major producers I will not buy from any longer because they prioritize sales over all else.

Just out of curiosity, what scene was that?

I voted Yes, I want to know what I'm spending my money on. But you can't always tell if a scene will be good based on the pictures. In the past, I've purchased scenes based on the pictures, but ended up disliking the scene, so I think a short trailer for a scene would be better.

You know what they say...a picture is worth a thousand words...or something. Anyways, for WAM scenes, I want a good selection of pics detailing what goes down in the scene. Kind of gives me a general idea if what I like it going to go down. WAM scenes aren't a situation where I want to be surprised like a movie movie or a book or TV show.

Extremely understandable.

Interesting take. I Like how you put that.

The single most important thing in selling a scene is honesty. I voted yes, but I'd make it a bit more nuanced:

It's not necessary to show every single item of mess used in preview pics, but it is imporatnt to include:

1. What the models look like clean and dry. If the first pic has the model(s) already messed, you can't really see what they're wearing properly.

2. How fully covered everyone ends up. Include at least one end shot, so the audience can tell the messing is total (or not).

3. A good sample of the messy events that occur, both substance and action type, and definitely at least one shot of the major items used and actions taken.

And then make sure **all** substances used are listed in the description. That way the person who has an utter horror of custard, or mushroom soup, or whatever, doesn't get a nasty surprise when they buy it not knowing that substance is used. I think this is particularly important if a small amount of savoury is used in an otherwise sweet-substance scene. Our girls sometimes like to follow a pour of custard into their clothes with a tomato soup chaser, as it tends to really push the leakage and seepage, but someone who hates savoury won't be happy if they buy what they think is a custard scene and then find soup in it. So when we do this, we always mention it in the description.

Most people are extremely particular about the details (including me) and will discard a scene on a whim as much for things that are actually included as those not. I saw a scene the other day I liked the sound of where the model was wearing a suit - but on viewing the previews I saw she had no shoes on (not to mention the suit was so ill fitting she wouldn't have stepped out the front door in it!) Not interested - but thanks for being honest in the previews!

Most producers seem to be pretty honest. There are one or two, though, who are a bit coy about issuing previews (like it's 1999) but not many. All but the most rare and interesting (or very high quality still images) are commercially worthless and will only help sell a video if it's any good.


All substances? I'm sort of in agreement here but it's not always practical to list every single one.

There were two or three scenes I collaborated on a few years back where there was something like 150 different items over more than an hour of footage in each. I hadn't provided all of them and some I didn't exactly know what they were. I resolved that skimping on this task was worth losing a few sales.

In these cases I think it's safe to say 'multi-mess' and list the prominent and unusual (or extreme) items. I think anyone looking at the previews would get the gist. Multi-mess fans are much lower in number than they used to be BTW

It's worth mentioning that a good preview pic selection can persuade those who don't normally like a particular thing or combination to make an exception. I was complimented by a pie fan once by being told they would normally never touch paint related clips but liked the way I'd gone about it in mine.

https://slapstickstuff.com/SS42.htm

Scene 3 from SS42. Three clean preview pics & nothing else, terrible sales for the first year or so, steady seller ever since??
Even weirder is that the 2-girl bikini scene sold tremendously. It still might be my all-time best seller?? So a ton of people bought that clip, but (initially) passed on the very next scene Kara shot due to lack of pics.

I have to admit, I wasn't expecting such a runaway leader in the votes!