Congratulations on this new venture. I think it’s a great idea and nobody who knows my previous comments on Norway shoots will be surprised to know I am delighted to see the first e-book features one.

My wife, Mikki, is an avid reader and it is so much easier for us to travel with a Kindle than a suitcase lined with paper books – so “Lady of the Lake” was downloaded to her Fire HD as soon as she saw the Tweets about it. The download was smooth and quicker than she expected. Both of us were interested in the background and technical information (and would have liked more). The story was accurately described as an expansion of what is on the site, but someone expecting a full length illustrated book may feel disappointed – as might someone who expects this first book to have all the background topics you describe in the Amazon description of the project.

We both thought the picture quality comparable with the images from the site – although it may not stop me continuing to carry with me some favourite sets and videos on my larger screen android tablet.

Best of luck with the new venture.

Andrew (and Mikki)

Feedback is important and I, too, try to vote on all the RE galleries I look at. Lurker is right that the same vote may mean different things from different people but I have to go further. In my own case it can mean different things from the same person. 🙄 I try to follow a rule that I if I say there is “something lacking” (4****) I can say what it is but sometimes it is very minor, like a couple of shots where I don’t like the lighting effect or a studio set where I think it should have a dark background rather than a white one (or the opposite – and I have searched in vain for a consistent principle to why I make those decisions!).

I also agree with Max about 3***. It is rare that “I don’t have any real feelings”. Far more often, I have lots of strong feelings but some are positive and some negative. So some votes get into the 4**** because after careful consideration the positives outweigh the negatives.

I can see potential benefits in a more sophisticated voting scheme such as Lurker suggests but (at least speaking from UK experience) voters are lazy and the more you ask them to think the more likely they are not to bother. Also, any change would make it difficult to compare data under the two systems and at least the current system means Hywel has a database against which to compare current votes. Experts have told me that in similar opinion surveys individual votes are meaningless and the only value is in comparisons over time and across different types of work.

I can’t help thinking how well the latest two Updates (“Kill Belle” of 14th October and “Yoko Tzury” of 15th October) illustrate how voting works. One set is from years ago: one up to date. One has a clothed model and another a nude. One features metal and the other rope. For me, both have many levels of interest but one is stronger on fantasy fun and the other on technical skill. At time of writing both have relatively poor marks, especially given that almost the only point they have in common is that Ariel is the model! For all their differences, I thought each in its own way deserved 5*****.

I retain my admiration for Hywel and Ariel that they make any sense of the voting at all. I hope one lesson is to keep up the variety of sets because we all get enough of the things we like to enjoy the site.

Andrew

Oh, what wonderful pictures. It was worth the wait while my wife and I got home from an overnight trip to London during which we were tantalised by Twitter.

It looks like there are some superb sets and stories coming up but we especially liked the “behind the scenes” shots and the faces on the girls. We understand these location shoots are busy and hard work but it really looks like you had a lot of fun too. We hope you did.

Andrew (and Mikki)

Thanks, Hywel. It looks like another tremendous selection.

As always, I am thrilled to see another set from Norway – and it looks like one where those glorious mountains are not shrouded in cloud. One of the things I appreciate most about RE is the variety of material. I am conscious that this mixture in the Updates is only possible because you hold a stock of “unpublished” work. This investment in giving members variety is appreciated.

I am also delighted to see the set of Ariel nude on the snooker table. This has intrigued me every time I have seen the shot from it in the Preview slideshow. I will not pass on the first reaction from my wife – who was once a keen snooker player. We are both sure you were very careful with baize and balls. 🙂

Andrew

David Cameron is a politician seeking re-election so it is hardly fair to expect logic from him. It may be too soon to stress ourselves about him delivering on any “promises” that would require legislation.

On the other hand, I have heard people predict a wave of puritanism in the UK for more decades than I wish to admit to. Who knows, they’ll probably be right sometime.

Whatever trouble does come, I hope it will not be so severe that any of us need emigrate or resort to proxy servers or similar. One important reason for this is that such devices may preserve the site but are likely to scare off a large proportion of the more timid membership (probably including me).

I hope it is a more realistic scenario to imagine that the changes are relatively small, actually affecting only material way beyond anything RE would touch. However, the uncertainty and publicity/hysteria will still be a worry for many members and potential members. In that scenario, the problems will be marketing ones more than legal ones: less, “how do we defend ourselves if investigated?” than “how do we reassure members and potential members that we and they are unlikely to be investigated at all?”.

At that stage, I believe RE’s emphasis on the artistic quality of its content places it in a relatively good position. I can easily imagine ways it could build on this to make itself look even more different from other sites so that even the most zealous investigator or muck-raking journalist would realise there are easier targets elsewhere. In the worst realistic case, it may need to tone down a few stories but very little if any actual content need be moved off the site.

My personal experience of BDSM sites is not large. I have never seen anything remotely like the sort of thing in stories the press are touting. I have never seen anything on the internet that horrifies me more than I have seen on broadcast television. Yet even in my experience RE is far from the worst I have been aware of. I understand everyone’s worries but, without complacency, I hope the worst are unfounded.

Andrew

As a rope novice, I assume a rope across the throat is a complete “no no” and even more so if (as I imagine in “reverse prayer”) the position lends itself to the model pulling down on that rope. However, I think I know enough about RE’s safety-consciousness and WykD Dave’s skill to believe there must be a different answer. Please tell us the secret.

More generally, I actually loved this set – not least because it manages to be so different from the previous Lexicon “Reverse Prayer Karada” (correct me if I’m wrong but not currently up on the site). That was a different mood, starting with self-bondage and finishing off with nipple clamps. On this set, Ariel’s smile alone must lift it 2 points on the scoring scheme. 😀

Andrew

Super previews, thank you Hywel. Specially looking forward to the outdoor sets: handcuffs round a tree and, oh, wow, wow, you still have something new for us with those glorious Norwegian mountains! Er, apologies Ariel, of course we love all your work wherever you are – but, wow, it’s from a day when the mountains weren’t shrouded in mist! Superb! 😀

I’d like to suggest there is room for both ideas: the straightforward “how to” (or perhaps, in the context, “what not to”) tutorial and the role play where it looks like something may be going wrong.

Of course there are things to be careful over. We all know RE would never compromise on actual standards of health and safety but it might reassure the more nervous viewers if extra reminders were included in the set or accompanying storyline.

And perhaps you could start with scenarios that didn’t involve any physical danger, just potential embarrassment. Here are my first two suggestions.

1. The “newbie” girl tries steel self-bondage and locks herself in a cage or chains herself to a bed only to realise later she has left the key on the other side of the room. After some lovely efforts to reach it, she realises her phone is within reach. Can she telephone her friend (who knows nothing of her interest in bondage) to come and rescue her?

2. Two friends have rented a holiday house where they want to try bondage. One ties the other up. Then the doorbell goes and the free person goes to answer it. There’s some conversation like, “I’m the heating engineer. The owner asked me to check everything’s working for you. I need to check all the rooms”. The rest of the video shows the bound girl’s efforts to free herself punctuated by excuses from her friend why this room doesn’t need to be seen. And where are the safety shears?

As a variation, instead of a tradesman like the heating engineer it’s the mother of one of the girls making a surprise visit!

3. An enthusiastic experimenter decides to go for lessons only to find that she knows more than the instructor.

4. A photo session with a novice photographer/rigger and an experienced model who has to find polite but firm ways to say, “not that”: or vice versa an inexperienced, over-eager or desperate for work model whom the photographer has to stop from going beyond what is safe.

Hope some of this sparks other ideas.

Andrew

A few thoughts (OK, additional thoughts, that’s me on the Blog) on the general use of occasional series and/or special designations. Hope this helps.

I totally support the idea of trying to prevent anyone feeling surprised by the contents of a video or photoset. I suspect many people who visit or join sites like RE are nervous about what they are doing generally and can be quite paranoid about the thought of downloading something unexpected (even if, objectively, not that bad). A special designation for a type of video (as with “RE Nights”) can help.

There are, however, other ways of avoiding surprises. A problem with a general series title like “RE Nights” or “Politically Incorrect” is that the classification is very subjective. I may feel surprised by something not called “RE Nights” and relaxed by something that is. An alternative would be to mark individual sets or videos with factual keywords like “contains spanking”; “contains bastinado”; “uses non-consensual plot” etc

The classification of the latest video update, “Taped, Gagged and Groped” is an interesting example. I can understand why it is classified “Nights” but actually found it a delightful, warming video. This may be because I was prepared by the warning but I think the more important factor was that (like anyone who reads anything at all on the site) I know the participants are, in real life, a loving husband and wife.

A quite different reason for a special series classification may be as a marketing tool to attract a certain type of potential member. That’s for Hywel to know what groups he thinks the series could attract – or that he’d want.

Andrew

It sounds an interesting idea – and I understand that, because it’s run by enthusiasts, RE can come up with new ideas.

Forgive me, Ariel, if I have misunderstood you, but in simple terms it sounds like we may get something new and different in return for accepting the camera moves less. I hope Hywel thinks that at least worth more thought. Some members may also like tougher, in the sense of more uncomfortable, bondage but my wife and I would not l see it so simply. It will depend on the results in each case. Are they still elegant? Do they set the imagination free? Or are we distracted by worrying about the model (even though we know you would never do anything to harm a model)? If the rest works, what matter that the camera doesn’t move?.

Maybe videos in such a series would need additional introduction.

Andrew

Here are some current suggestions of what my wife, Mikki, and I would like to see. Apologies to anyone who recognises they’ve heard some before. At least we can claim to be consistent (sometimes).

We love fun (in the sense of silliness) in videos and photosets. We hope you can bring this to the new sites as much as to RE.

“NudeinMetal” gives us lovely thoughts of people trying something new and having fun. Hope we got that right. 🙂

“Beginners” theme

Restrained Elegance are masters of intricate ropework and attractive steel like the SM Factory collars and cuffs. No complaints there: it’s elegant and that’s what you are. But we wondered if you could weave your magic with more basic gear used by beginners like under bed velcro straps. These may have been rejected as not sufficiently inescapable but it might be inspiring – and fun – to see what the experts can do with basic kit.

And occasional more use of leather cuffs would be fun too. We have an impression you used to use them more in older sets but they are not so common in more recent, higher resolution, sets.
For example, we loved the spiked collar Jasmine Sinclair wore in “Fallen Angel”. Would like to see that or similar out again shot to modern standards. Maybe that’s one for the bondage pole.

Just throwing an idea in the air, what do people think of a storyline about a woman experimenting with bondage? This could offer a more realistic situation than the “naive girl meets super-rich man” scenario we all know, hate and are mostly plain bored with.

More from “Honest Omar”

We treat the “Honest Omar” character as a fantasy fun figure and love to see each new idea. Perhaps we could see his merchandise performing for their new owners – such as in the modern house location you are visiting. A photoset could start with a picture of the sale (or just Omar’s invoice/delivery note) and then show the slavegirl demonstrating her training positions in the new owner’s house.

Or suppose Omar also had a short term “rent a slavegirl” department. A video could intersperse shots of the girl in the customer’s house with someone back at the office reading out the customer’s “satisfaction survey”

We’d still love to see the girl packed up for (or unpacked from) delivery.

And perhaps this is the time to tell everyone we have been privileged to see a bit of the new “Slave auction” sequel film and it is terrific.

Bondage Gear – Nets

Having shown a previous interest in one tennis-themed set, we offer the suggestion of a net used as part of bondage gear. There are plenty of “girl captured” fantasies it can support. A nice black background in the studio would give the idea of the dark place the girl is dragged off to. Perhaps the netted bundle could be tied in various ways to the bondage pole.

This may work better as a photoset than a video in case what you are using isn’t really as sturdy as the storyline would like.

Remakes/Sequels/Ideas Inspired by Old Sets

RE has some wonderful old photosets and videos in the archive but some of the oldest show their age. The idea could be revisited even if there was not a conscious remake. Without getting into arguments about exactly which, one or other of use could nominate 2 or 3 from December’s offerings alone. Several of our candidates are studio shots against dark drapes so a remake in the studio with black background would be possible.

This also takes us to a number of possible outdoor shoots if any of your upcoming locations allow this. There is such a lovely range of possible remakes/sequels including “Bondage Gymkhana” and (from recent Archive sets) “Soaked” and “Hunter’s Trap”. And we’re not suggesting Ariel has to get soaked again, there must be one of your new models willing to get cold and wet. 🙂

Andrew (and Mikki)

“Remake” seems a popular enough format in Hollywood and I don’t think Restrained Elegance need be too afraid of it. I have often come across older sets and videos in the Archives with lovely concepts but which suffer a tiny bit from their age. It’s not so long ago that file sizes were seriously limited by equipment and internet connection speeds. The latter problem isn’t totally behind us but we have advanced enough that a few selected remakes to modern quality would be really enjoyable.

And the other, slightly different, popular style is the sequel. I suggest “Jail Cell Chain Gang” and “Bondage Gymkhana” would both work with that approach. What were the other prisoners doing on a different chain? What other events were in the Gymkhana? and so on.

Come to think of it, the simplest idea for the Gymkhana is “What happened when the race was re-run the next year? Would that be a remake or sequel? Fun either way.

Andrew.

I’d like to agree with Lurker that I like tickling but…. there’s a technical “snagette”: in our household I’m the only one who’s ticklish. So it’s my wife who enjoys doing the tickling. 😀

Confining ourselves to watching tickling, we watched this video together and both had a huge amount of fun from it, as we do from many of RE’s more “loony” stories. However, tickling videos have the added feature that we both know my wife often treats them as instructional manuals and is making mental notes throughout. She has now spent the last few days conducting experiments of her own to demonstrate her ability to get a strong and immediate reaction with fingers.

As to the “cramped location” point, I agree it would be even better with more space but it wasn’t a problem for us at the time. I guess it was inevitable because it was only on the staircase that you could get the ties you wanted for Janey and Ariel. If you find a location with convenient posts and anchor points in a bigger room, you could make a very similar video and have us all even more excited.

I should add, Lurker, that my wife also thanks you for your suggestion about firmer ties. This has resulted in additional scientific research of her own. Preliminary results suggest you may be right but that there is also great fun to be had from a quick ankle tie or even an instant gripping of the ankles with one arm while tickling the feet with the other hand.

Needless to say, as with most scientific research, our primary conclusion is that there is need for a great deal more research. My wife is now petitioning for an additional research grant to obtain a large tickling feather. 😀 😀

Thanks for another great video.

My wife, Mikki, and I wish both of you the very best of luck on that special day and in all your future life and projects together.

Andrew