Welcome back my lovely Loons, and thank you for tuning back in. I kept you waiting and in turn you get an extra detailed article this week. So, settle in for a long one... grab a snack, a comfy blanket (if you’re in a snowy area like I am), and a drink (or three if you have ADHD like me).

What a wild ride the past month and change has been. I’m going to keep my intro short and sweet, but I just wanted to say that I appreciate those of you who are still interested in learning about intimacy coordination and queer intimacy. Some of the Heated Rivalry fever seems to be cooling off a bit (which is probably a healthy thing). Hopefully as the months go by, we continue to see a healthier relationship with the show and the actors. And a reminder, as always, to treat the actors with care and respect, while giving them space to live their lives. There’s so much content with podcasts, industry related breakdowns, fan edits, interviews, and appearances… have fun with the good stuff. Disengage with the creepy stuff.

On a related note, it’s really important that we listen to queer men when we are discussing, breaking down, or giving input regarding queer cinema that contains MM queer intimacy. A lot of the articles gaining traction and attention are written by straight women (some queer women), and while it’s great that there’s an area where folks are listening to women, we should be centring and uplifting queer men in these conversations. Afterall, the queer intimacy within Heated Rivalry was written, directed, and co-created by a queer man.

On to Nashville…

As much as I’d like to mention every little connecting bit between the sex scenes, I’d be writing up until Season 2 is released. There is so much that both Ilya and Shane reveal about themselves and how they feel about each other and there is a wealth of intimacy even in scenes where it may not be apparent. Sometimes I’ll pop back or forward to mention things. But I’ll try to stick to the key scenes that link into the steamy ones and/or scenes that contain intimacy (traditional or nontraditional). With that being said, Nashville really starts with the press conference before the All-Star game.

Press Conference All-Star Game 

This was one of the first scenes that really spoke to me. And while there’s a lot I missed during my first watch, the way their shoes touch under the desk pulled me back to my last relationship when we used to sit with our thighs side by side and our boots or sneakers touching under his desk when no one else was around, as well as how we looked for support in each other in public spaces in vulnerable moments via unintelligible ways because; a) it wasn’t safe to be open about the relationship in these contexts, and b) because he was exploring his sexuality and didn’t want to come out. Plenty of people and characters do this, but I think when you’ve been in a secret queer workplace relationship, it just hits different. While this can be a sign of affection or wanting closeness in places where it’s risky or dangerous, there’s also communication in these movements. There is a particular tenderness in this scene as Ilya and Shane sit next to each other in front of a room full of cameras and press, that is more pronounced than in previous scenes. It’s subtle yet powerful.

Queer Communication and Storytelling

There is a lot of non-verbal communication in this scene that expresses so much about the way the characters feel about themselves and each other. It’s a vulnerable and tender scene. Ilya first taps Shane’s shoe after a reporter asks a fairly wordy question. Ilya’s English still isn’t fully fluent, and we’ve seen multiple scenes where Ilya is dealing with multiple family issues. The stress seems to be getting to him as he appears overwhelmed and perhaps can’t quite take in what the reporter is saying. Ilya is usually very confident and cocky in his interviews. This is the first time we’re really seeing any vulnerability. He’s tapping Shane for help (which if you’re from an Eastern European and/or Slavic background, you’ll know doesn’t come naturally when asking outsiders). The second question from a reporter shows Ilya really struggling to take in and answer the question. Shane steps in, tapping his shoe against Ilya’s to ask permission to speak for him. Ilya nods subtly and Shane gives the kind of answer he’s been trained his whole life to give. This allows Ilya a minute to breathe and then come in with one of his cocky quips. We see their shoes and legs move in closer to be against each other at the end of this scene. The intimacy here is so subtle yet so palpable. We see care and support for the first time in a non-sexual context. Ilya’s vulnerability and Shane’s ability to take care of Ilya when Ilya is able to ask for help (which isn’t always the case).

Queer Communication, Queer Intimacy, and Context

As discussed in my previous articles, queer intimacy is a lot about communication, and this communication may be subtle or unintelligible to those who aren’t queer. Subtle or concealed touch is a large part of queer communication and queer intimacy, particularly when in public spaces. We’ve discussed why the communication between Ilya and Shane resembles and pays homage to the queer communication (including queer coding) and queer intimacy of decades gone by when it wasn’t safe to be perceived as queer in public. It isn’t safe for Shane and Ilya to be openly queer in the world of pro hockey, and Ilya still living in Russia, has an added weight of danger and violence. So, their communication and intimate interactions need to be coded or unintelligible (basically concealed).  

All Stars Game… 1221

Ilya, being the praise king he is, rarely misses an opportunity to compliment Shane. Ilya, being the curious type, also never misses an opportunity to ask what Shane’s been up to. Taking note of these conversations, it’s clear that Ilya is trying to work out if Shane has been with anyone else or is interested in anyone else. I think a part of Ilya just likes to know what Shane does when he’s not around, but this doesn’t really develop too much for a few episodes. I think if you’ve played this game before, you’ll recognise it. Despite Ilya’s resting Russian bitch face (I say this with love as someone with a resting Hungarian/Slovak bitch face), and somewhat stoic nature, I find this scene to be super cute because we really are seeing just how into Shane Ilya has been from the start and how much it increases with each interaction. The climax of this scene is, of course, when Ilya gets on the ice and in a low tone leans in toward Shane to murmur, “1221”. We also meet Scott Hunter played by François Arnaud for the first time and the choreography of Scott’s face coming into frame with those knowing eyes looking at Shane is priceless. It’s funny, because Scott and Ilya have seemingly clocked each other to a certain degree a few times, and inexperienced tenderqueer Shane is completely oblivious.

1221 – Storytelling Context

Shane flies into Ilya’s hotel room in a huff but quickly drops his attitude to jump Ilya and make out with him. I really like the choreography in this scene, maybe because it feels fresh after watching 1410 over 50+ times. Or because there’s variation and more dialogue. Because Scott Hunter is being discussed (and in the room next door). Because of the way that Ilya redirects when Shane is uncomfortable. Because we don’t see the entirety of the sex they have, which feels sort of nice as there’s an element of privacy to it. Because Lily and Jane are finally created and Shane finally gets Ilya’s deets. But most of all because there is talking during sex. It’s rare we see this in mainstream sex scenes particularly heteronormative sex scenes.

Camera Setups

There are a number of camera setups for this scene, but we see a lot more medium close ups and cowboy shots in this scene from varying angles and only the odd wide shot, which adds to the growing intimacy between Ilya and Shane. Another thing that I love about the cinematography in this scene is that it is mostly comprised of handheld shots and there is quite a bit of camera movement which adds a dynamic nature to the scene but also allows for intimacy pouches to be concealed as the actors are moving around more hastily than in previous scenes. I’m definitely not a cinematographer but I have done a lot of handheld 16mm work with a Bolex, which has been critiqued as “graceful” and “exquisite” (among other things—humble brag, the Australian in me is cringing). So, when it comes to handheld shots, I do sort of know what I’m talking about. It’s possible there is the use of steady cams in this scene, which is a different technique but can still offer a handheld effect.

Intimacy Garments

We’ve discussed these before, but Williams and Storrie are wearing Covvier padded pouches with tails. These padded pouches are securely attached with k-tape. These would likely have an added barrier in the barrier pocket. Barriers are often just cut up yoga mats as they’re flexible but make great barriers. Some IC’s use silicone barriers like the chicken cutlets you’d put in a bra. I’ve used these as barriers before. They are bulkier and heavier than yoga mat material and would be too bulky for the movement and padded pouches worn in Heated Rivalry. I’ve used them in a scene where there wasn’t much room to create space between the actors, and where the femme actor was straddling the masc actor, with the cinematographer/camera operator sitting behind the femme actor (also on top of the masc actor) with a 16mm camera. They provide great barrier protection against genital to genital contact I scenes where there isn’t much movement, but there is very close proximity. Anyway, we know these Covvier pouches were used throughout the shoot and that they are taped on up the top front of the pouch and where the tail goes between the buttocks with k-tape. And although we have oil removers for the adhesives and the actors usually shave, if you just rip one of these off like a certain hockey player with beautiful faux freckles told us he did, it is going to hurt.

Choreography

The choreography is so natural in this scene. I’m curious as to how far into the shoot they were when this was filmed because it is probably one of my favourite scenes other than the Montreal scene, the tuna melt scene, and the cottage stretch mark scene. I almost forget this scene is choreographed while I’m watching it which is a testament to Hunter, Williams, Storrie, and Tierney. It is a beautifully crafted scene.

I won’t go through all the steps because that might get a bit dull, although if you’d like me to go through the scenes step by step I can (lemme know in my Threads comments). For now, I’ll stick to the key moments or key actions that stick out to me.

I just want to add for anyone new that when I’m talking about story elements, I use more casual language than when I’m discussing the technical parts of IC choreography when I use professional and anatomical language.

Queer Intimacy and Choreography via a Queer Lens

I’m going to discuss some key actions/steps/movements in terms of the story, the characters, and queer intimacy before I get into the technical aspects. I’ll use more casual language here. While the technical aspects are fascinating, it’s important to me as a queer Intimacy Coordinator and Gender Studies Educator to talk about the intimacy through a queer lens.

Shane Lunges at Ilya

I love this because it’s unexpected and well executed. Shane is pissed off then he suddenly lunges at Ilya to make out with him with such hunger and intensity. Shane doesn’t often make the first move, but this shows how much he wants Ilya, the intensity in the performance is really a credit to Williams’ ability to inhabit a character in an emotionally full and authentic way. Both the actors’ backgrounds in sports that involve dance-like movement highlight their abilities to remember the steps of the choreography and move beautifully. ICs talk a lot about how much easier it is for actors to explore the emotional components of a scene if they don’t have to worry about the choreography, which is true. But it is also very difficult to remember the steps of the dance (IC choreography), and your lines, and your emotional placement in the overall story and the scene specifically. It takes a lot of focus and Williams and Storrie both deserve their flowers for being able to do all those things while making us as viewers feel so emotionally connected because we are able to fall into the characters; it is amazing work on their behalf as performers and a credit to Hunter and Tierney. I’ve seen countless actors in intimate scenes, some I’ve choreographed, some I’ve just watched, and Williams and Storrie are up there with some of the best.

Shane’s Titty Grab

I’ve seen a lot of women who are surprised that there’s a lot of titty grabs in Heated Rivalry. Particularly referencing Ilya’s bisexuality as the reason. I’m here to tell you that gay and queer men love boobs! Each other’s boobs, women’s boobs (some more than others in this aspect). Titty grabs are super common in gay sex. The part I really love here is that it shows that Shane is picking up what Ilya is teaching him, which is really natural in relationships. Ilya specifically mentions “showing [Shane] how it’s done” during their first encounter in 1210, but it’s common for queer lovers (no Amber Rose, that’s gross) to pick up and mirror each other at times when having sex. As well as being aesthetically pleasing this simple movement shows this element of queer sex, and I love that for us!

Ilya Picks up Shane and Takes him to Bed

If it wasn’t for Shane jumping up a little before Ilya picks him up, this choreography wouldn’t stick out to me in this action/step. It’s not that it looks weird or doesn’t fit the context of the scene, there are just some parts that read to me as choreography. I’m not taken out of the scene; I absolutely love this set of steps. Seeing men pick up other men and carry them to a bed or a counter is gorgeous and usually reserved for heteronormative sex scenes. It’s worth noting that lifts are difficult and a lot of safety measures are involved (shoutout to stunt coordinators). Shane jumping up as Ilya’s arms move down makes the lift safer and is likely the easiest movement the actors found during rehearsals. Even when there is a step or action that jumps out at me, because Ilya and Shane are still exploring and feeling each other out, these little idiosyncrasies work so well with their characters. But also, sex isn’t immaculately choreographed in real life and these little beats that make these sex scenes look a little messy are so endearing and some of the parts that utterly thrill me.  

Ilya Tells Shane to Turn onto His Stomach

This is one of those key moments in the show (in general) because it is a clear moment of picking up nonverbal cues and how consent functions when reading your partner. Ilya tells Shane, “on your stomach” and Shane complies but we can already see his hesitation. Ilya follows up with, “have you ever?” Shane shakes his head. Ilya asks, “do you want to?” and Shane hesitates. Ilya is reading Shane’s body language as well as what he’s not saying in these moments. Ilya continues, “you’re scared”, and of course Shane takes this as a dig or more literally than Ilya means it. Ilya is communicating but Shane doesn’t quite understand Ilya’s communication style yet.

This is another moment when Shane being Autistic comes into light in a way that many neurodivergent and Autistic folks (myself included) really appreciate. Shane’s Autism is never directly discussed or focused on but informs so much of his character, interactions, and how he interprets the world. It’s such wonderful representation to see a leading man whose character is Autistic, gay, and having hot consensual sex without it being a stereotyped version of Autism or where the whole character is “Autism”. It’s part of who he is not his entire personality or existence which is amazing representation for level one Autistics. I’ve seen a lot of folks relate to Shane because of the way his Autism is expressed through his character in a realistic way. This performance by Williams breaks a lot of stereotyped and outdated views on the Autistic experience, which I greatly appreciate.

Back to the scene... the way Ilya redirects by moving next to Shane after kissing him tenderly on the shoulder is truly beautiful consent in action. Ilya doesn’t want to pressure Shane, we see this during their first encounter when Ilya moves to leave giving Shane the opportunity to voice that he wants to continue, we see it a little more overtly here. Ilya continues to ask questions gauging Shane’s experience and comfort levels. When I initially watched this scene I though Ilya was stroking himself during their conversation, but when looking closer, I think he’s touching Shane. Either way, this leads to the infamous, “I have a thing,” “what thing...” “a dildo” saga. The humour that’s incorporated into this scene tickles me endlessly, because there is humour in real life sex. There’s miscommunication, and hesitation, and messiness, and conversations, and humour. I have watched this scene maybe 100 times stopping and starting and rewinding, and I have never once not laughed at Ilya’s, “what colour?” “is big?” lines paired with his facial expressions. This really is a bridge from Shane’s growing discomfort/embarrassment to another redirect and expression of Ilya’s feelings towards Shane. Ilya uses comfort and reassurance in lines like, “no is ok” to his use of humour when reassurance doesn’t land with Shane. The ebbs and flows of these emotional shifts are part of what makes 1221 so absorbing to watch. I won’t dig deeper into their continuing conversation once Shane turns onto his back, but again, it’s pure magic in screenwriting, direction, performance, and intimacy coordination.

Let’s Get Technical

The cinematography (Jackson Parrell) and editing (Véronique Barbe and Arthur Tarnowski) do a lot of the work here as the camera movement and cuts provide a lot of cover for the actors’ intimacy pouches. A lot of the ‘how to they do it?’ in this scene really comes down to this shoot and cut combination as well as the positioning of legs and arms to provide coverage and distance. In terms of the IC choreography, I’ll list a few technical aspects. I don’t want to repeat myself too much from previous articles and future articles will contain more technical IC aspects.

A note that this is when I move into professional and anatomical language and use the character’s names to provide distance from the actors, this is part of desexualisation which is a big part of intimacy coordination. When discussing their performance or giving credit I will use actors’ names.

“Get on your knees”: this again is Shane picking an anchor point, likely aligned with one of Ilya’s thighs, and then miming (moving his head back and forth). Anchor points provide a point of reference for both actors while allowing distance from contact and avoiding sensitivity.

I get a lot of questions relating to sound in these scenes which I will address in a stand-alone article along with a stand-alone kissing article. I do have experience in both production sound and post-production sound, which means I can also field these questions. For now, I’ll just say that the moans are happening in the scene being shot and being picked up on a boom mic (sometimes lavs are hidden in set dressing so that is a possibility, but I would opt for a boom in this scene). Moans can also be added via ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement) which is part of the postproduction process along with picture editing, dialogue editing, foley, hard effects, and sound SFX to name a few. There can be a combination of production sound and ADR for moaning used in sex scenes, or sometimes it’s one or the other depending on the type of project, the budget, and/or the quality of the production sound (or if a scene is filmed MOS—more on all this later). The kissing sounds are also generally production sound but are heavily mixed during dialogue editing (which things like breathing, kissing, mouth sounds are a part of). I’ve done dialogue editing for kissing scenes, and they sound awful with the raw sound before they’re mixed. The mixing for the kissing in Heated Rivalry is some of the best I’ve heard. To make the raw kissing sound sound this sexy is no easy feat. Hats off to Valéry Dufort-Boucher, Josh Fagen, and Robert Fletcher specifically for this, but also the whole production and postproduction sound crew.

Ilya Goes Down of Shane: Shane’s knee provides a lot of coverage here, to allow distance, avoiding contact. Ilya picks an anchor point here (which shifts depending on the camera set up). Shane’s knee changes positions quite a lot depending on the camera setup in order to provide coverage, but unless you’re looking specifically for this it’s not noticeable. There is good continuity in the positioning of Shane’s knee and the editing.

Ilya Strokes Shane: As mentioned, I thought that Ilya was touching himself until I started writing this article, when I noticed his wrist is facing the camera which means he’s miming stroking Shane’s buttocks or butthole (I hate the term anus, so make an exception here). Again, this is miming, or it could be Ilya stroking the back of Shane’s thigh. His hand looks low enough that it’s not Shane’s buttocks. There’s also enough coverage here to conceal this touch. In a future article I’ll discuss the way we describe levels of touch, but this article is already longer than I anticipated.

Ilya Lies on Top of Shane: You’ll notice that Ilya’s hips are on an angle and he’s not lying directly on top of Shane. While this looks aesthetically pleasing, it also provides distance and avoids genital to genital contact even if the actors are both wearing padded pouches with added barriers. Ilya’s lower stomach looks like it’s resting on Shane’s thigh here.

It’s worth noting that contact is not always avoided but we do try to avoid it where we can. When Shane is on his stomach, Ilya is lying directly on top of him. There is a specific intimacy garment for scenes like this that provides padding. Intimask make the Vega Strapless Brief that has silicone padding for the buttock area during sex scenes that include these types of positions. We use k-tape to attach these types of strapless intimacy garments. I don’t think that Shane is wearing one of these because both Williams and Storrie have discussed wearing the Covvier padded pouches throughout the shoot, and the movement of the scene would mean changing intimacy garments which can take time and be painful, as well as the risk of leaving remnants of the k-tape. But I thought it was worth mentioning that these garments are an option to provide more of a barrier that the padding of the padded pouch provides against bare buttocks.

De-rolling

Woo, that was a long article. I feel like I need to de-roll myself a little after that. I’ve mentioned de-rolling in previous articles but in short, it’s a ritual for the actors to step out of character after sex scenes, hyper exposed scenes, and/or really intense emotional scenes.

I hope you enjoyed the article. You can find me over on Threads where I’m the most active in posting related content and try to keep up with responding to comments: @edgar_alan_pickle or just find me here for the longer discussions/articles. Please know that I do read all your comments, it can just be hard to keep up with replies, but I appreciate each and every one of you who takes the time to comment, share, and interact with my content, as well as reading my articles. I’m trying to get my email list to notify folks when articles are posted, but I always post the links to Threads.

Next up will be shorter articles for Svetlana and Ilya in Boston, then Shane and Ilya in Las Vegas. I wanted to skip to Montréal, but I think these are both important scenes, and Montréal will likely be a longer article.

See y’all at the Cottage!