THE NICHOLE SHOOT!

After 10+ years doing this, you'd think I'd have worked with EVERY type by now… But nope! Nichole was a 100% unique case. For starters, she wasn't a "fly in," but because she was driving (!!) from Florida, it basically amounted to the same kind of mega-shoot. (And the same pricetag… For those who like to support my more costly shoots!!)
Looks-wise, she definitely shares some DNA with what I affectionately call my "va-voom" models… You know, the ones with crazy curves and not that many clothes. (Often, but not always, blonde.) SS50/51 Marissa was the original… SS80/81 Britney was the extreme… And most recently, Angie is what happens when you take a va-voom girl and set her goofy level to 11.
Nichole certainly shares ONE specific trait with Angie (raise your hand if you thought I'd shoot TWO white-girls-with-big-butts in the same 6-month period)… But I knew right away this was gonna be a very different shoot. Specifically, I knew it when we watched some older videos so she could get an idea of the reactions and such… And after the first pie hit, her mouth was hanging open in shock.
Rich: "Nichole… You gonna be okay?"
Nichole: [speechless]
Boyfriend: [laughing hysterically]
And that, in a nutshell, was Scene One. Nichole is actually a VERY good actress, so I'm still not 100% sure how much of this was "character," but if you want the perfect scene where the prima donna "hot girl" takes pie after pie in a constant state of surprise… This is it. Look, we've all seen videos where the model is obviously "coached" on how to react to the mess? (Overly-directed mouth opening about two seconds after each hit, craning her neck up to the heavens with every slime, etc.) I try to shy away from doing too much of that, but it shows up in my videos too…. And even when the model checks all the boxes, there's something a bit "phony" about it.
Nichole is Scene One is the OPPOSITE of that.
Or more precisely, Nichole in Scene One looks like a MAXIM cover girl who wandered into a SlapstickStuff shoot by accident and spends the rest of the skit trying (and failing) to escape. Her sputtering, and gasping, and squealing, and flailing… All uncoached. And all very amusing… In hindsight.
Because here's the issue with the "high maintenance girl is turned into a complete mess" scenario in real life: I don't WANT the model to be having a bad time… or wind up hating the shoot. (And, by extension, her career decisions that brought her to my bedroom studio.) I wasn't sure how much of her acting was genuine "acting," to the point I brought these concerns to the boyfriend. He reassured me in a way that only boyfriends in LONG relationships do: "Oh, that's just Nichole. She's dramatic about everything. Believe me, if she were really upset, you'd know it."
And now comes the truly unique part: Slowly but surely, our prima donna hottie got better and better as the shoot went on. Scene Two: More mess than before, and just as much shock, but when she managed to (almost) fall off a stool she was sitting on as her boyfriend laughed and took pictures… I think she started to embrace the ridiculousness of it.
Scene Three: Holy crap, Nichole is actually a great actress! Especially when she's not getting pied! Against all odds, our prima donna model suddenly loses all self-consciousness after putting on the super-skimpy nurse outfit. (Do you want a lot of Nichole booty? You will get a LOT of Nichole booty.) This might be one of the best all-around "Cream Pie Maniac" skits I've ever done (and you know there's been a TON of those)… And very close in over-the-top acting to the original template with Zarah back in SS97. NOW we are having fun! Also, did I mention Nic is covered head-to-toe with slime and pies by the ending?
Scene Four: Long day almost done, pressure off, and Rich basically tossing out most of the script in favor of simply using up the remaining slime and pies. Nichole, suddenly funny and feisty and now laughing (!!) at her situation. By the end, she's trying to "fight" me while completely blinded with mess and slipping everywhere. Who knew?
So have faith, fellow producers faced with a model completely overwhelmed by all the pies about to come her way! You might wind up converting her by shoot's end. Well, maybe not "converted"… It's not like Nichole is gonna be doing this for free anytime soon. But she was already making plans to shoot again before she left. (Raise your hand if you saw THAT ending coming!)

--May 13, 2015