We’re very happy to present the Butt Blog premiere of In Their Room, a web documentary series by Travis Matthews which explores the similarities and differences in one niche demographic, “linking people together through their shared artifacts and interests.” The first film is a 20 minute look at Butt Magazine readers in San Francisco hanging out in their bedrooms, confessing to intimate thoughts, and getting naked. The result plays like a video version of a Butt interview. Please let us know what you think – as those of you who clicked on the post Monday know, the original server Vimeo took it down for pornographic reasons. An interview with Travis Matthews is below.
BUTT: When did you start doing these videos?
Travis: I started doing these interviews a couple of weeks before the deadline for the Butt video art submissions. I mean I always like voyeuristic things, I like to hear people’s secrets. I also like going into people’s bedrooms and figuring out who they are by all the little artifacts and things they have that says who they are. I also like hearing boys be really vulnerable and candid about sexy stuff and really introspective stuff. I think that stuff is really sexy to hear because you don’t always hear that stuff from boys.
What was the idea behind doing Butt readers?
I would consider myself like one of these guys in the video too, so I was interested in seeing a whole series of them strung together to see if consistencies would come up about what was in their room or what they did, what they found sexy, that kind of thing. I really didn’t know how it was going to turn out or what I was going to get. I went out and found a collection of these boys pretty quickly from my friends or friends of friends who knew of Butt and were Butt readers and I went in their rooms for an hour, and did a couple of them and I could tell I was getting really good footage, both of them and stuff in their rooms, and them talking about sex and intimacy. So I knew I was on to something and I was getting really excited about it.
You told me someone’s parents came home while you were shooting the video?
One of the guys I shot after I finished this video was an 18 year old boy who still lived at home, and he was the only person outside of San Francisco that I actually drove to and there was really bad traffic so I was an hour late. And we hadn’t really talked about it and I was kind of wondering if his parents knew. He just seemed pretty flippant about it so I decided I wasn’t going to press it. But then when we were shooting there was a noise from the kitchen and he jumped up like ‘Oh no my parents are home!’ and he ran to the door and locked the door and put a chair under the doorknob. But actually when he told his parents he just had said ‘There’s some guy coming over that’s interested in interviewing me.’ But they didn’t seem to concerned that I was coming out of his room with a video camera.
What’s your background in film?
I’ve been doing film and video stuff for several years now. My personal background is in personal justice documentaries, a lot of stuff for Current TV. But for the past 3 or 4 years now I’ve been wanting to move back to stuff that’s a little bit more experimental and narrative based and so this is a nice segue-way in there. It’s more fun too. I like the social justice stuff, obviously, but this has been a lot more fun for me.
A lot of these guys have a lot in common, American Apparel underwear, for starters, but is it important to you to find diverse subjects for the project?
I think the more I do this the more important it becomes to me, partially to maintain my own interest in this whole project, but also I think it’s important to find people who are diverse in age, ethnicity, body type, but also have these similar, perhaps unexpected things that tie them together as a demographic. With this BUTT piece I was really at the mercy of who I could find, because I really found these people and put the piece together in one week. But I definitely don’t want it to just be a bunch of white gay boys in their mid-twenties all the time.
A ten minute version of the video above will be shown in competition at the Good Vibrations Indie Erotic Film Festival on Sept 17th at the Castro Theater in San Francisco. Individual interviews with each subject in the film above, are available here.
Posted by Adam on Monday, August 10, 2009 |
paul added on May 2, 2010 :
really well done. but very depressing. i agree they all seem so lonely, and i can almost smell the staleness of their rooms. very well done, but bit upsetting.
ian added on January 12, 2010 :
i loved this video
is just soooooooooooo freaking amusing its like
i felt this conection with each guy its like this one guy
said your room is like your own sanctuary if only these walls
could talk
Serena Joy added on December 12, 2009 :
Yes… they boys are sexy… they are also soft, decadent… I’m glad I left San Francisco.
aaron added on September 21, 2009 :
man, that jesse is something else…
Brit in MN added on August 25, 2009 :
I can’t subscribe at the moment and I can’t add my e-mail to be on the mailing list for some reason. I thought this was so genuine and real. Forget the bedrooms, you can do this in a five star hotel. The people were real and became sexy in there own way. It wasn’t acted and it came over so honest. Well done, in other circles it would be an award winner.
willbur added on August 23, 2009 :
GOOD GOD THAT WAS LIKE HAVING A TOOTH PULLED.
SHEEEER TORTURE.
nelsonzee added on August 21, 2009 :
That was hot! More, more, more…
TeeBag added on August 19, 2009 :
Why, SF, why? Why must you be so studiously unfashionable? Don’t get me wrong, I love me a good dirtfag. But could someone please buy these boys some bed linens? It’s like a wine drunk afternoon at Dolores Park spilled over into a $1200 / mo. sublet (without the tamale lady or any irony.)
Darin added on August 19, 2009 :
very intimate…cute guys, nice camera work & interesting concept…however, Travis is the nicest, cutest guy so I bet that’s why the guys were so willing to open up.
Joshuafrancais added on August 18, 2009 :
It’s art.
Adso added on August 18, 2009 :
Another title for the video: ‘Tats, laptops, vinyls and ugly glasses’
me added on August 17, 2009 :
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Cleopatra Morningside added on August 17, 2009 :
Great stuff. Thoughtful, moody, sexy, unorthodox. Not the decor you see in gay film & TV shows–this is more gritty reality. Bravo. More please!
clyde added on August 16, 2009 :
amazingly sad making guys! Curious how lonely they all seem and what a mess they all live in.
C’mon.
ttifon added on August 16, 2009 :
this is really great!!
Marolo added on August 16, 2009 :
I am armed with a camera so might start my own series. Any homos in the north coast NSW Australia? No I didn’t think so
Adam S. added on August 16, 2009 :
That was a really cool vid. Very good! I loved it.
Great work!
:]
Marolo added on August 16, 2009 :
Hope there’s more coming, would be good to get a more varied selection of guys
illi added on August 16, 2009 :
I need to meet boys like Eli and Mike. This is nice film. Great job Travis Matthews!
brian added on August 16, 2009 :
double yawn!
who needs another selfprojection series about
horrid furniture and “gay thoughts”. Not to mention
the 50 so comments – triple yawn!
Stuff like that makes me click the “butt-button” less every time.
..butt, who cares!
greetz from Deutschländ
zachary added on August 15, 2009 :
love the guy talking in the very first shot !
theo added on August 15, 2009 :
nathan…you are so hot! and the video was so cool….
i liked the way everyone was portrayed so simple and fragile, like all of us…like everyone in the whole world..
good work…
sagitarius diogo added on August 15, 2009 :
perfect!!
sagitarius
Name added on August 14, 2009 :
Yawn.
George Michael added on August 14, 2009 :
Hmmm, such dull bedrooms for gay guys. They could do with a bedroom make-over. Pigsty-a-go-go
Ad Schuring added on August 14, 2009 :
Good to hear how narrowminded videospace providers like youtube and vimeo are, so I can leave their christian hypocricy infested ships before they sink.
If they object to normal guys acting normal, then they are in a sorry state indeed.
Why doesn’t somebody sue them for violation of equal rights legislation and discriminating agains homosexual men.
I had a video banned, recorded at the Tom of Finland art fair artist reception. Nothing erotic, but gay men chatting and, obviously, in the Durk mansion, there were some works of gay artists on the walls behind them.
It’s sad.
I’ll just resort to rockettybe or gaytube, but reluctant: Are there any other places where one can post vids that are not mainly geared to a porn demo audience
and find the same quality, upload ease, caption options, as youtube HD?
tibor added on August 14, 2009 :
cute and hotttt, can’t wait to see more.
Bob added on August 14, 2009 :
Great video! It was better than reality TV. Hope you do many more. My only suggestion would be to have some older men interviewed as well. I’m 48 & would enjoy hearing (& seeing) what men my age do in their rooms. Thanks!
Bob
Distingué Traces added on August 14, 2009 :
v. v. charming
Felix added on August 14, 2009 :
it was really lovely to watch. but it’d be nice to branch out from angsty bottoms with tattoos.
Gus added on August 13, 2009 :
This was great! Beautifully done.
Justin added on August 13, 2009 :
Lovely and amazing!!!
HerrKirsch added on August 13, 2009 :
the guy who was listening to ‘black metallic’ by catherine wheel is extremely appealing…
cesar padilla added on August 13, 2009 :
it made me want to go back to tightie whities
martin korben added on August 13, 2009 :
I really liked Gino’s teeth, Parker’s eyebrows, Kevin’s eyes, seeing Eli work those pumps and Nathan … well, all of him.
Jennifer added on August 13, 2009 :
Nicely done Travis. Your subjects looked so relaxed. I would be freaking out if someone interviewed me in my bedroom; a place that is so private. Thanks for the link.
Cristian added on August 12, 2009 :
awesome video, natural, raw, intimate, leaves you wanting more.
matthew vicini added on August 12, 2009 :
i almost turned gay when i saw ginno. what a dream boat!
Michael added on August 12, 2009 :
I loved this video,i saw it on tumblr before it was taken down
Jillian added on August 12, 2009 :
Ginno iS the hottest most well dressed guy I know! I love him!
Smkflwr added on August 11, 2009 :
What happened? The video is gone….
cokes added on August 11, 2009 :
Very nicely shot! Honest and personal, sexy and fun. I like.
Rich added on August 11, 2009 :
And he likes dudes with facial hair, too. Fuck.
Rich added on August 11, 2009 :
Nathan. Killer smile, cute bubble butt and a “High Fidelity” worthy music geek. As a published music writer, he seems too good to be true.
NT added on August 11, 2009 :
I love the way this is shot! Makes me wanna lay in bed on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Wilfred added on August 11, 2009 :
This is really terrific…
You found great guys, they all seem fairly honest and candid, and none are too try-hard. So sweet and a great visual equivalent to zines, home recording, and all the other things guys do in their bedrooms.
I look forward to more!
kEvin added on August 11, 2009 :
’twas a pleasure to participate.travis is smooth with the interviewing and adept at melding the contemplative and the erotic.i think this should be the beginning of a global glimpsing of boys in their bedrooms (sensitive voyeurism)
Mike added on August 11, 2009 :
Very awesome, indeed. Travis, you rule!
hot butter added on August 11, 2009 :
omg parker!!!! i die…that smile. I’M IN LOVE!
elektrovideo added on August 11, 2009 :
Seminal!
Really. Not in a pun way.
Nice work, Trav!
Rod added on August 11, 2009 :
So well done. Everyone is real, sensitive, intimate, sexy. Great camera work. LOVED the online interviews, too. Bravo and make more!
Sam added on August 11, 2009 :
Thoughtful, erotic, and much appreciated!
pesty added on August 11, 2009 :
Fantastic job. Gay filmmaking is generally a bit of a wasteland, but this is really exceptional.
mopeanut added on August 11, 2009 :
so intimate, so hot…so honest. beautiful work, i want more!!!
davidjude added on August 10, 2009 :
i love good art!
davidjude added on August 10, 2009 :
Super great – personal- fun-hot- well shot- good sound- totally bro-man-tic – I love it!
Johan added on August 10, 2009 :
Not only the guys are great – this director knows how to get you involved from the first sec.
Andreas added on August 10, 2009 :
The best personal ads i’ve seen in a long while
No, but seriously, fantastic and inspirational clips of an interesting situation. Gave me both intelectual stimulation as well as a boner.
Bruno Portela added on August 10, 2009 :
Thank you so much for this!
It is awesome! Sheer beauty!
kaput added on August 10, 2009 :
Nice to see that there are more gay record-collector-nerds like me.
Especially the guy listening to Squarepusher. Ultravisitor is fantastic.
Beautiful film!
Nana added on August 10, 2009 :
This video engages both my brain and my jammer! I love it!!
juju apple added on August 10, 2009 :
Lovelovelove this! The boys are so cute and beautifully represented. This kind of intimacy and sweetness is hard to capture-can’t wait to see what comes next in this series.
gabriel added on August 10, 2009 :
How gratuitous. I loved it. They guys are so hot.
Eric M. added on August 10, 2009 :
Beautiful! Sexy, intimate, real, unique, did I say sexy? Sexy. I love this, and hope we get more of these boys, or new boys!
danny in new york added on August 10, 2009 :
nicely done. very intimate and really resonates with what’s great about butt.
Apocalypse Cakes added on August 10, 2009 :
This is a hott artifact collection. More, please.
Ginno added on August 10, 2009 :
This video never get’s old. I can’t wait for what’s in store in the future for this series, Travis.
Ben added on August 10, 2009 :
YESSS I agree with everyone else, MORE MORE MORE
Merkin added on August 10, 2009 :
Nice! Makes me feel like I am… in their room (and wouldn’t that be something!)
Nathan added on August 10, 2009 :
So much fun to do, so much fun to watch!
Keep up the amazing work, Travis.
denver added on August 10, 2009 :
sweeeet. love the tone of this. i want the series to go on and on and on and on and on…..
greenpenguin added on August 10, 2009 :
more!
u should go around the globe with this
Adam Watson added on August 10, 2009 :
Nice little vid… and cute guys too!!
gigi lafever added on August 10, 2009 :
I like! Cute boys talking secrets? Can i have another?
Sam Wilson added on August 10, 2009 :
Damn them boys is hot. I love how they are presented in this video. MORE PLEASE!
Dr. Koper added on August 10, 2009 :
So much fun…so full of life…so naturally beautiful…whoever snatched them up…better be treating them right… man I miss friends like you…. Roll on October 2009!!!