Green Porno
Encyclopedia
Green Porno is a series of short films on animal sexual behaviour. The series, which began in 2008 and currently airs on The Sundance Channel, is conceived, written, and directed by its star, Isabella Rossellini
.
In the eight films that comprise the first season, Rossellini enacts the mating rituals
of various insects and other animals (including the dragonfly
, spider
, bee
, praying mantis, worm
, snail
and housefly
) with cardboard cut-outs and foam-rubber sculptures. Season two is devoted to marine life. Season three deals with ocean life threatened by commercial fishing.
The Sundance Channel set aside an experimental budget and proposed that Rossellini's project should fall into the purview of the Sundance's program “The Green.” Rossellini's love of animals and desire to balance out the current projects focusing on home and food with the animals that “surround us every day” yet have an “incredible variety of mating, which is very scandalous.”
Jody Shapiro and Rick Gilbert are responsible for translating the research and concepts that Rossellini has into the paper and paste costumes which directly contribute to the series' unique visual style. After the costumes are designed, approximately one animal is filmed per day, for a total production time of about ten months per season.
Over the course of Green Porno's three seasons, the focus of the show has shifted. Season one dealt exclusively with insects that people can realistically encounter on a daily basis. The second season focused on sea creatures but also included an episode on the sexual organs. For the third and smallest season, Green Porno adopted an overt environmental theme, specifically one which focused on the concept of over fishing contrasted with the mating habits of animals commonly used as food. In season three, Rossellini is joined by biologist Claudio Campagna.
On April 30, 2010, Isabella Rossellini announced her latest sequence, Seduce Me.
2009 Webby – Online Film and Video – Experimental – Green Porno
The series was referenced by Stephen Colbert
on The Colbert Report on the 12th of May 2008. It was also referenced by Graham Norton
on The Graham Norton Show
(which airs on BBC America
) on May 31, 2009. Clips from the "Green Porno" segments on ducks and on bedbugs appeared as "Kick-Ass Clip of the Week" on the May 7, 2010, episode of The Soup
as well as in an installment in their occasional series The Soup Presents. The segment on bedbugs was recently referenced by Jon Stewart
on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on the 24th of August 2010.
Sundance Channel streamed the clips online and also ordered another eight marine-animal clips for debut in the spring of 2009.
Isabella Rossellini
Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini is an Italian actress, filmmaker, author, philanthropist, and model. Rossellini is noted for her 14-year tenure as a Lancôme model, and for her roles in films such as Blue Velvet and Death Becomes Her.-Background and early life:Rossellini is a...
.
In the eight films that comprise the first season, Rossellini enacts the mating rituals
Mating
In biology, mating is the pairing of opposite-sex or hermaphroditic organisms for copulation. In social animals, it also includes the raising of their offspring. Copulation is the union of the sex organs of two sexually reproducing animals for insemination and subsequent internal fertilization...
of various insects and other animals (including the dragonfly
Dragonfly
A dragonfly is a winged insect belonging to the order Odonata, the suborder Epiprocta or, in the strict sense, the infraorder Anisoptera . It is characterized by large multifaceted eyes, two pairs of strong transparent wings, and an elongated body...
, spider
Spider
Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
, bee
Bee
Bees are flying insects closely related to wasps and ants, and are known for their role in pollination and for producing honey and beeswax. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea, presently classified by the unranked taxon name Anthophila...
, praying mantis, worm
Worm
The term worm refers to an obsolete taxon used by Carolus Linnaeus and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for all non-arthropod invertebrate animals, and stems from the Old English word wyrm. Currently it is used to describe many different distantly-related animals that typically have a long cylindrical...
, snail
Snail
Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...
and housefly
Housefly
The housefly , Musca domestica, is a fly of the suborder Cyclorrhapha...
) with cardboard cut-outs and foam-rubber sculptures. Season two is devoted to marine life. Season three deals with ocean life threatened by commercial fishing.
Origins
According to Rossellini, the idea for Green Porno stemmed from her relationships with both Robert Redford and his Sundance Channel. Rossellini had previously worked with Sundance on a previous short film “My Dad Is 100 Years Old.” Redford believed that the internet and the burgeoning mobile internet, allowed for the “re-launch of the short film format.”The Sundance Channel set aside an experimental budget and proposed that Rossellini's project should fall into the purview of the Sundance's program “The Green.” Rossellini's love of animals and desire to balance out the current projects focusing on home and food with the animals that “surround us every day” yet have an “incredible variety of mating, which is very scandalous.”
Concept and Growth
Rossellini says that she does a great deal of research before each episode and then spends a while determining how to translate that research into “something visual and how to make it comical.” The goal, according to Rossellini is to be both entertaining and educational.Jody Shapiro and Rick Gilbert are responsible for translating the research and concepts that Rossellini has into the paper and paste costumes which directly contribute to the series' unique visual style. After the costumes are designed, approximately one animal is filmed per day, for a total production time of about ten months per season.
Over the course of Green Porno's three seasons, the focus of the show has shifted. Season one dealt exclusively with insects that people can realistically encounter on a daily basis. The second season focused on sea creatures but also included an episode on the sexual organs. For the third and smallest season, Green Porno adopted an overt environmental theme, specifically one which focused on the concept of over fishing contrasted with the mating habits of animals commonly used as food. In season three, Rossellini is joined by biologist Claudio Campagna.
Multimedia Expansion
With the third season, Sundance Channel embarked on a Green Porno multimedia push. All four episodes of the season premiered at the Toronto Film Festival on Friday, September 11, 2009. On September 14, 2009 the series premiered on the Sundance Channel's website, and September 21, 2009 saw the broadcast television premier. Green Porno: A Book and Short Films (HarperStudio – 2009) was released in September 2009, eight days after the internet premier of web series' third season. The book served as a supplement to the series and included full color photos and a DVD with all three seasons worth of Green Porno short films.On April 30, 2010, Isabella Rossellini announced her latest sequence, Seduce Me.
Supporting cast
The Male Bees are played by Roberto Rossellini, Dallas Giorgi, and Louis Giacobetti. The part of the Baby Bee Larva is played by Ona Grandey.Awards and Media references
2009 Webby – Online Film and Video – Best Individual Performance – Isabella Rossellini2009 Webby – Online Film and Video – Experimental – Green Porno
The series was referenced by Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Tyrone Colbert is an American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor. He is the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.Colbert originally studied to be an...
on The Colbert Report on the 12th of May 2008. It was also referenced by Graham Norton
Graham Norton
Graham William Walker, known by his stage name Graham Norton , is an Irish actor, comedian, television presenter and columnist...
on The Graham Norton Show
The Graham Norton Show
The Graham Norton Show is a British comedy chat show that is broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom. It was originally shown on BBC Two from February 2007 to May 2009 until it moved to BBC One from October 2009...
(which airs on BBC America
BBC America
BBC America is an American television network, owned and operated by BBC Worldwide, and available on both cable and satellite.-History:The channel launched on March 29, 1998, broadcasting comedy, drama and lifestyle programs from BBC Television and other British television broadcasters like ITV and...
) on May 31, 2009. Clips from the "Green Porno" segments on ducks and on bedbugs appeared as "Kick-Ass Clip of the Week" on the May 7, 2010, episode of The Soup
The Soup
The Soup is an E! Entertainment Television weekly series; it is a revamped version of Talk Soup that focuses on recaps of various pop culture and television show moments of the week...
as well as in an installment in their occasional series The Soup Presents. The segment on bedbugs was recently referenced by Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian...
on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on the 24th of August 2010.
Sundance Channel streamed the clips online and also ordered another eight marine-animal clips for debut in the spring of 2009.
External links
- Green Porno, official website at the Sundance Channel