Everything You Wanted to Know About Green Porno
(but were afraid to ask)
The birds and the bees – without birds. A compilation of eight short films dramatizing the sex life and mating habits of eight home and garden creatures: bee, fly, mantis, dragonfly, firefly, spider, snail, and worm. In each segment, a costumed actor plays the part of an animal, offering both narration and dramatization of its body, its organs, and their functions in reproduction. Animals mate, some die in the process, and species continue. The script and actions emphasize wit and humor while facts remain straightforward.
Green Porno is a series of short films on animal sexual behavior. 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.
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. 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.
