I think one of the main reasons that the brothel/almost sex scene with Rhaenyra and Daemon is not only so visually stunning but is also so damn hot is because of the framing.
Rhaenyra is the focus. Of every shot of the two of them. In all the shots where she is circling around Daemon, taking in the scenes of pleasure around her, barely half of them have his face in it. And when they do, its mostly the bottom half of his face, and she is still the center focus of the shot. Her face has the light, while his is more in shadow. Even when they move to the wall, though the angle changes to show from the side, she is still centered. We see her face reacting, while his is buried in her hair. Her emotions, her pleasure really, is shown, not his. We only really finally get to see Daemon’s face, his reactions, his feelings, in full once she starts being the clear pursuer, and he starts pulling back.
And its not just the scenes of their faces. Every shot that focuses on their hands, their actions, is still highlighting Rhaenyra, not him. We focus on her hand, gripping his neck. We see his hand, his thumb pressed on her bottom lip, but her face is in the light, her reaction is the focus. We see his hand hold the side of her face, but the focus isn’t on his hand, its on their mouths, their kiss. We see him untie the laces on her shirt, but only briefly- his hand is shown grabbing the tie and pulling, but the angle is still on her- her face, her excitement. We see him gather and start to pull down her bottoms, but the shot is brief and doesn’t really focus on that movement until her hands join in, and she starts pushing down her own pants, showing how eager she is.
Its just so beautifully done because the focus is entirely on her. It shows that she is an equal participant. That everything that is happening- the kisses, the gripping, the feeling, the pleasure, the want- it is not something that is happening to her, but instead something that she is actively engaging in. And I just never really thought about how much of what we see in film and television when it comes to sex (or sexual context) is almost always shown as being something done to a woman, rather than something she is doing.
So anyways, this scene is incredible for SO many reasons and god bless the showrunners for having a female director for this episode because it definitely paid off.
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