Justice's 'Generator' Video Leaks Sex Tapes From the Future

What was it like working with Justice for this video?

It was a great opportunity in every aspect. I was comfortable transgressing and I was able to exchange ideas directly with them. As they like to have fun, I was comfortable going crazy, but I was also so thrilled to create a banger. I didn’t know while writing it that it would be that song. I liked many of the tracks, but this one was my favorite during the listening session.

The video depicts two robots having sex, which feels apt in a time when a technological boom is generating AI sex tapes and nude photography. Were you at all inspired by this so-called AI “boom” when creating the video?

Actually, not really. I see it more like an anticipated fiction, with its own decor, character and story. This is, of course, a continuity of our era, but I was more appealed by the idea of creating something close to us — that could be us, in the near future.

You’ve also said you wanted to replicate a 2000s-era sex tape, but with robots. I’m interested if any sex tapes, in particular, came to mind, and what about those sex tapes first inspired you?

Sex tapes at the time really evoked to me that lost file that you were not supposed to see. Something hidden that resurfaces. The leaked era (before it became a marketing strategy). There is something that can be exciting, but also ugly and scary to dive into someone else's intimacy. You discover them in other angles, parts of them you didn’t know through bad camera axes. When it’s a pop figure, it’s even more brutal and raw. Paris Hilton's sex tape was a pop culture event at the time. Her use of night vision, her black eye shadow and white eyes popping out through the screen. I think it was a "What TF am I watching?" moment.

There’s some striking visual imagery in the video, especially around the “robot” skin and appearance. What sorts of prosthetics and makeup tricks did the team utilize to achieve that look?

I really wanted my actors to feel uncomfortable to look at. They needed to carry something off, a clue that would lead to what comes next. I wanted to refer to fetish doll masks in a way that would be efficient. I also choose to erase their sex for obvious reasons with a panty I designed.

I’ve been extremely lucky to team up with Isamaya Ffrench and her team for that. Her work as an artist and creative mind were very aligned to that project. We ended up achieving our look by having silicon prosthetics on the eyes, as if something was hidden behind their face. For the makeup, they were both wearing unrealistic blue lenses and eyelashes to be close to a doll's gaze. For the ripping off scene, we applied a prosthetic on the chin and neck of our actor Aldo. It was quite a stressful moment as we only got one prosthetic of it so one shot to make it work. And Gypsy, our actress, nailed it.

As the pair have sex, and deepen that connection, so to speak, they become less human. What was the thought process behind that gradual transformation?

I found interesting the idea of strange protagonists trying to mimic something very human: the simple fact of having sex, the vanity of filming themselves, the excitement of being caught and being cringed about it. It’s only when they end up having their own way of sharing intimacy, by removing their skin and showing their circuits, that I feel a relief. As if it becomes more acceptable to look at their sex tape only when I see their android nature.

Photos courtesy of Justice