A Visit to The Armory

[Endless_Night]

I keep meaning to post on my tour of the Armory while out in San Francisco. I have to say I’m still amazed at the size of the place (200,000 sq. feet!) and Kink.com managed to use pretty much every inch of the space.

I tend to read erotica rather than watch video so my porn knowledge is slight, and to be honest I wasn’t really sure what to expect. The guide, Nicky, was informative on both the history of the building and the process of video making. We wandered through sets for a wide range of different scenarios. The most notable, at least for me, was an Electrosluts set where the actor was suspended from the ceiling while their head was lowered into a box set in the floor. The box had metal doors that shut in around the person’s neck.

All I can say is there’s absolutely not enough money in the world. No way.

The number of rooms seemed endless and the art department is extensive. The prop areas were filled with an amazing array of kink impedimenta. There was an entire room filled with stuff to beat people! In addition, each director keeps a set of their own favored props in locked cases on rollers. Apparently female actors make considerably more money than male, except in the case of gay porn; the highest paid type of porn.

I was surprised to hear that Kink.com actually hosted ~35 specialty sites, depending on your kink of choice, including animation. There’s even a site called The Upper Floor, a running storyline where local BDSM members participate on a weekly basis.

All in all, an hour and a half well spent. The tour did an impressive job of demystifying the industry, almost too much so. It almost made porn seemed…banal.

 

[Desiremakesmeweak]

Thanks for your report. These guys have done some excellent material, I think. But there is no question that you are totally correct about the ever-present risk of... banality!

I always like to compliment people like The Armory and similar on account of their striving to not be banal.

The key is to do with participants versus spectators. Most critics and 'experts' are more often than not spectators for the most part.

You take a real life individual - almost any such a person - and remove them from the theory and put things into practice, and banality disappears. It's when all the theorizers appear on the scene and pontificate about everything all the time, and then even worse I think, try to commoditise what are mostly very private emotions and feelings and excitements...

 

[Sir_Winston54]

I'd like the opportunity to do a private S/m scene at the Armory. Sadly, that's not a likely occurrence <sigh>.

 

[Allyourbase]

Ha! I've done the tour as well, a couple of months ago. I really liked it. The only downside of kink.com is that in spite of their 35 specialty sites, they don't cast women who aren't feminine.

That huge stadium in the middle, that was awesome!

And the house cat.

 

[KlaytonFrost]

How fascinating. I'd always thought that The Armory was merely a creation of Kink.com's marketing department. I'm delighted to find that it actually exists!

 

[Endless_Night]

Ha! I've done the tour as well, a couple of months ago. I really liked it. The only downside of kink.com is that in spite of their 35 specialty sites, they don't cast women who aren't feminine.

That huge stadium in the middle, that was awesome!

And the house cat.

I almost forgot to mention the custom wrestling room, where they do the filming for Ultimate Surrender!

There were 2 house cats when I toured.

Kink.com's community work is impressive as well. Hopefully they won't end up moving to Nevada now that Assembly Bill 1576 has passed. San Francisco's loss, I'd say. Not to mention they'd never find another building as cool as the Armory.

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

So, you have to tell me what the house cats are? You can't just post ambiguous remarks like that and get away with it

 

[Endless_Night]

Uhh....

One was grey with black stripes (or maybe orange and black?). The other was black. It was hard to gain much of an impression as they were both sprawled limply over the security desk.

Oh, yeah. And they were well fed, if you get my drift.

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

Uhh....

One was grey with black stripes (or maybe orange and black?). The other was black. It was hard to gain much of an impression as they were both sprawled limply over the security desk.

Oh, yeah. And they were well fed, if you get my drift.

Hah ! Ok, so they really were cats. My mind went elsewhere... And, ok.. well fed, so the place was infested with mice got it.

 

[Endless_Night]

Hah ! Ok, so they really were cats. My mind went elsewhere... And, ok.. well fed, so the place was infested with mice got it.

Oh, my.

 

[DVS]

How fascinating. I'd always thought that The Armory was merely a creation of Kink.com's marketing department. I'm delighted to find that it actually exists!

That building at the beginning of every kink.com video is the Armory.

 

[DVS]

I almost forgot to mention the custom wrestling room, where they do the filming for Ultimate Surrender!

There were 2 house cats when I toured.

Kink.com's community work is impressive as well. Hopefully they won't end up moving to Nevada now that Assembly Bill 1576 has passed. San Francisco's loss, I'd say. Not to mention they'd never find another building as cool as the Armory.

The building was not in good shape when they took it over. They have actually helped it survive. It's a sure thing that the city wasn't doing anything to help it survive.

I think most people are OK with kink.com being in the Armory, but there are always going to be people against something. Some people never seem to be happy. What was it that Lincoln said? “You can please all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time but you can never please all of the people all of the time.” no matter what you are trying to do, there's always somebody wanting to throw a stick in your bicycle spokes.

And by the way, did they talk about the movie scene from "Star Wars" or was it "Star Trek" (I forget which it was), that was filmed in that very large room?

 

[Monica_112]

I never realised that building was real - thought it was a location shot and studio.

Thanks for that I think I have a new bucket list item

 

[Scrivener_]

The Upper Floor is by far my favorite of kink.com's offerings! Do they get people from the local kink community to come in and film? Could I volunteer were I in the area? It'll probably never happen, but that kind of thing is fun to think about!

 

[ouchfeelsgood]

I was in SF last summer and was very tempted to visit the Armory but my schedule was too hectic. But it's definitely very high on my "things to do" list in that city.

 

[Endless_Night]

< And by the way, did they talk about the movie scene from "Star Wars" or was it "Star Trek" (I forget which it was), that was filmed in that very large room? >

They did, actually. "Star Wars." Apparently George Lucas was instrumental in getting the Armory zoned for "artistic" work (not sure of the proper terminology). The zoning for that film is what broadened the options for the building and paved the way for Kink.com to purchase the place.

Hopefully someone else will take over the building if they leave. It would be a shame if it were to fall into disrepair again.

 

[Endless_Night]

The Upper Floor is by far my favorite of kink.com's offerings! Do they get people from the local kink community to come in and film? Could I volunteer were I in the area? It'll probably never happen, but that kind of thing is fun to think about!

They do use locals for The Upper Floor. And you can volunteer for their public humiliation videos - as an extra, not a lead.

From my understanding, Kink.com uses area businesses (during normally closed hours) and brings in crowds to...gawk, I guess, as the primary actor is humiliated. No quite sure what the volunteer process entails, but paperwork/instructions are probably on the site.

I'd like the opportunity to do a private S/m scene at the Armory. Sadly, that's not a likely occurrence <sigh>.

Something similar had crossed my mind as well.

 

[LWulf]

The Upper Floor is by far my favorite of kink.com's offerings! Do they get people from the local kink community to come in and film? Could I volunteer were I in the area? It'll probably never happen, but that kind of thing is fun to think about!

My understanding is that they look on themselves as being a film studio of sorts. You can be an extra for free, but if you want to use their facility to make your own film, they charge, and outrageously from what I'm told.