THE SCENARIO

Sebastian meets his friend Jimmy to go on their weekly morning ride, despite a cracking hangover from the last night's drinking. He has very little memory of the previous evening, and is astonished when Jimmy informs him that he lost a bet and has to pay up. The price? Twelve strokes with the riding crop.

Sebastian thinks his friend is surely joking - but Jimmy doesn't intend to let him get away without keeping his word. A bet's a bet, no matter how drunk you were when you made it. Reluctantly, Sebastian concedes his point. He drops his breeches, bends over and takes his thrashing like a man.

THE SHOOT

This short, sharp, semi-consensual scene was really interesting to make. Jimmy and Sebastian stepped up to the challenge of depicting two upper class, non-kinky friends stepping out of their comfort zones and playing an edgy game that challenges their machismo and heterosexuality. It wasn't an easy script to take on, and both boys played their roles with conviction, imagination and wit. The scene ended up shorter, funnier and harder than I'd expected.

In the video, we decided it would be most realistic for Sebastian to keep his boxers on, even once his breeches come down. Already walking on the knife edge of acceptability, we suspected these characters would baulk at a bare bottom. But after we'd finished filming Sebastian had such beautiful stripes from the crop that we couldn't resist showing them off in the accompanying photos.