FEATURE: Jack Gray – Dumb Sh*t (Dir. Bryce Gheisar & Jem Matthews)
You’re Not Old is the statement seen on a birthday card in the opening seconds of Jack Gray’s music video for Dumb Sh*t, a phrase that seems to taunt the two old men who consider it from the lounge of their retirement home. At their age, birthdays have long since stopped being exciting milestones and instead become grim reminders of time passing. Contemplating this and each other, the two pensioners wordlessly decide they’d rather be anywhere then here, and when their nurse comes in with forced enthusiasm and a tiny cake, the pair have disappeared. On the table is a hastily scrawled note in youthful lingo – ‘BRB’. Stepping out into the morning sun, both men are transformed into their younger selves, and with their handsome faces and granddad clothes it’s time for the real fun to begin. Bryce Gheisar, one half of the directorial team, remarks:
“This video definitely was a group effort in the concept phase. Jack always felt a connection to the idea of an older generation being featured in a younger generation’s song. How beautiful it is to feel that energy. After Jem had the idea of them being young again, we riffed until we landed on the idea of what’d they’d be doing if they escaped the torment of the boring home and what they’d want to re-experience alongside each other. How friendship in the context of the song is even more beautiful.”
Jack Gray himself plays one of the men, with co-director Jem Matthews portraying his buddy/partner-in-crime. The duo charge through liquor stores, skate parks and baseball courts, stealing skate boards and palming fistfuls of cash to drug dealers. It’s a bender with purpose, a grand statement of youth and the stupid things that felt so important then and there. Each scene is meticulously composed, each interaction giving us insight into the distinct but cohesive personalities of the main characters. You’d be forgiven for believing that this was a carefully planned and storyboarded piece, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
“Honestly, this concept was put together quite last minute. We had another video planned just a day before we started and then this lovely idea of friendship came to Jem’s head and we both riffed off of each other until we landed on scenes— one being the old folks home. As you can imagine, that means we were on Air BnB just a day before trying to find a location that fit the aesthetic that we wanted. It turned out to be perfect and all we did for dressing was we moved a couple couches around. Other than that, it didn’t need much work. The costumes were something we may have put some of the most time into, the look of the two ‘young’ men was the visual centre point of the whole story, it was important to us to find two very contrasting looks, that’s why the hat came into play. We had the lovely Sophie Linden helping us with costumes. The two of us along with Jack and Sophie spent a day in old vintage clothes shops in West Hollywood. We all got pretty excited when we found that blazer Jack wears.”
In a clip that’s mostly improvised, having a rock solid vision is essential to keep everyone on track. Luckily, this wasn’t the first rodeo for Jem and Bryce who have collaborated on more than one feature film script. With Jem doubling as a lead actor, it eliminated a step of communication that can slow down the execution of a vision. And more broadly, how better to capture a sense of mates mucking around then to go out with a camera and muck about with your mates?
“We’ve always felt that we have the same ideas almost seconds away from each other and that our styles fit well together. While Jem and I were out in LA, for business and just to have a good time, we realized that our collaboration on this video would only help its creation. He fills in for what I lack and, although I don’t feel like he has anything lacking, I assume I fill in for what he does as well. It was a blast going from writing to production in days compared to the months that it’ll take to get our films made.”
For a clip that plays with nostalgia there was only one aesthetic direction to go – grainy and dreamy like Hollywood flicks of old, with an unapologetic saturated teal and orange colour palette. The retirement home decor screams 70s and there’s an aged quality to the locations that we travel through. The baseball field is a hallmark of classic movies popular in that period, even the street signage outside the gas station has been carefully chosen to evoke a time long passed. The grainy shots feel like 16mm film but were actually completely digital, courtesy of DP and colourist Miles Murphy’s Panasonic S1H and a set of vintage Canon FD prime lenses. Miles shared some insight into his process in relation to this clip:
“I tend to pull inspiration from other movies and shows that shoot on similar glass. Canon FD’s share very similar characteristics to their cinema version, the K35’s. So some inspo I pulled came from movies like Her and shows like Normal People. This shoot was very run-and-gun, so keeping the setup light was quick to move from gimbal to handheld to tripod was the most important as we had a lot of different scenes and not a lot of time. I’m a huge fan of small crews and using my own setup, so their trust in me and allowing me to just do my thing was greatly appreciated.”
As the music video draws to a close, our protagonists find themselves on a blue tinged beach with the sun already over the horizon, a stark difference to the high key warm scenes that we started with. All things must come to an end, and as dry land ends at the beach and the bright day ends with sunset, the two boys end their adventure, taking slow steps back to their retirement home and aged bodies. Bryce reflects:
The beach scene was really important to us, that was one of the first images we both agreed was important to lead with, there’s something really emotional and heartbreaking about two men just wanting to have a day at the beach, a place associated with childhood. We only shot Jack and Jem for one day, so we had to pick which location would look best for the end of their day. It only seemed right that the sun dropping over the horizon and the beauty of a Los Angeles sky should be where we set it. That the idea of them not ever really becoming young for the day so they were truly just running around the beach with their actual, modern bodies, was a beautiful idea to us. That they only saw themselves as young because they felt young.
Music video making is a time, money and energy consuming process, performed mostly by the young and under-resourced. An audacious effort that leaves magic memories of camaraderie in the minds of those who produce. In short, it’s exactly the kind of activity that Jack Gray describes in the song – “I wanna do dumb shit with you / while we can still blame it on youth”. When Jem, Bryce and Jack are in their old age and think back to the days gone by, it’s no doubt they’ll picture the days spent lugging a camera and costumes around LA. It’s a delight to experience their future nostalgia in present tense.
Here is the official video for “Dumb Sh*t“
Music Video Credits
Directors: Bryce Gheisar & Jem Matthews. Cinematographer: Miles Murphy. Producers: Amanda Mickwee & Jillian Shea Spaeder. Starring: Jack Gray, Jem Matthews, Jim Donnelly & Paul Buxton. Extras: Jillian Shea Spaeder, Bryce Gheisar, Calvin Conley, Jarvis Conley & Amanda Mickwee. Editor: Jem Matthews. Stylist: Sophie Linden.
