5 Questions with Jacob Gregor
The absurd free-for-all music video hybrid, “Chicken Wraps and Condoms,” concerns an all-important trip to Kroger to obtain, you guessed it, chicken wraps and condoms. We asked director Jacob Gregor where this wild vision came from, and what he thinks about YouTube comments…
1) How did the project get rolling?
Alcohol. I was drinking at Ray and Bryant’s place, the other two guys in the film, and we were about to head out to the bars or something. Ray said that he needed to pick up some condoms and also some food because he was hungry. They live right across the street from a Kroger so he said let’s go over and pick up some chicken wraps and condoms. Or something like that. I don’t know I was drunk. Then we started singing chicken wraps and condoms as a fake rap hook for some reason? I kept saying we should actually make a fake song out of this, and then we did. The song was done in one night and made mostly by Ray, Bryant and their third roommate, whose voice is the one dubbing me in the video.
2) I love how free form it is. Did you have a good idea how it would turn out, or were you just winging it?
I was completely winging it. We shot the music video portion in like an hour and that was really supposed to be it. Then I had an idea for an opening and we took a minute to do that. Then weeks after I edited the video I had an idea for the YouTube comments portion and the fake apology video and all that stuff. Honestly, this is pretty much what happens with everything I do. Even if I force myself to write a script for something I can’t keep my mind from constantly wanting to try new ideas on the spot. But yeah, I think that’s why it works. Keeps it constantly feeling fresh and keeps it moving. I work free form so it feels free form. That’s not to say I have any idea what I’m doing. I have no idea.
3) What about your collaboration process? Can you talk about working with your stars? Were you all on the same page the whole time or was there ever any time someone didn’t know what was going on?
We’ve worked together a lot, but the collaboration was all over the place. We all came up with the song idea together, but I pretty much had nothing to do with the lyrics or actual music outside of the portion where the song is slowed down. We worked together to film the music video section on the spot, but everything else was made independently by me and shown to them after I was done. Kind of just a bunch of different ideas smashed together by me in the editing process.
4) Any interest from Kroger to use this as a commercial for them? (or: Have you ever worked on commercials or do you think you ever will?)
I would love for Kroger to use it. Maybe I should tweet it at them since brands on Twitter are all about being edgy and relating to the kids with hot memes and slang. I’ve never worked on any kind of professional set, outside of working one day on the American Idol auditions when they were here in Columbus. I didn’t go to film school or anything. Yeah, sure, I’d work on a commercial. They pay money. I don’t have money.
5) What else ya working on now?
I’m making a feature film that is kind of a spiritual successor to this. Bryant and Ray are working on it too. It expands on the YouTube angle while also bringing in Twitter and Instagram, mostly bad Instagram comedy videos. It’s also about depression. Also, it’s really funny. And weird and surreal. I’m gonna launch a Kickstarter later March/early April.
Bonus question: Can you talk about the YouTube comments, and what those meant for you?
Yeah, I think there’s probably a lot I could say with that. It’s not a secret that YouTube comments are terrible. It took me like 5 minutes to find all the ones in the film. It’s weird though. When it screens some people in the audience will like audibly gasp when the more racist comments start coming in, but there’s no way people can actually be surprised by them. They’re all over YouTube. It’s not shocking. People even have their real names on these comments now. Remember when nobody used their real name on the internet and people said that’s why people felt they could freely be shitty? Anyways, the comments portion of the film has this kind of ramp up. First, it’s just annoying things like people making the same comments everyone else makes, nostalgia porn comments, people complaining about modern music and how it used to be better. That kind of stuff. Then it gets weirder, then just racist/awful. They all kind of just blend together though as things that annoy me. But that’s another thing. I’m terrified of negative comments against me and my videos, but I’m a straight white guy. Not a lot of comments hating on that. So, it’s easier for me to just see those types of comments and glide on by. I don’t know, there’s just a lot of bad shit on the internet that’s constantly being shown to you. It’s so all encompassing. I’m probably rambling. I say that like this is an actual conversation and not something I’m currently typing and could easily spend 5 minutes looking over and editing, but I will just keep this because it will make me seem quirky and interesting like a Wes Anderson character. Anyways, there’s a lot to be said about this kind of stuff.
Contact Info:
jacobgregor10@gmail.com