The weather forecast for the days we are filming on next week.

Interview with Charlie Kerr the vocalist and lyric producer of JPNSGRLS.

In a previous post I discussed how we arranged a Skype call with one of the members of the band who produced the song that we are using for our music video. Unfortunately he overslept on the day that we were meant to be having the discussion with him so we were unable to carry this out. However, we resolved the problem by emailing him the questions that we were going to ask and this is his reply to them:

What is the song (southern comforting) about?

- I wrote "Southern Comforting" about one of my own life experiences. It's about rushing into a relationship with my good friend's ex-girlfriend a week after they broke up. Needless to say, it was not my finest hour or proudest moment. The song mostly explores the infatuation, guilt and inadequacy I was feeling throughout the relationship. Honestly, I don't like to get too specific when telling people the meanings of my songs because the meanings that the fans create themselves are so wonderful. I don't want to spoil their meanings by saying "no, it's not about that, it's about this..."

Did you have any musical inspirations when writing The album or this particular song?

- Well I've always loved The Strokes and Modest Mouse. But on Southern comforting I was trying to capture a more Frank Ocean-y soulful singer songwriter kind of vibe. I was listening to a TON of Frank when recording Circulation.

If you could have made this music video yourself, what would you have liked in it?

- Love and beautiful visuals.

After hearing our idea, what is your opinion on it?

- I don't think you have told me your idea yet! But I am looking forward to hearing it! hahahah

Do you have any ideas to give us?

- Just make a cool, original video. I trust you. Your passion for the material is the most important thing to me and you have made it clear that you have that in spades.

In regards to the protagonists being a homosexual couple, what is your opinion on this?

- That's the best news I have heard all day! LBGTQ stories being told is something that is very, very important to our society. My favorite song that I have ever written is "Brandon" which is a love song based on the life and death of Brandon Teena who was a Trans man from Nebraska. My take on things is: by now, the traditional 'boy meets girl' narrative is pretty much exhausted and boring. So yeah, I am very excited that you are looking to show that love takes many forms and that you want to use our song as a vessel for that.

Filming schedule.

We spent the day finding dates where we were all free too film so that we could get most of our music video filmed by Friday the 6th of November which is the week after half-term due to the fact that Lauren is away for the whole week during half term. These are the days that we came up with:
Monday the 12th.
Tuesday the 13th.
Wednesday the 14th.
Monday the 19th.
Tuesday the 20th.
Monday the 2nd, Tuesday the 3rd and Friday the 6th of November will be the days we leave for reshooting any footage.
We decided on these days due to a process of elimination as I work every Thursday and Sunday and Lauren works every Wednesday and Saturday so none of these days would be free for us to use for filming.


The shooting schedule for the days where we are free is as follows:

• Monday the 12th- House scene and Temple Meads underpass.
• Tuesday the 13th- Gloucester Road and car park.
• Wednesday the 14th- Docks. (Need to make sure that Ollie, Alex and Peter are free that day as they are part of the scene.)
• Monday the 19th- Hengrove.
• Tuesday the 20th- Dundry.

The rest of the week in October will be dedicated to editing this footage and deciding whether anything will need to be reshot.
We already have our front album cover which is a photo of me in the Temple Meads underpass, however the photos we took for the rest of the merchandise and advertisement were of me and the other Lauren which is no longer part of the music video so these will need to be reshot with the new actor.

Final plan for our music video.

1. Annie is lying on bed, Lauren shows up on her doorstep.
2. Lauren sends a text to alert Annie that she is there.
3. Annie looks out of her window at Lauren and they leave the house together.
4. Annie and Lauren run down the street towards the city.
5. Scene cuts to Gloucester Road, Annie and Lauren walking through the setting.
6. Shots of graffiti.
7. Scene cuts to Temple Meads underpass.
8. Annie and Lauren run through the underpass together.
9. Shot of Annie/Lauren doing graffiti on the wall.
10. Scene cuts to docks.
11. Annie and Lauren sitting on edge of wall at the docks drinking.
12. Annie decides to get up and walk over to a group of guys to get some drugs.
13. Lauren gets angry and tries to pull her away, she refuses.
14. Lauren walks off, Annie eventually follows her and they make up there.
15. Scene cuts to car park.
16. Shot of Annie and Lauren looking over the city.
17. Annie and Lauren kiss under green light in car park.
18. Scene cuts to Hengrove underpass.
19. Lauren/Annie push each other in trollies and run through the underpass.
20. Scene cuts to field at Dundry.
21. Lauren and Annie sat holding hands in middle of the field.
22. Video ends.

Analysis of Southern Comforting lyrics.

SOUTHERN COMFORTING

She pulls her socks up to her knees almost smiles and says to me

"I don't regret it if you don't regret it"

We'll find the perfect patch of sun, she'll breathe the fire out of her lungs 1.

And "I don't regret it if you don't regret it"

And I know we had our second chance 2.

And I heard we blew our third and fourth 3.

She's got another boy itching

To keep her little voice that hoarse (that hoarse)

She says "maker's mark is mother's milk isn't it?"

And these feelings is only coincidence....

She pulls her socks up to her knees almost smiles 4. and says to me

"I don't regret it if you don't regret it"

She'll find the perfect patch of sun she'll breathe the fire out of her lungs

And "I don't regret it if you don't regret it"

The liquor habit fills the liquor cabinet 5.

But we still blame our folks 6.

And those hipster bastards with their goddamn catch-phrases 7.

When I don't get the joke then they say

"Southern comfort is comforting isn't it? 8.

When your feelings aren't feeling magnificent"

She pulls her socks up to her knees almost smiles and says to me

"I don't regret it if you don't regret it"

We'll find the perfect patch of sun she'll breathe the fire out of her lungs

And "I don't regret it if you don't regret it"

I don't regret it if you don't regret it

She pulls her socks up to her knees almost smiles and says to me

"I don't regret it if you don't regret it" 9.

We'll find the perfect patch of sun she'll breathe the fire out of her lungs

And "I don't regret it if you don't regret it"

No, I don't regret it if you don't regret it, no

And I don't regret it cuz you don't regret it 10.

I'll start forgetting the moment it sets in you're done

We'll find the perfect patch of sun she'll breathe the fire out of her lungs.

1. The first highlighted line shows the female that the song is about being linked to a dragon. Dragon imagery is shown here due to the fact that this is a mystical animal which breaths fire. Dragons are usually fierce and can cause death due to their power. This can explain why the lyrics are mainly about heartbreak because this woman has caused destruction for the male.
2. The second point adds background knowledge to the relationship between the female and male. It has obviously not worked before and they have tried to make it better but already know that in the future it will be the same and they will keep breaking apart.
3. The third point also gives an insight into their future which looks bleak as the song already explains that they are not going to make it through these next moments of their relationship together.
4. The fact that she 'pulls her socks up' relates to a child as young girls are mostly the ones who are linked to knee high socks. This shows the immaturity behind their relationship and the blame is almost being put on her because of her childlike attitude it is not working out between them. She is described to 'almost smile' which adds tension to the song because the male and female are obviously not getting on and she is acting stubborn towards him.
5. This point allows the audience to realise why the female and/or male may be acting in this way, it is due to alcohol. This line gives insight into their problems as they may both be alcoholics which could be the reason as to why their relationship has broken down.
6. The fact that the lyric put the blame on someone means that they are not ready to face their problems. Both or one of them may have had a bad childhood and a rough upbringing which could be why they fail to connect with one another. This also links to their childlike attitudes as they are not taking responsibility for their own actions.
7. The line 'hipster bastards' relates to modern society and would be engaging to their target audience. Many people can make links to this line which allows their understanding and enjoyment of the song to progress. 
8. The song title is said in the lyrics as a rhetorical question to their audience. This also relates to the alcoholic drink which links back to the previous lyric about their alcohol addiction. They or maybe just the guy have now realised that alcohol isn't the thing that is comforting, its the company with one another.
9. "I don't regret it if you don't regret it" is repeated throughout the whole song. This adds a positive connotation behind the lyrics as it shows their relationship on a good note because they are sticking together and working with one another.
10. The fact that regret is again mentioned but in a positive light shows that their relationship was not regretted by them both, it also links to if one person is happy then they want the other person to be as well. There is no point in regretting anything because at the time it was exactly what you wanted.

Filming on Wednesday the 30th of October.

Yesterday we decided to film one of the scenes where additional actors were needed. We asked three of our friends to come with us to film the scene where there is an argument between the two girls which we filmed on the docks at the Harbour side.
The scene begins with the two girls sat together on the edge of the docks drinking together when one of them decides to walk off over to where the guys are standing to ask them for drugs. Due to the girls being under the influence of alcohol, Lauren who was left alone get annoyed with myself and storms over to pull her away from the 3 guys. I decide that I do not want to leave and Lauren ends up walking off. When I have got what I went over to the guys for I decide to follow Lauren and then we both make up again and the scene continues on to a different area.
There were a few health and safety issues whilst we were filming this part of the music video. The swans were a major issue as every time we went to sit on the edge of the docks they came over too us. This prolonged our filming time as we had to keep moving away from them. Also because we were filming near water it was very easy for one of us too fall in, luckily no-one did but there was still the risk that this could easily happen.
We then had to organise quite a big group of people as there was 7 of us who had to all be in the same place at the same time. In the end we all followed what we were meant to be doing and ended up with some really good shots which we have gone on to use for our visual storyboard.
We have planned to film again in two weeks on Friday where we will continue to move on with the music video footage with the new female actor Lauren.

Change of actors.

We decided to change one of our female actors in the friendship group to a different person as we felt they would work better with the camera and the situations that we needed them to act in. Lauren was previously meant to be filming along with Sam but now she is my partner in the music video. We both work really well together and feel comfortable round each other so the shots that we have been practicing filming have come out really well.