Anyone who has seen our promotional video “FilmedInsert Takes LA” knows that director Dugan O’Neal is an amazing and hilarious actor (and also knows that the name of this website used to be FilmedInsert). Dugan has been featured in several music videos, including “Good Man” by Raphael Saadiq and “St. Croix” by Family of the Year, but has never both acted in and directed the same music video—until now!

The music video for Matt & Kim’s “Let’s Go” follows the story of a mall photographer, played by Dugan, as he goes through his day snapping portraits that would be perfect for AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com. In today’s Video Chats, Dugan talks about where the idea came from and how he was able to balance both directing and acting in the same music video. 

Doug: Your new CW web series Stupid Hype takes place in the year 1990, and that era seems to influence the Matt & Kim video a little bit, although it kind of resolves at the end with them in their regular clothes.

Dugan: Yeah, I wanted to get all the awkward motifs in there, like the sweaters, which feel a lot more 80s and 90s. The best time for awkward family photos is when they were still shooting on film, and they were still doing the really cheesy effects. They’re still making some pretty epic awkward family photos now, but they’ll do it more with Photoshop and digital cameras. There are a couple outfits that could be seen right now, but I just love that era. I think the 90s are actually one of the funniest, weirdest, probably most awkward times for art and fashion. I think that naturally happened that way. So much of the videos is in the wardrobe, and most of the funniest wardrobe is a little more retro.

Doug: The video premiered on Funny or Die, was that meant to emphasize that it was like a comedy video, or was there something else behind that decision?

Dugan: I think the label was trying to find the right premiere for it, and there was talks of doing Vevo, but I think it ended up being funnier than everyone thought it was going to be, so I think they just kind of went with that. Funny or Die has a pretty big outreach if you get something as an exclusive, so they were really excited about that. It wasn’t something I would have thought about from the beginning, it was once the video was getting towards being finished that they decided the Funny or Die route was going to be the way to go. I had no say in it.

Doug: You reference awkward family photos, and people may be aware of the website by the same name. When you pitched the idea to Matt & Kim, did it involve you sending them specific reference photos from that site that you guys were going to try to emulate?

Dugan: In the treatment I included a bunch of the funniest awkward family photos. There was only one or two that were exact and that we found some of our inspiration from a particular photo. I wanted to just be in that world and not really stick to trying to copy a photo, because I feel like you can make it even more awkward by just having them do awkward things. Obviously the website is so funny, and now it’s a pretty big pop culture thing that people know, with all those different memes that use people from awkward family photos. But even before that website was invented, you’d find pictures like that on the internet. I think when I came up with the idea it was pre- that website. I’ve had the idea for a long time to do that. I’ve even pitched it several times.

Two fun loving cast members.

Doug: I think it works the best for those two, though, Matt & Kim. I feel like they really fit the idea.

Dugan: Oh, it was perfect. It was perfect for them because (a) they’re a couple, (b) they were like super into doing all these different outfits and got really into the characters of it. They take what they do really seriously, but I don’t think they take themselves seriously, and I really appreciate that. I try to make art the same way. They’re just so much fun. They’re like some of the most awesome people ever.

Doug: Their “Lessons Learned” video includes them getting naked in the middle of New York City. Was the nudity, and the especially awkwardness that comes along with the nudity, something that they were immediately on-board with and were ready for? Was part of your original idea?

Dugan: It wasn’t in the original idea, it was a spontaneous thing I wanted to do, and I asked them if they were cool with doing it, and they were totally cool with it. They were into it, actually.

Doug: Did you go into in casting people that you knew would fit those ideas? Were those real families?

Dugan: Some of them are real families. Some are just people that we put together as a family or a couple. We had a casting director in New York City. We shot in New York. You probably would have seen a lot more cameos from friends of ours if we shot in LA. I wanted to get Hiro in there, and Daniels, and even my rep Danielle. I think it would have been really fun to have a bunch of people that we know in there. But it didn’t work out for the band to come out here with their schedule, they’re about to go on tour, so we had to do it in New York City. We hired a casting director because I only knew one family. Everybody else was from the casting director. I gave her the breakdown, told her what I was looking for, and told her to go to the website. I really wanted to get a really diverse group of people with all kind of different ranges of every kind of person. Ages, ethnicity, everything. Half of them were families and were down to come out with the whole fam, the other half were just people that we cast. She would just send me pictures and I would make selections based on the photos.

Doug: Like the scenes with the nudity, those were all real families?

Dugan: That was actually a family, the one with the kid because, you know, sucking on the nip. Getting a little nip at the end of the video. They were actually super cool with doing that scene topless, and that’s the one part of the video that’s a direct reference to the site. There’s a picture of this family, pretty modern awkward family photo, and it’s a whole family with their shirts off, like two little kids and the dad and the mom, and it’s the most uncomfortable visual, and they’re all wearing jeans. They’re all wearing denim pants, shirtless. So that was the one that I said “okay, do you guys mind taking your shirts off? I want to do something like this.” Showing them the photo and showing that it was done in a really fun way, everyone was really cool with it. Then the kid was being really fussy, and being like a little kid, he was having a hard time sitting still, and felt shy. And then he just reached over and started sucking on his mom’s tit. It’s like talk about an awkward moment. The camera was about to roll, and then that was happening, and I was just like “okay, um … action.” Then we just ended up going with it. They were cool, everybody was really nice and totally down, and got into the spirit. A lot of people know the website and know that it’s just good fun, it’s not like we’re making fun of anybody. We’re just trying to play up how awkward family photos could be.

"No regrets" - This kid

Doug: That kid should get a writing credit.

Dugan: That kid was amazing. And then he totally chilled out after that. He totally chilled out, and then one of my favorite parts of the video is that Matt had his hand on the mom’s belly, and I told him “put your hand on her belly,” and the kid was so confused by that. He was looking back at Matt singing while holding the bell and the whole time he was like “who are you? Who are you? Why are you touching my mom’s stomach, K?”

Doug: That’s way better than how I could have imagined that situation going down when I first saw it.

Dugan: Yeah, everyone was down. Kim was like “yeah, I love taking off my shirt! Let’s do it!” They’ve done it before; they’ve been naked in New York City, so they’re down to push it. They were just really fun to collaborate with.

Doug: In addition to directing this video, you’re also a pretty significant cast member. Did those two roles come at the same time? And was the photographer character part of the original idea?

Dugan: I first pitched the idea, and then for some reason I got the same brief in for the same song, and I didn’t resubmit because I has just finished Stupid Hype, so they were trying to figure out a video for that song for a long time. And then Matt called me while I was on the Doomsday camping trip and said, “I don’t know how it slipped through the cracks, but we’re just now seeing your treatment and I think it’s amazing and we’ve got to do it. And he also said, “I was on your website and I saw the short films that you do, and I really think that you should play the photographer.” So at that point I was totally down with it. I would never pitch that I’d be the photographer, or to play a part in someone’s music video, or to be an actor, but having the photographer was definitely part of the treatment. You know, it’s a big story thread because everything is through his perspective, and that’s the other funny thing that I thought was funny about those awkward family photos, I wanted to know what the photographer is saying to these people. Like how are you directing these people to get them to do that? And what is that person like? I thought of the photographer as this guy who is in the Midwest, somewhere in a strip mall, in a really small photo studio, and in his mind he’s big time. He’s got his assistant, he’s always got all these people just hanging around, kind of like his entourage, people that work for him. Like a Sears photographer who thinks he’s like a big-time fashion dude. Thinks what he’s doing is revolutionary. So at first I wanted like a Will Arnett type character, someone who is kind of a cameo celebrity comedian. So that’s in the treatment, and Matt brought it up. He’s like, “I know you say a cameo, but I really think that you should be the photographer.”

Who needs context?

Doug: Is there any added pressure to both acting in and directing a video at the same time?

Dugan: There was definitely stuff that I didn’t get because I was also acting, everything was kind of pushed til the end of the day, so we only had like a half an hour to get all the stuff with me, and there was definitely stuff that I would have seen that while watching the scene. I would have seen and been able to say “oh great, I want to get a close-up of this and a close-up of that,” and because I was kind of in character and not really paying as much attention to the directing, I wasn’t able to. But, I think we got everything that we needed. There’s a couple other little detail stuff that I would have wanted to get, which I’m now realizing if I’m going to direct and act I need to be more even more over-prepared, and make sure that someone is holding all my notes and making sure I get everything I need. I’ve go method, you know what I mean?

Doug: So, you shot your all of the stuff with you as the photographer at the end? Because a lot of this stuff is POV is from the photographer’s perspective. I just envision you like balancing between yourself and the character, like dressed as the photographer in the video but still trying to direct actors and having some weird parallel, like totally a method thing.

Dugan: I definitely was kind of in character to a degree. I was still very much like myself, but I was in the same wardrobe all day. Then the way I set it all up, say if the camera is in the middle, I was on the right side of the camera looking at the people in the video, and I put the monitor facing me on the left side so I could watch and also be over there to direct people, and also I could watch the frame and make sure that I’m liking everything. I was much closer to the people than I usually am, so I could really watch them and try to really find the most awkward possible things in each moment, which really helped a lot. Because sometimes looking at a monitor and directing from a monitor, it’s almost harder to work with actors, and the visual aspect of all my stuff is super important, so it was interesting on this one to find the balance in that. When they were shooting my stuff, I put the monitor a little up from the camera so I could always kind of see the frame and what we were getting and what we were working with. It was definitely was an experience. I’ve acted in stuff of my own, but I’ve never acted in something for someone else. It was cool, though. Another thing to mention, my family owned a photography business, and that’s what I grew up doing, helping my dad with photo sessions and stuff, and he used to take awkward family photos, but not so bad. He’s definitely an amazing photographer he did album covers and pictures in the 70s, and had a pretty amazing photography career. But there were definitely some family portraits that he’s done, especially with our family in the 80s and 90s, that are so awkward. We did the “everyone wearing the black turtleneck and black denim photo shoot," so it just looked like a bunch of floating heads. So there’s an element of my dad in there, like a really exaggerating version of my dad.

A real life awkward family photo of the O'Neals. 

Doug: That’s really great. I had no idea, obviously, how could I possibly have known. So that idea you’ve definitely had for awhile. I feel like that’s something you’ve been carrying with you since childhood, that idea of photography and awkward family photos.

Dugan: There’s something about the character of the photographer that I think is really funny. Way funnier than a director, because photographers are so much more involved, it’s really just about capturing one moment, so the things that they do to get you to make one facial is really funny to me. I just grew up watching it and so playing that character was actually a very natural thing.

Doug: I think what makes the awkward family photos so great is anyone who had a family or was part of a family in the 90s has a series of awkward family photos, just unintentionally, because that’s just what it was back then, and those photographers like that are everywhere.

Dugan: They’re all over the place, and even a high-class photography studio, there’s no way not to do it awkward. Family photos just by themselves, even if they’re not doing one awkward, are kind of awkward. They are the funniest things. I’m so stoked that I got to do this idea, because I’ve literally pitched it… I don’t even want to count how many times. And every time, the label was like “dude, this is fucking amazing. We have to do this. This is gold.” Then the artist usually turns it down because they would have to look not cool.

Another completely standard photo of Dugan and his family. 

Doug: It takes the right kind of band to look not cool.

Dugan: Yeah. Or they have to not care what they look like. I’m super stoked that it was totally the right fit. And it’s evolved, it definitely has evolved since I had the first idea. There was a little psychedelic a moment of clarity about photography trying to capture the perfect image. It was definitely kind of challenging going to New York and doing it though.

Doug: Oh really, how so?

Dugan: Yeah, it wasn’t a bid budget, and it’s just a lot harder to shoot in New York because everything is just more expensive. To get a really good crew it’s harder because there’s a lot less people there working, so a really good crew are all usually working on other projects and getting paid pretty high rates, and music video budgets aren’t that good. I was super lucky to get to work with Tim Ives, who has been around for awhile, done tons of some of the most epic music videos in like 90s and early 2000s. Done commercials and he’s also shooting the second season of Girls on HBO and did How to Make an America, and does a lot of film and TV and he was a really, really into the idea. He does a lot of stuff with SNL. He actually had them bring his family. His family was there. They’re in the video, they’re the goth couple with the mom. The really embarrassed goth kids with the mom.

Doug: Nice. So you didn’t bring anyone with you from LA to assist on the shoot? Your whole crew was assembled in New York?

Dugan: Yeah, with the exception of Bethany, who is the make-up artist, and Brooke Kennedy from Doomsday came out for two or three days production, just to oversee everything, but I usually get to bring my cinematographer, I usually work with a producer from here. From my normal routine it was really just me. It’s always nice to at least bring your DP, but sometimes it doesn’t really work out, because then you’re also working with a new crew. If you work with a local cinematographer then they have their whole team there and it just makes things a lot easier. Having a really good crew is really important. I don’t think a lot of directors talk about having a really good, talented cinematographer but they’re really responsible for making sure you get all your shots. How fast they move and how fast they work, as well as the producer and stuff like that. But I’ve been really lucky every time I’ve traveled somewhere, I’ve always worked with really amazing people, and that’s one of the rad parts about going and shooting somewhere else. It was a really fun crew. I think they were a little weirded out by me and the video. Tim, the cinematographer, totally got it. He’s a pretty big-time dude and he just loved the idea so much. I got a hold of him through my agent. I was having a hard time finding a cinematographer and I called her and she’s like “oh, you’ve got to look at this guy. The work is just so good. He does lot of comedy stuff too, like the SNL fake commercials. So he totally got the idea, and he got a whole team and it was awesome, so awesome.

This bad boy provides protection from more than just cold weather, because tigers. 

Doug: Lastly, I noticed Kim’s got a tiger sweater on in the video, and it looked pretty similar to the tiger sweater that you’re wearing in the "FilmedInsert Takes LA" video, and I’m just wondering if that came directly from your closet.

Dugan: That actually did not come from my closet. There was a lot more things in the video from my closet had we shot in LA. I actually would have gone to my parent’s house, because my dad has the kind of backdrops that you saw in the video, a lot of them. Originally when I pitched it, and then they went for it, I was planning on driving up to see my family and getting a bunch of stuff. I don’t know if you’ve seen the wardrobe from the Dinner video, but basically we could have costumed the entire shoot with just my parents’ closet.

Doug Klinger is the co-founder/content director of IMVDb and watches more music videos than anyone on earth. You can find him on twitter at @doug_klinger.