Images of drones seemingly impossible in the Minneapolis bowling alley ad impress key filmmakers

It is not always that you see a promotional video for bowling in general, much less one that catches the attention of millions of people. But that’s exactly what a video made for Bryant-Lake Bowl, a bowling alley in Minneapolis, did. Not only did the ad go viral on social media, but it also caught the attention of top Hollywood directors, who are praising the complicated direction and camera work it involves.

The nearly 90-second shoot begins with a drone camera hovering over the street outside the bowling alley before descending through the front doors and zooming into the building. It starts with “Ok, this is cool”, but when it is halfway through it becomes clear that this is not your normal drone camera work.

With impressive speed, we are led through small openings above the bowling alleys, behind the pin machines, through narrow aisles that no one can see, under people’s legs, through people’s conversations, around the bar and the theater and finally, quite a touch in the middle of some flying bowling pins. It’s impressive.

So impressive, in fact, that it caught the eye of Lee Unkrich (director of the successful Pixar film Coconuts), who retweeted the video by James Gunn (director of Guardians of the Galaxy), with the two men sharing their amazed reactions to him.

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The surprising cinematic success comes from Rally Studios in Minneapolis, and was created by cinematographer Jay Christensen and directed by Anthony Jaska. According to the Star Tribune, Christensen and Jaska made the short film to help draw attention to local companies that are experiencing difficulties.

“If you think about all the small businesses and COVID, your business has obviously been hit,” said Christensen. “I went in there and realized it was pretty empty.” The duo reached out to the owner of the bowling alley with the idea of ​​showing the uniqueness of the place.

The quick ride back and forth through the various parts of the bowling alley is stunning, but the fact that it was shot at once is what gives that “unbelievable” feeling.

“It’s a one-shot,” Jaska told Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “There is no CGI. That was very interesting. But also the positive nature of it – people seeing the necessary skill and the unique skill needed to combine the skill of an incredible pilot, the technology of a drone and the story that can be told from once. “

The perfect shot came after 10 or 12 attempts in a 2 hour period. They shot the film after hours (for the safety of COVID) on March 2 and added audio after the fact, as the drone’s buzz interfered with the bowling alley’s natural sounds.

According to the Tribune, Christensen has been doing a lot of work with FPV (first person view) drone cameras since last spring, but he had never done indoor drone footage before, which makes the feat even more incredible. But, as remarkable as the camera work inside the bowling alley, he said that the most difficult shot was actually the first shot – going through the front door. It was a windy day, he had to make sure there were no pedestrians around, and he had to maneuver around a parking meter that was exactly where he wanted the drone to be.

The hard work paid off. Todd Vaziri, a visual effects artist who worked in successful film franchises like Star Wars, Star Trek and Marvel, tweeted: “This kind of wonderful photographic innovation adds to the language and vocabulary of cinema. Simply beautiful.”

Director James Gunn not only praised the footage as “incredible” and “stupendous”, but also said he wanted the pair to join their team in London to film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Christensen and Jaska said that several directors came to them, which was a surprise. When Tribune asked about the possibility of working with James Gunn, Jaska said “it sounds crazy, but who knows?”

Talent is talent and can sometimes be found in the strangest places. I’m looking forward to seeing where these guys’ drone work will take them as they explore future projects with the best in the business.