By GREGORY ZELLER //
There’s lots of innovation happening on Long Island right now: new solar-power roadmaps, prominent corporate mergers, generous research grants at major scientific institutions, big-time biomedical breakthroughs – a goldmine of great stories, all based in Nassau and Suffolk.
We’ll get to them all. But I had to hit pause today to praise “Right Up Our Alley,” a remarkable feat by innovators in Minnesota, who turned common technology, a familiar setting and a relatable tale of pandeconomics into breathtaking cinema – an instant classic that adds depth and tone to multiple media.
In the short film, an aerial drone whips through a brightly lit suburban bowling alley at high speed, zipping up and down lanes and into and out of various rooms (Bryant Lake Bowl & Theater looks like a groovy place, with a pub and a movie auditorium and everything).
The drone speeds around the eight-lane alley, through back-room maintenance areas, past blaring radios (there’s a winter storm warning in effect) and over (or under) several customers either rolling or bragging in the bar (“I’m telling you, I threw a perfect game!”), all in one unedited and unending tracking shot.
In a CGI-happy era when blowing up entire planets and resurrecting dead performers is commonplace, this might seem a tad pedestrian – Tuesday night at a Minneapolis bowling alley? Really?
Zeller: Bowled over by innovation.
But recognize that “Right Up Our Alley,” directed by drone operator Jay Christensen, was made without special visual effects of any kind – that it really is one long, elaborate shot – and suddenly it’s an epic achievement: a one-minute, 28-second masterwork of cinematography, choreography, piloting and even comedy (the dialogue snippets from “The Big Lebowski” and a trip between one vigorous ball-polisher’s legs are cherries atop this sweet innovation sundae).
According to published reports, Christensen captured the flawless, exquisitely timed video on his 10th attempt, after nine near misses. He must have spent days mapping it all out – swooping from floor to ceiling, the drone’s-eye view follows rolling balls, perfectly frames numerous pin strikes and is in the right place, at the right time, for multiple player reactions.
Hollywood has quickly noticed the colossal craftsmanship: Academy Award-winning “Coco” director Lee Unkrich, “Guardians of the Galaxy” director James Gunn and actor/writer Patton Oswalt are just some of the A-listers who took to social media this week to praise Christensen and his work, which as of Thursday had racked up 4 million social media views, and counting.
Making it all even more ingenious is the video’s master purpose: It was produced by Minneapolis-based production company Rally Studios as part of a project documenting well-known local businesses – including Bryant Lake Bowl & Theater – threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, the whirlwind tour of the establishment’s bar and theater sections makes more sense – this is essentially a TV commercial, an advertisement spotlighting everything the viewer needs to know about the product: bowling, booze, movies, appropriate mask wearing, bright lights, big fun.
And it does it in a gripping style that basically dares you to look away: We’re going to tell you about our bowling alley. You’re going to sit there and watch, probably repeatedly. And you’re going to like it.
Bar hopping: Christensen’s perfectly piloted drone probes the pub.
Any monkey with a $5 billion ion collider can discover new power sources and unlock quantum secrets. But using everyday tools to highlight a widespread socioeconomic issue with a unique message that resonates in the zeitgeist and generates a week’s worth of free press?
This is innovation in its purest form, its prettiest form, perhaps its most effective form.
Christensen, one would think, is set – at a minimum, he has a bright future ahead, as a filmmaker or pilot or both. The startup Rally Studios, which launched in 2018, is sure to get some extra attention. And you’d imagine late-pandemic occupancy limits are now being tested at Bryant Lake Bowl & Theater.
This is a brilliant innovation success story, if only for its return on investment. This year, air time – just the air time – for a 30-second Super Bowl commercial cost $5.6 million. We don’t know how much Rally Studios sank into “Right Up Our Alley,” but we do know this isn’t exactly Paramount Pictures. And we know Christensen’s drone, according to the New York Times, cost about $1,299.
Innovation can be fickle. There’s really no telling when an idea might click, when something might catch fire and go viral. And like the man once said, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it.
But in a world where technological achievement has been mainstreamed and “the next big thing” is usually just a half-step beyond the last big thing, the good money will always be on the creative thinkers.
Gregory Zeller is the vice president and editor of Innovate Long Island.
