Bryant-Lake Bowl FPV

March 9, 2021 2:20 PM

Right Up Our Alley - The best drone shot you'll see today, or maybe ever.
posted by dobbs (57 comments total)

That is bonkers. It seems more impossible than the Tom Cruise video.
posted by gwint at 2:21 PM on March 9, 2021 [3 favorites]

You can catch the drone's shadow at :41, but otherwise it's flawless, imo.
posted by dobbs at 2:27 PM on March 9, 2021 [1 favorite]

Anyone else feel the sudden need to watch old Late Night with David Letterman clips?
posted by Servo5678 at 2:27 PM on March 9, 2021 [14 favorites]

Bowling a Drone: the Snaps and Flyover of an American Community
posted by chavenet at 2:42 PM on March 9, 2021 [1 favorite]

I would love to know whether this is a crazily talented drone pilot or a crazily detailed cgi render or a combination of the two, and would be equally impressed either way
posted by ook at 2:52 PM on March 9, 2021 [5 favorites]

ok:

1) it is criminal that this isn't scored to Dylan's "The Man in Me."

2) when we were dating, my wife lived in one of the apartments above the BLB visible in the early swoop-in, and I do have to say that the BLB is a much cooler place to visit than it is to live above.
posted by COBRA! at 2:57 PM on March 9, 2021 [15 favorites]

Other companies should steal this technique.
posted by Going To Maine at 3:01 PM on March 9, 2021 [1 favorite]

:51 seconds in.

Woman: My foot wasn't over the line, mark it 8, dude.

Man: This is bowling, there are rules. I'm not counting it.

posted by mikelieman at 3:05 PM on March 9, 2021 [28 favorites]

This person's films are ... incredible.

La Croix Skating is one of the most beautiful things I've seen for ... what ... years?

@jaybyrdfilms
posted by chavenet at 3:12 PM on March 9, 2021 [15 favorites]

I now know what it's like to drop in to see what condition my condition is in.
posted by prinado at 3:15 PM on March 9, 2021 [11 favorites]

Amazing. I doubt there's a single pre-2000 filmmaker who would not have cut an arm off to be able to make a shot like this.
posted by mhoye at 3:20 PM on March 9, 2021 [11 favorites]

I remember the Before Times....
posted by Windopaene at 3:21 PM on March 9, 2021 [3 favorites]

That Minneapolis restaurant/bar/bowling alley/theater is the bomb, BTW!
posted by treepour at 3:23 PM on March 9, 2021 [5 favorites]

MARK IT A ZERO SMOKEY!!!
posted by Windopaene at 3:39 PM on March 9, 2021 [4 favorites]

I'd love to see a behind-the-scenes video. My guess is that it's all real drone footage taken by a very skilled pilot, but that it was done in multiple segments and arefully edited together. There are a few points (e.g. at 0:17) where if you go frame-by-frame, the camera seems to change its speed and position slightly but very abruptly, in defiance of momentum. (On the other hand, it might just be an artifact of motion stabilization.)

It would probably be possible to fake the whole thing, using motion-tracked footage of actors on top of a CGI environment, but it would be incredibly labor-intensive.
posted by teraflop at 3:56 PM on March 9, 2021 [6 favorites]

David Fincher vibes
posted by EXISTENZ IS PAUSED at 4:13 PM on March 9, 2021 [4 favorites]

I'd love to see a behind-the-scenes video. My guess is that it's all real drone footage taken by a very skilled pilot, but that it was done in multiple segments and arefully edited together.

That was also James Gunn's (of Guardians of the Galaxy fame now, and of Suicide Squad/Peacemaker fame in the near future) take.

Also, watching it bunch of times, I'm pretty sure the lighting sources don't line up, as in the sense there are big lights out near the pins somewhere for shots facing away from the pins, but those lights are there facing the pins.

But, so what? Much of the time movies are making stuff that's better than real life without it being obvious where the fake parts are.
posted by sideshow at 4:21 PM on March 9, 2021 [1 favorite]

The only writeup I can find where the filmmakers are interviewed is in the Daily Mail.

Here are the relevant parts. (tldr; it's a single take)

[Jay] Christensen and the video's director, Anthony Jaska, 35, who are both from Minneapolis, broke down their process for capturing all of the aforementioned moments in just one shot.

'It's a one-take, so we're using a very small FPV racing drone that you're able to fly from the exterior of a building all the way through the interior of the building in one shot and in the meantime tell a story using a sound design,' Christensen said.

Christensen, who has been working with different types of drones since 2014, noted that the sounds in the video weren't recorded live, but they were recorded in post-production and edited together.

Jaska and Christensen said they did the project for free because they wanted to 'help support' a local business that has been struggling with the effects of COVID-19 shutdowns and restrictions.

'Hopefully people will remember all the great times they've had at this establishment and come back in,' Christensen said, adding: 'It was a really awesome win-win for both of us because we got to have a fun time creating a cool project and shot and hopefully they'll get a lot of exposure and business as they reopen.'

'I think the message that we're trying to get out there is support local businesses, especially as we get back to normal,' Jaska said.

Jaska said that before Christensen shot the footage with the drone, they visited the establishment to scope out what kind of scenes they wanted to create.

'It takes a great deal of skill to actually fly behind the pins or underneath the ball feeder and then we make adjustments and see what we can get away and finally we get the take and people can go home,' Jaska.

Christensen said maneuvering behind the pins was the portion of the video that intimated him the most.

'I'd say the hardest was coming in that front door to start just because it was windy outside and trying to coordinate with our people outside,' Christensen said.

The whole production was put together in less than a week, Jaska and Christensen said.

posted by wreckingball at 4:27 PM on March 9, 2021 [7 favorites]

fwiw the poster of the video states that the drone survived the shot.

The visuals are very well produced no matter how it was shot. But the voiceovers hung motionless relative to the POV while camera was careening around, and that ruined some of the effect for me.
posted by ardgedee at 4:31 PM on March 9, 2021 [1 favorite]

Woman: My foot wasn't over the line, mark it 8, dude.

There’s also a guy using the Jesus’s ball polishing technique at 38 seconds.
posted by good in a vacuum at 4:57 PM on March 9, 2021 [6 favorites]

Or maybe that’s a common ball polishing technique. I wouldn’t know, I’m not a golfer.
posted by good in a vacuum at 4:58 PM on March 9, 2021 [28 favorites]

Much more impressive than the video is the sound. How does it not sound like BBBBBRRRRRRBBBBBRRRRRRBBBBBRRRRRRBBBBBRRRRRRBBBBBRRRRRRBBBBBRRRRRR

. On second viewing, the sound is all in post/ ADR, yeah?
posted by eustatic at 5:12 PM on March 9, 2021 [2 favorites]

How come nobody has mentioned the theatre? THERE'S A FREAKING MOVIE THEATRE AT THE BOWLING ALLEY!

Ok, the elephant in the room has now been noticed and we should discuss how cool it is and what the hell they were watching that made them so happy.
posted by ashbury at 5:15 PM on March 9, 2021 [4 favorites]

Having just bought a drone myself and thus having also been spending endless hours watching drone footage....there are definitely people who could do this in one take, i have zero doubts. It might take a few tries, but they could do it.
posted by nevercalm at 5:17 PM on March 9, 2021 [1 favorite]

Ok, the elephant in the room has now been noticed and we should discuss how cool it is and what the hell they were watching that made them so happy.

A live feed from the drone.
posted by JimInLoganSquare at 5:22 PM on March 9, 2021 [4 favorites]

Flying behind the pins was what sold this for me, the rest of the incredible shot was gravy.

This drone equipment/technique has apparently been dubbed ‘Cinewhoop’, check out that link for prebuilt drones or shendrones if you want to get started building your own.
posted by soy bean at 5:35 PM on March 9, 2021 [5 favorites]

OMG. I love the Bryant-Lake Bowl. Used to go there a lot when I lived in Minneapolis.
posted by tftio at 6:05 PM on March 9, 2021 [3 favorites]

"How come nobody has mentioned the theatre? THERE'S A FREAKING MOVIE THEATRE AT THE BOWLING ALLEY!"

These are kinda common in the midwest (don't know about elsewhere). Bowling was big business for a long time! When alleys started closing, some of them retooled as entertainment centers, with movie theater, bowling alley, bar, arcade, etc. My favorite movie theater in Peoria had a bowling alley, bar, drive-in theater, pretty nice gym, e-sports arena, and party rooms ranging from "pizza party for 9-year-olds" to "yeah, people legit held wedding receptions here." They also host weekly bingo!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:11 PM on March 9, 2021 [5 favorites]

Love this so Lebowski much.
posted by doctornemo at 7:03 PM on March 9, 2021 [3 favorites]

The most impressive part for me is the people who manage not not flinch away from the drone SWOOPING IN AT FULL SPEED BETWEEN THEIR LEGS but I have an exaggerated startle response.
posted by kitarra at 7:07 PM on March 9, 2021 [6 favorites]

If you like cinematic FPV like this you might also like Fincky -- see this martial arts montage and this shot of Mont-Saint-Michel -- or even the flowy freestyle of Le Drib. But really this post is a great excuse for me to share Nurk dogging a freight train. Those are skilled pilots.
posted by swift at 7:07 PM on March 9, 2021 [4 favorites]

Nurk is crazy good. I used to know him a bit, through the oldschool multicopter IRC scene, before everyone jumped to Slack and I ended up doing aerial mapping for a while and drones became work and not fun to hack around with on the weekends. Post-pandemic, I want to build a 3" and rip it up and wreck it a few times in an empty park. And a cinewhoop, just 'cause.

I hadn't seen this guy before, but this video was all over various multicopter community stuff the last few days. Is goooooooood. I believe it's a single take, there are definitely people who could do that with a cinewhoop.
posted by Alterscape at 7:20 PM on March 9, 2021

I love the Bryant-Lake Bowl.
posted by Malla at 7:34 PM on March 9, 2021 [3 favorites]

The maskless people ruined it for me.
posted by signal at 7:41 PM on March 9, 2021 [8 favorites]

I loved it until I saw people with masks on their chins, realized it was made during the pandemic and was immediately furious at the people with the masks half on and also all the way off and pretty much everyone involved for half-assing the public health angle.

They should have just shot it mask-free and told everyone it was made in 2019.
posted by chinese_fashion at 9:48 PM on March 9, 2021 [12 favorites]

Christensen is a really skilled drone pilot and has shot a lot of great stuff. This clip is a beautiful tribute to a place I have fond memories of from late nights in high school.

One thing I’d like to point out is that the actual clientele, as in most places, is a lot more diverse than what you see here. Jaska and Christensen would do well to keep that in mind the next time they’re casting a scene like this.
posted by theory at 1:05 AM on March 10, 2021 [2 favorites]

I miss the BLB. Of course, I miss pretty much all of Minneapolis.
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:12 AM on March 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

I miss the Bryant Lake Bowl and I'm like a mile away from there.
posted by dinty_moore at 4:18 AM on March 10, 2021 [4 favorites]

Woman: My foot wasn't over the line, mark it 8, dude.

Man: This is bowling, there are rules. I'm not counting it.

Those comments along with the style of the video made me wonder if this is a PT Anderson movie
posted by waving at 4:51 AM on March 10, 2021

La Croix Skating is one of the most beautiful things I've seen for ... what ... years?

I really really hope they picked up that empty can instead of leaving it out on the ice.
posted by flabdablet at 5:09 AM on March 10, 2021 [2 favorites]

Wow. I’d love to know more about how this was done (and I plan on following the links) - my original assumption was that it was sped up (because of the level of control in tight places, but the conversations were all clearly captured in real time, so the shots had to be. And in every drone shoot I’ve ever been a part of, the drone was noisy. So I’d love to know how they countered that (it looks like the dialogue was added later, but a lot of the ambient audio felt natural).

Super impressed with the pilot, the director (the timing of the bowling balls and the pieces of conversation, for example), and the guy willing to let it go through his legs (that ball and towel were definitely there for a reason) - just wow.
posted by Mchelly at 6:45 AM on March 10, 2021

The Bryant Lake Bowl is great! I dearly hope they survive the pandemic. The little theater isn't a movie theater, it's for live music, improv shows, plays and the like. It's one of the things I love about living in Minneapolis - there are so many small venues for performers.
posted by skullhead at 6:54 AM on March 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

If you enjoyed this shot, regardless of whether it was done in a single take or not, you might enjoy the movie The Vast of Night, available on Amazon Prime. It uses this style of a long, long shot moving along with and among people going about their various business to very good effect.
posted by Orlop at 7:03 AM on March 10, 2021 [4 favorites]

My foot wasn't over the line, mark it 8, dude.

Mark that frame an eight, you're entering a world of pain.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:26 AM on March 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

the conversations were all clearly captured in real time, so the shots had to be

I thought it obvious all sound was overdubbed.

Regarding sped up or not, I judged the speed based on the bowlers and balls, which seemed normal to me.
posted by dobbs at 8:36 AM on March 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

That was fun! Bryant-Lake Bowl is cool. Great burgers.
posted by koucha at 8:40 AM on March 10, 2021

If you enjoyed this shot, regardless of whether it was done in a single take or not, you might enjoy the movie The Vast of Night, available on Amazon Prime. It uses this style of a long, long shot moving along with and among people going about their various business to very good effect.

Amazingly, the long tracking shot in The Vast of Night was not done with drones! It was done comparatively "old school" (which in this case is, uh, roughly 2014 and The Raid 2) as explained in this short piece on io9.
posted by tomorrowromance at 8:46 AM on March 10, 2021 [2 favorites]

Bryant-Lake Bowl is the best. I used to love to see shows there.
posted by umbú at 9:06 AM on March 10, 2021

I thought it obvious all sound was overdubbed.

Yes, I agree, but the gestures they were making while talking were natural - that's a hard thing even for trained actors to do in slow motion to accommodate a shot that's going to be sped up.
posted by Mchelly at 10:13 AM on March 10, 2021

I believe the conversations were overdubbed not because the video speed was changed, but because any on-set sound would've been unusable due to the sound of the quadcopter's rotors/motors.
posted by Alterscape at 10:20 AM on March 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

There are a few points (e.g. at 0:17) where if you go frame-by-frame, the camera seems to change its speed and position slightly but very abruptly, in defiance of momentum.

I would think getting the continuity with the actors and everything right from shot to shot would be a lot harder than finding a drone pilot who could do it in one take. There's a guy in what looks like uninterrupted motion right at the hiccup I think you're referring to. But I'm sure my instincts about what is and isn't hard in movie making are incorrect in all sorts of ways.
posted by straight at 2:55 PM on March 10, 2021

The maskless people ruined it for me.

Yep. All I saw was selfish people who just have to be out in public putting others at risk.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 4:18 PM on March 10, 2021

Yep. All I saw was selfish people who just have to be out in public putting others at risk.

You think it's more likely that this was a group of randos out for night of fun -- none of whom react to a drone flying by their heads and between their legs -- than it is a bunch of paid actors on a closed set doing much-rehearsed actions?

Because I think the opposite.
posted by dobbs at 6:42 PM on March 10, 2021 [3 favorites]

than it is a bunch of paid actors on a closed set doing much-rehearsed actions?

That makes it....slightly better.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 7:02 PM on March 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

This is incredible, but the whole time I kept thinking something was missing so I tweaked it slightly.
posted by the duck by the oboe at 10:47 PM on March 10, 2021 [5 favorites]

Honestly I've been fighting the urge to make a joke about the police helicopters flying lower than normal, but that joke probably only makes sense if you're in south Minneapolis, and isn't particularly funny then.
posted by dinty_moore at 5:59 AM on March 11, 2021

Here's the "Making of" video. Holy crap, that thing was flown, not programmed. No CGI, one shot (10th take), only thing added post-production was the audio chatter.
posted by mcstayinskool at 6:38 AM on March 12, 2021 [4 favorites]