An incredible drone video that features something most people wouldn’t consider that extraordinary — a bowling alley — has gone so viral that it has even wowed a Hollywood director.
“Right Up Our Alley” has had nearly 2 million views on YouTube since its debut on March 8. In the minute-and-a-half video, a drone flies through Bryant Lake Bowl, a vintage bowling alley in Minneapolis, soaring up and down the lanes as people bowl, ducking behind the scenes to the pinsetter and even zooming between the legs of a bowler polishing his ball like a famous character from “The Big Lebowski.” And it’s all done in a single uninterrupted shot.
“Everyone is, like, doubting it,” Farrah Donovan, a bartender at Bryant Lake Bowl, told Minnesota Public Radio. “I can vouch that it’s 100% real. I was here.”
The goal of the video was to promote the local business, which had shuttered during COVID lockdowns and is located on Lake Street, the site of protests after the death of George Floyd.
In addition to posting the short film on YouTube, Jay Christensen, an aerial cinematographer who is one of the video’s creators, shared it on his social media. That’s when things really started to take off.
Right up our alley
@BryantLakeBowl pic.twitter.com/xnvmTiK9jd
— Jay Christensen (@JayByrdFilms) March 9, 2021
As Christensen and the video’s director, Anthony Jaska, worked with the business owners on ideas of how to showcase the bowling alley, the team knew they wanted to get some behind-the-scenes shots.
“Erica [Gibert, the business owner] had taken me back there and showed me the bowling machines,” Christensen told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “Watching these machines mechanically, going on the conveyor belt, was the most magnificent thing I’d ever seen.”
Christensen manually flew the drone, which was equipped with a camera. It took 10-12 tries to perfect the shot. Jaska confirmed there is no CGI nor editing in the video, other than adding in the audio afterward because the drone made too much noise to capture the sounds of the alley.
Even Hollywood film directors marveled at what they accomplished.
“Oh my God this drone shot is stupendous,” tweeted James Gunn, director of “Guardians of the Galaxy” films. Gunn even said he was interested in having the team join him in London for filming the third movie of the franchise.
I want them to come with us to London later this year when we shoot Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. https://t.co/cnwRw5Exwr
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) March 9, 2021
According to The Hollywood Reporter, no official invitation or offer has been made by Gunn or Marvel. However, Gunn said he is excited at the attention the film has received.
“It comes down to the story the shot has to tell,” he said.
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for additional stories.
