Sunday, March 18, 2012

Music video recorded in Invercargill, street where I work

Stan Walker is an Australian musician, his style is sort of like RnB mode Chris Brown, or Bruno Mars.

Recently, a new single "Music Wont Break Your Heart" was recorded in New Zealand, presumably because we're cheap, and desperate to have EVERYTHING recorded here!

The video was actually shot here in Invercargill, home of the Invercargill Vegan Society funnily enough, and includes main scenes on Crinan Street, where I work :-)

The first scenes start off with A Typical Invercargill Dance Off, with Orphans Raised On The Mean Streets Of Invercargill decked out in the branded clothing of the Oakland Raiders (America), New York Yankees (America) and a "Samoa" t shirt, for the nation of Samoa.

Because, when you're wanting to record scenes of a grimy, run down city in New Zealand, your first thoughts are....INVERCARGILL!

Two Little Boys is a movie soon to be released, featuring Brett from Flight of the Conchords and some Australian guy, again, they wanted a bashed up, hell hole of a place...so they shot in Invercargill, blocks from where I live, gee, doesnt that make me feel great? :-)



The story about "the little girl who wanted to ride a whale" refers to Whale Rider

Trailer for Whale Rider

Not to forget that other great movie about Invercargill world speed record holder Burt Munro, as played by Hannibal Lecter

The Worlds Fastest Indian, also filmed sort of around the suburb of Glengarry

Trailer for The Worlds Fastest Indian

Back to the music video, such dance offs are quite common on the streets of Invercargill < / sarcasm >

Really, you would have thought these punk kids would have learnt by now :

"You better run, you better do what you can 
Don't wanna see no blood, don't be a macho man 
You wanna be tough, better do what you can 
So beat it, but you wanna be bad 

Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it 
No one wants to be defeated 
Showin' how funky and strong is your fight 
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right 
Just beat it, beat it 
Just beat it, beat it 
Just beat it, beat it 
Just beat it, beat it "





The "Music Wont Break Your Heart" video starts off in the North Invercargill suburb of Glengarry, well known for its affluent mansions and Lamborghini dealerships < / sarcasm >

The dance off begins, where he's soon hassled by the local American/Samoan branded hoodlums.

Google Maps, Glengarry Mall from start of video

By 36 seconds through the video though, the shamed kid has somehow teleported to Crinan Street, the diagonally opposite side of Invercargill, the suburb of Appleby, a good few kilometres away.

My work is on Crinan Street, actually just a block from the scenes shown.


The kid further goes on to dance and generally spazz out, as though he were having a seizure, kicking over our Yellow lidded, once a fortnight Recycling bins, and even our weekly Red Rubbish bins!  He indeed listened to Mr Jackson, he runs off, like a little scaredy cat coward.

Google Maps, corner of Connon, Crinan Streets

The flats (apartments) and house with the odd window

Stan Walker himself materialized in the middle of a closed-off-to-the-public-during-music-video-recording Crinan Street, where he gazes into infinity, singing a tale about publicly "krumped off" kids, you know, on The Mean Streets Of Invercargill



From there, the running, flipping, stumbling, bumbling no doubt mumbling kid somehow ends up on the Kingston Flyer, a train some ~140KM away from the thuggish Invercargill suburbs of Glengarry or Appleby.

The train is known for throwing off sparks, and starting fires alongside the track

You know, this kid may not have a career in Street Dance-ery, apparently paralyzed by the diegetic presence of others, but as soon as he's in the middle of nowhere, freed from The Mean Streets Of Invercargill, he can slow motion prance and spin and churn with the best of them!  (as long as nobody else, music video camera crew aside, are around)

The video finishes off with Generic New Zealand Scenes, as you'll see in The Hobbit.  Sadly, no Water Horses Summoned By Elves ran him down :-(

Here in its entirety of the Invercargill street dancing version of 8 Mile music video: "Music Wont Break Your Heart" by Stan Walker




And just in case the official video has been helpfully made "unavailable in your region", heres a backup I've uploaded :-)



As one sign at the entrance to Invercargill city proclaims "Invercargill, where dreams are possible", although apparently only once you're beaten up by local "youth gang" members, causing you to run away to Queenstown! :-)





Blogs promoting Southland coverage
========================

Day One on Set
http://www.southlandnz.com/Home/Blog/ID/359/On-Set-with-Stan-Walker-Day-One.aspx

Day Two on Set
http://www.southlandnz.com/Home/Blog/ID/361/On-set-with-Stan-Walker-Day-two.aspx

Local Newspaper The Southland Times coverage of the music video
===================================================

http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/culture/6445622/Idol-winner-connects-with-local-children

"Invercargill might not seem like the most obvious place to shoot a music video, but for Stan Walker it was perfect.
The Kiwi-born musician, who won Australian Idol in 2009, was in town yesterday to film his latest video for the song Music Won't Break Your Heart alongside about 20 Invercargill children at the Glengarry shopping centre.
On a break from the shoot, Walker said Invercargill was one of several South Island locations used during the five-day video shoot, including Kingston and Queenstown.
"We just wanted to show the real parts of New Zealand, the mountains, the journey, everything," he said."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/culture/6576916/Walker-raves-about-southern-hospitality-on-video-shoot

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