This is the premise: Autozamm are each suspended in a cage attached to a crane and are twirled around a city at night. It sounds like it could be a really amazing visual, but it just doesn’t work.
It’s all done with CGI and there’s no sense that Autozamm are literally being hurled around in cages. Rather, it looks like four dudes filmed in the comfort and safety of a green screen studio, superimposed onto the dizzying scene. Compare this with Goodshirt’s “Green” video, a classic in the “torture the band” genre. Even though the band members were essentially going about ordinary bathroom tasks, there was still no denying that they were all doing it hanging upside down. There’s no sense of this discomfort or indeed peril in the Autozamm video.
The night setting of the video seems to be done to remove the need for an elaborately animated city backdrop. When even the band members are shot in partial darkness, there’s so much less work required. Though, the familiar hilly Wellington skyline is still visible, possibly a nod to the $1500 grant from Positively Wellington Business’s Made In Wellington scheme.
40 years prior, the Mary Poppins film managed to create a more thrilling scene involving flying people. And – one might argue – with a better soundtrack.
Best bit: I dunno, the CGI buildings look like buildings?
Note: This video was previously available on MySpace but has since been removed.
Director: Ed Davis
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision
Next… street craps.