The next time you worry over a project flowchart, plan a company party or fret over whether you’ll put yellow pepper and/or cucumbers on a hero sandwich, just think of the logistics required to pull off this astounding lip dub video.
Like all lip dubs, this astonishing example was filmed in one continuous take as the camera roams hither and yon and people jump into the frame to lip sync parts of the overarching song. Unlike most lip dubs, this baby boasts 5,000 people and a $40,000 budget, according to the notes on YouTube.
The video is a big ol’ thumb-your-nose at Newsweek magazine, which cited Grand Rapids, Mich., as a city mortally wounded by the economic downturn. For any Chamber of Commerce worth its soap, them’s fightin’ words. A healthy chunk of downtown Grand Rapids was shut down for the 22 May video shoot (you taste the irony there, yes?).
The music mavens at Anthill Manor are amused by the video’s chosen song, Don McLean’s classic “American Pie.” The vid’s director is quoted as saying it’s “a song about death (but) in the end, triumphant and filled to the brim with life and hope.” Um, hogwash. It ends with a bunch of lads getting pissed and mourning the demise of the good old days. Nice try, Grand Rapidians. Just admit it was among the few well-known songs that lasts long enough to fit everyone in.
But still — the planning! The community pride! The pyrotechnics! We admit it: Something touched us deep inside.
