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It's hard to get people to focus nowadays. With touchscreens flashing and audio pumping out of every tangible device, simply getting people to direct their brainboxes towards something they want to watch is tough enough, let along something they're being forced to. Such is the issue for airlines who, legally and morally, need to convey explicit safety instructions to every passenger, yet are faced with a plane full of people who either have seen the message enough times to recite it by heart or rely on the half-heard narration and rehearsed actions of cabin staff. However, as a handful of airlines have proved in the past, give us an engaging spectacle and a natty hook and we won't just lap the vid up on the plane, it'll hit the internet hard too.

For their latest in-flight film, Air New Zealand has teamed up with the All Blacks and an all-star line-up of international rugby greats to create 'Men in Black Safety Defenders'. Inspired by the Will Smith being pithy / Tommy Lee Jones being grumpy global film franchise 'Men in Black', Air NZ's latest safety instalment features All Blacks' Captain Richie McCaw and Dan Carter as Men in Black agents. Starring alongside themis Coach Steve Hansen, team mates Kieran Read, Keven Mealamu, Sam Whitelock and Israel Dagg who gets to test his vocals alongside Kiwi musician Stan Walker. It's not all All Black either, with Wallabies great David Campese, former England Captain Martin Johnson and former Argentinean Captain Agustin Pichot lending a hand. Adding some Hollywood muster, we also get cameo throwbacks to the original movies, with Rip Torn reprising his role as Chief of the Men in Black, alongside some familiar aliens and Frank the Pug.

We bopped along with the edutaining tune, so sat down with The Sweet Shop's Campbell Hooper (director of the piece) to chat MIB.


How did you get involved in the project?

I'm getting much too old for it but I still play football, and the MD of Air NZ's agency True happens to be on my team. Being the captain I threatened to make him play the entire season in goal. He's a terrible goal keeper so I'm glad he took the bait. Having cut my commercial teeth making a lot of music videos helped ease the decision a touch, but really… who wants to spend every Sunday afternoon standing in the freezing rain watching everyone else run around?

What were the early discussions? Air New Zealand have a history of fantastic promotional safety films for their fleet – were they dream clients to work with?

It has a great lineage for sure. The previous projects involved Taika Waititi and Peter Jackson's Weta so I was up against some serious expectations. High five's to Air New Zealand for green-lighting such a radical new approach to the traditional safety video. Like the best ideas - why didn't someone think of this before?



How much were you involved in the initial direction of the project? Did you work with the agency to develop the idea or did they come to you with it fully-formed?

The core idea came fully formed by Air New Zealand and True. There's no way I would have thought of rugby players rapping - on paper it sounds mental - but it worked a treat! Once we were rolling I went across to the studio rap sessions with Israel and Stan but really the agency creatives and client were the instigators.

How much contact did you have to have with Sony? Were there certain things you could or couldn't do?

That occurred behind closed doors. I know nothing…



Loads of the elements look identical to their big-screen counterparts. Were you granted the keys to the castle in regards to props and digital assets?

Yeah, Sony really did give us the keys… literally - they had a warehouse full of the stuff. They sent out a MIB specialist from LA to handle the props and it really added to the overall sensibility. They gave us some of the CGI models, which made life a little easier for our post-production crew Beryl.

Did it take much to cajole the players into taking part? How did you make them feel comfortable on set?

Betraying my Art School roots, I am truly a massive rugby fan and the All Blacks are, of course, demigods in New Zealand. The All Blacks were total pro's and my respect for them has gone up another notch - they were incredibly humble and respectful. They played the film set like I'm sure they play the sport - they wanted exact, specific instructions, and they nailed every take the first time. Improv wasn't an option.



How was the shoot? How much of what we see was in-camera and how much had to come in post?

Due to the tight window of availability of our rugby players, the set had to move fast. We had two units running simultaneously - sometimes even dollying on the same piece of track! Almost every shot had post enhancement on it.

Nice work getting Martin Johnson and other rugby legends involved. Were the cameos scripted from the start or added when they were available?

We all had our wish list. Obviously it was important for Air New Zealand to have connections to markets that they fly to so Australia, England and Argentina become must haves. I'm surprised that traditional opponents of the All Blacks were cool with taking part so it shows the respect that all those guys have for each other. Martin Johnson is MASSIVE.



How was the post process? Was it tough to achieve the cinematic sheen (it looks like it could have come from one of the movies)?

So much of what we call a cinematic sheen is in reality actually quite practical approaches to the film craft. I think a well-timed tracking move and lensing gives much more of that cinematic 'feeling' than heavy post. It doesn't matter how technological and post-focused film-making becomes, lighting and lensing are still at the core of film craft.

When making the film, do you have to have one eye on the fact that it's obviously going to be popular virally as well as being used on the aircraft itself? Is it tough to balance the need to portray the safety message clearly with the fancy bells and whistles that make it such fun to watch?

My main focus was to lift the project cinematically. I knew that I'd have airline safely specialist's literally over my shoulder the whole shoot so I just got on with making it as visually compelling as I could. And every now and then of course I got that tap on the shoulder. What you don't see - which drove me bananas - was that every aircraft is different and therefore had slight variations on safety procedures. The bit where Martin Johnson takes a bite out of that safety card…. he had to do that for 9 different aircraft. He was of course, completely unfazed.



How come Air New Zealand gets all the good stuff? Can you do one for BA next?

One hundred percent! BA, the phones are open. If I do another one, does that make me an 'Airline Safety Video' director? Hmmm….

What are you up to next? Men In Black 4 looming?

Next I'm sitting down for a month to see the All Blacks scrap it out at the World Cup.