News & Information:

December 2009

Flipping the bird to the recession, four street-smart creatives abandoned the mainstream to set up indie agency Rascals during 2009.

One of the first projects for the new Auckland shop was a viral campaign for New Zealand independent music label, Dirty Records, launching Aotearoa hip hop star PNC’s single, ‘Bazooka’.

Rascals’ scheme was to stage the theft of PNC’s famed Raptor mascot suit and shoot a music video following the suit’s unsanctioned exploits throughout New Zealand.

The thrill-seeking Raptor, seen in the clip “doing crazy shit”, is eventually returned to PNC’s Auckland residence, complete with video journal of its escapades.

Rascals Alex and Leighton Dyer are no strangers to street-style production techniques, drawing on a history of film-making and publishing in the skate community.

To help sell the underground feel, ‘Bazooka’ was assembled as a mosaic of footage filmed on a range of disparate appliances including the P2-HD, a headcam, Auckland harbour bridge security cameras, mobile phones and some random handicams.

Rascals pulled in Digipost who assigned colourist Gerard Ward to the grade.  Ward spent time tweaking the pictures, pumped the colours and giving the piece a gritty cartoon flavour. Compositing, VFX and mastering were also done at Digipost.

Digipost GM Stephen Douglas says it was great to have Rascals in house.  “We always enjoy a creative project and this one was definitely imaginative.  It goes to show that we can take care of business no matter what the brief is”.

“Using a top post house is juxtaposed to the raw underground nature of this work’, adds Rascal’s Colin Mitchell. “It’s a metaphor for our fresh approach – we’re here to challenge the rules and we were thrilled with the result.”

To see Bazooka, click here.