Valley of the Stereos

Last updated

Valley of the Stereos
Directed byGeorge Port
Written byCosta Botes
George Port
Produced by Peter Jackson
Jim Booth
Starring Danny Mulheron
Murray Keane
Release date
  • 1992 (1992)
Running time
15 minutes
CountryNew Zealand
LanguageEnglish

Valley of the Stereos is a 1992 New Zealand short film written by Costa Botes and George Port and produced by Jim Booth and Peter Jackson. [1] [2]

Contents

Plot

An escalating battle takes place between River, a hippie and a metalhead who live next door to each other in the countryside. Following the metalhead's late-night music playing, the two battle over who can drive the other away with their incompatible music tastes. Each accumulates a larger and larger pile of stereos, until eventually River converts his house into a multi-stereo mecha and accidentally blasts both homes out of existence.

Cast

Reception

The film was described as "comic face-off that starts tinny, but gleefully escalates to bass heavy, as a not-so-zen hippy (Danny Mulheron) gets caught up in a vale-blasting battle with the noisy bogan next door (Murray Keane). Made by many key Peter Jackson collaborators, the near-wordless pump up the volume tale was directed by George Port, shortly before he became founding member of Jackson's famed effects-house Weta Digital. Ironically Weta's computer-generated miracles would help render the stop motion imagery seen in the finale largely a thing of the past." [3]

Accolades

The film received various awards. [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>Meet the Feebles</i> 1989 film by Peter Jackson

Meet the Feebles is a 1989 New Zealand puppet musical black comedy film directed by Peter Jackson, and written by Jackson, Fran Walsh, Stephen Sinclair and Danny Mulheron. It features Jim Henson-esque puppets in a perverse comic satire. Like Henson's Muppets, the Feebles are animal-figured puppets who are members of a stage troupe. However, whereas the Muppets characterize positivity, naïve folly, and innocence, the Feebles largely present negativity, vice, and other misanthropic characteristics. It is the first Jackson film that was co-written by his future partner Fran Walsh, who has gone on to act as co-writer for all his subsequent films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinema of New Zealand</span> Overview of the cinema of New Zealand

New Zealand cinema can refer to films made by New Zealand-based production companies in New Zealand. However, it may also refer to films made about New Zealand by filmmakers from other countries. Due to the comparatively small size of its film industry, New Zealand produces many films that are co-financed by overseas companies.

<i>Heavenly Creatures</i> 1994 New Zealand drama film by Peter Jackson

Heavenly Creatures is a 1994 New Zealand film directed by Peter Jackson, from a screenplay he co-wrote with his partner, Fran Walsh, and starring Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey in their feature film debuts, with supporting roles by Sarah Peirse, Diana Kent, Clive Merrison, and Simon O'Connor. The movie blends elements of movie genres like biography, period, thriller, crime, horror, romance, psychological drama, fantasy and dark comedy.

Wētā FX, formerly known as Weta Digital, is a New Zealand-based digital visual effects and animation company based in Miramar, Wellington. It was founded by Peter Jackson, Richard Taylor, and Jamie Selkirk in 1993 to produce the digital special effects for Heavenly Creatures. The company went on to produce some of the highest-grossing films ever made, such as the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Avatar, and Avatar: The Way of Water. Considered one of the most influential film companies of the 21st century, Wētā FX has won several Academy Awards and BAFTAs. The company is named after the New Zealand wētā, one of the world's largest insects, which was historically featured in the company logo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wētā Workshop</span> New Zealand special effects company

Wētā Workshop is a special effects and prop company as well as video game developer based in Miramar, Wellington, in New Zealand, that produces effects for television and film. The company is named after the New Zealand wētā, one of the world's largest insects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Taylor (filmmaker)</span> New Zealand filmmaker

Sir Richard Leslie Taylor is the founder, creative director and head of New Zealand film prop and special effects company Wētā Workshop.

The Sir Julius Vogel Awards are awarded each year at the New Zealand National Science Fiction Convention to recognise achievement in New Zealand science fiction, fantasy, horror, and science fiction fandom. They are commonly referred to as the Vogels.

Ramon Rivero is an animation director, digital puppeteer and computer animator best known for his work on the 2001 film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

Christian Rivers is a New Zealand storyboard artist, visual effects supervisor, special effects technician, and director. He first met Peter Jackson as a 17-year-old, and storyboarded all of Jackson's films since Braindead. He made his directing debut in the film adaptation of Mortal Engines, and planning a remake of The Dam Busters, both produced by Peter Jackson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jed Brophy</span> New Zealand actor

Jed Brophy is an actor from New Zealand. He has appeared in several of Peter Jackson's films, including Braindead, Heavenly Creatures, The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, and King Kong. Brophy also appears as the dwarf Nori in The Hobbit films.

The production of The Lord of the Rings film series posed enormous challenges, both logistical and creative. Under Peter Jackson's direction, these obstacles were overcome between 1997 and 2004. Many attempts to produce J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings had failed; the few that had reached the screen were animations. Since the publication of the source novels in the mid-1950s, many filmmakers and producers had considered a film but then set the project aside. The series as filmed by Jackson consists of three epic fantasy adventure films. They were produced by New Line Cinema, assisted by WingNut Films. The cinema versions appeared between 2001 and 2003, and the extended edition for home video in 2004. Development began in August 1997. The films were shot simultaneously. Their production was undertaken entirely in Jackson's native New Zealand. It spanned the 14-month period from October 1999 until December 2000, with pick-up shots filmed over a further 24 months, from 2001 to 2003.

<i>Chunuk Bair</i> (film) 1992 New Zealand film

Chunuk Bair is a 1992 New Zealand film based on the play Once on Chunuk Bair (1982) by Maurice Shadbolt.

<i>The Hobbit</i> (film series) 2012–2014 fantasy film trilogy directed by Peter Jackson

The Hobbit is a series of three epic high fantasy adventure films directed by Peter Jackson. The films are subtitled An Unexpected Journey (2012), The Desolation of Smaug (2013), and The Battle of the Five Armies (2014). The films are based on the 1937 novel The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, with large portions of the trilogy inspired by the appendices to The Return of the King, which expand on the story told in The Hobbit, as well as new material and characters written especially for the films. Together they act as a prequel to Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

Danny Mulheron is a New Zealand actor, writer, and director who has worked in theatre, television and film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Jackson</span> New Zealand filmmaker (born 1961)

Sir Peter Robert Jackson is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–2003) and the Hobbit trilogy (2012–2014), both of which are adapted from the novels of the same name by J. R. R. Tolkien. Other notable films include the critically lauded drama Heavenly Creatures (1994), the horror comedy The Frighteners (1996), the epic monster remake film King Kong (2005), the World War I documentary film They Shall Not Grow Old (2018) and the documentary The Beatles: Get Back (2021). He is the fourth-highest-grossing film director of all-time, his films having made over $6.5 billion worldwide.

The 2006 Air New Zealand Screen Awards were held on Thursday 24 August 2006 at SkyCity Theatre in Auckland, New Zealand. Previously known as the New Zealand Screen Awards, the awards were renamed when airline Air New Zealand became the naming-rights sponsor, signing for five years of sponsorship.

<i>Mortal Engines</i> (film) 2018 film by Christian Rivers

Mortal Engines is a 2018 post-apocalyptic steampunk film directed by Christian Rivers from a screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Peter Jackson, based on the 2001 novel of the same name by Philip Reeve. It stars Hera Hilmar, Robert Sheehan, Hugo Weaving, Jihae, Ronan Raftery, Leila George, Patrick Malahide, and Stephen Lang. An American–New Zealand co-production, the film is set in a post-apocalyptic world where entire cities have been mounted on wheels and motorised, and practice municipal Darwinism; its movie universe is different from that of the books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fiona Samuel</span> New Zealand writer, actor and director

Fiona Samuel is a New Zealand writer, actor and director who was raised Scotland from 1961 until the age of five. She moved to New Zealand and grew up in Christchurch before moving to Wellington to train as an actor at the New Zealand Drama School. She graduated from Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School in 1980 with a Diploma in Acting. Samuel's award-winning career spans theatre, film, radio and television.

Send a Gorilla is a 1988 New Zealand comedy film directed by Melanie Read.

References

  1. Leotta, Alfio (17 December 2015). Peter Jackson. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN   978-1-62356-948-8.
  2. Goldsmith, Ben; Ryan, Mark David; Lealand, Geoff (1 April 2015). Directory of World Cinema: Australia and New Zealand 2. Intellect Books. ISBN   978-1-78320-481-6.
  3. Screen, NZ On. "Valley of the Stereos | Short Film | NZ On Screen". www.nzonscreen.com. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  4. "Valley of the Stereos". New Zealand Film Commission. Retrieved 25 January 2024.