Wichita police will release a lip-sync-challenge video. But not yet
Off-duty Wichita police officers are shooting a super secret lip-sync video, and they won’t talk about it until it’s finished.
Wichita police are the latest department to get in on the action of a national craze that started when a Bexar (Texas) County Sheriff’s Deputy Alexander Mena filmed himself mouthing the words to “Fuiste Mala” in his squad cruiser back in June and posted it on Facebook.
Two off-duty officers were working on a scene Wednesday for Wichita police’s own lip-syncing video at Friends University, where they invited community groups and children to show-up at the video shoot.
“It’s a good PR move,” said Mary Tejeda, who was in the video with her daughter, daughter in-law and three granddaughters. “It’ll be cute.”
Tejeda said she first became aware of the viral “lip-sync challenge” when she saw a video by a law enforcement agency in Johnson County. She liked it, and she said it speaks highly of Wichita police for inviting the public and children to the music video set.
“I like that they invited kids,” Mary Tejeda’s daugher in-law, Hollie, said.
Tejeda said she spent Tuesday preparing for the video, by explaining to her granddaughters what lip-syncing is. She hoped they would get a first-hand look Wednesday, but the scene at Friends University did not include any lyrics.
What the Friends scene, which is an introduction and secondary footage, does include is Officer Darren Williams, tall and serious looking, striding across the lawn in front of Davis Hall. A couple dozen community members follow him, walking shoulder to shoulder, as the introduction to the song drums in the background.
Max Frish, whose production company Frish Media was hired to shoot the video through Shocker Studios at Wichita State, said he got a call about the project last Friday and started filming Tuesday.
“It was a pretty quick turnaround,” Frish said. The filming will continue through Thursday, he said, with stops all over the city.
“We’re just kind of doing less of the camera-in-a-car type of thing and putting more of an artistic spin to it and giving a story to this challenge,” Frish said.
So what will the final video include? Drone footage. A concert piece. A fire. A scene in front of City Hall. Old Town Square. Maybe officers playing instruments, Frish said.
“We’re trying to put some more thought into this,” Frish said. “Because if we kind of tell the story about these officers that are having fun and we throw a bloopers reel together, they’ll enjoy it and people will realize that these are people too and having fun and that’s what we’re all about.”
“We’re really still in the beginning stages,” Frish said. He said the video should be edited and ready for release next week.