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Is that for real? How Pharrell’s Cash In Cash Out music video had audiences wondering how they did it

The VFX team behind Cash In Cash Out didn’t want anyone to be able to tell whether the video was shot for real or composited with CG. When the video dropped, comments sections were full of people scratching their heads and theorising on exactly this. A collaboration between DIVISION and Electric Theatre Collective, the music video for Cash In Cash Out for Pharrell Williams took home a staggering ten D&AD Pencils, including one of the two Black Pencils awarded this year. To delve into the craft behind this video, Greg McKneally, Co-Head of CG, and Iain Murray, Co-Head of 2D from Electric Theatre Collective join us in an interview with Jules de Chateleux, Co-founder and Executive Producer and François Rousselet, Director at DIVISION.

The team were clear from the outset that the video needed to feel real and so at each stage they asked themselves, “If we were to shoot this, how would we do it?” The rotating zoetrope platform is therefore based around real, physical rules. Subtle kinks were even added to give the impression of real filming, such as flickering light sources, flares, fingerprints, marks and scratches on the figures. The music video is also shot like a physical object, not taking advantage of the CG process to play with impossible camera angles. Instead, the video employs fixed, dolly and crane shots to blend the limits between real and unreal. McKneally explains that Cash In Cash Out represents, “the quality of creative execution you can have when creatives, directors and producers are given that bit of extra time.” Chateleux chimes in with agreement, stating the key to success here was, “trust and time”.

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The producer behind Native Sportscasters on casting culturally sensitive projects

In Mexico, native communities only have one reliable way to follow their national team’s soccer games: radio. There are 68 native languages spoken in Mexico – and football matches aren't broadcast in any of them. We Believers New York came up with an idea for Corona, the official sponsor of the national team, to reach even the most remote communities. Executive Producer Ornella Jaramillo from DDN Pictures explains how the team sought out the most charismatic local people and aspiring sportscasters to narrate the national team matches over the radio in their native dialects.

Native Sportscasters took home a Yellow Pencil for Casting and, indeed, casting was critical for the acceptance of the project by local communities. Jaramillo describes the challenge of getting native communities to trust the production team when many have previously experienced damaging effects from outsiders. She tells us the key was listening to the needs of the individuals and communities they spoke to and finding ways that the Corona team could give back. Ultimately the campaign’s success drew on the universal language that unlocks passion and unites the country: football.