There’s that famous quote from W.C. Fields. He says that in film you should “Never work with animals or children”. They may be pretty tricky and unpredictable to work with at times, but could you imagine working with baked goods? Directing a batch of croissants to hold hands? Or what about getting a vol-au-vent to vomit on cue?
Well, that’s what the fine folks at the Parabella stop motion studios have achieved for a new Channel 4 ad, promoting the newest rendition of The Great British Bake Off. Working with the 4Creative agency, and produced by Blinkink (the guys behind the John Lewis Bear & Hare ad), they have created a beautiful little animation that takes us through a baking journey. Everything from dough to profiteroles is turned into charming characters, singing to the tune of Paul McCartney’s “We all stand together”. In celebration of what this show does best: bringing the country together, as we gasp and cry over soggy bottoms. You might spot a few references to previous “Showstopper challenges”(a nice little hat tip to GBBO’s previous home).
But one of the things I most admire about the piece is that it does a great job of rebranding GBBO to fit in with C4’s ethos of boundary pushing, quirky, innovative work. We’re definitely not in BBC’s Kansas anymore. The Battenburg cakes might as well be the Munchkin people. Those who saw Woodswimmer the other week might have noticed a little technique I’m in love with. It’s incredible. For someone who can barely bake fairy cakes, there’s no way I’d be able to pull off a loaf with a lip-synced animation inside.
According to Blinkink’s website, this piece required weeks of experimentation and collaboration between bakers and, of course, animators. In the end, they used about 28kg of sugar, 50kg of flour, 500 eggs and God knows how much sweat and tears to create this minute-long ad. It’s even more outstanding when you learn that everything you see is almost entirely filmed on camera, although I’d be willing to bet some digital trickery had to be used for the mouth movements. If there wasn’t, I’ll eat my hat (providing it’s a hat made out of cake…. Coffee and walnut if possible please?)
Director : Parabella
Produced : Blinkink
Agency: 4Creative
