Dave Alex Riddett BSC & David Sproxton CBE | Peter Gabriel – Sledgehammer
Shot in just six days by a small crew dedicated to their craft, the music video accompanying Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer” is still admired as a shining example of stop-motion success. 37 years after the video’s release, two members of the team reflect on the boundary-pushing process of discovery and invention.
Having garnered an abundance of accolades including the most awards for a single video with nine MTV Video Music Awards in 1987 and later being crowned MTV’s number one animated video of all time in 1998, the video to accompany Peter Gabriel’s song “Sledgehammer” has continued to impress music lovers and those working in the creative industries alike.
The video’s 1986 release – to accompany the first single from Gabriel’s fifth album So – not only elevated standards in the industry, it has also been a source of inspiration to many ever since. The product of an artistic collaboration between Gabriel, Aardman Animations, the Brothers Quay, director Stephen R. Johnson and a dedicated and talented team of filmmakers, model makers, animators, and scenic artists, “Sledgehammer” features ground-breaking stop-motion, claymation and pixilation techniques. It also required Gabriel to lay underneath a sheet of glass for 16 hours while the action for one of the wild and wonderful sequences was captured one frame at a time. Now that’s ultimate dedication to the craft from musician and crew.
Read the full interview on the BC website.
Peter Gabriel Ltd
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