On Saturday, HeyUGuys were invited to Innocent Smoothies HQ near Hammersmith alongside a group of film students, fellow bloggers and other assorted industry types for a glimpse into the creative process, as presented by one of the UK’s brightest filmmaking talents.
During the morning we were privy to a humorous and enlightening directing masterclass from Ben Wheatley. Wheatley (pictured) was behind the recent Innocent Smoothies superhero pastiche (embedded below) and is a talented and well-respected creative figure, having spanned a number of areas within the industry during his career so far. He has contributed to hours of fun online virals, made a number of award-winning commercials, and both directed TV and (more recently) has made two feature films.
Aided by a fun PowerPoint presentation, Wheatley offered both a behind-the-scenes look at devising a commercial, and a candid guide to the do’s and don’t of working within the industry. All this was interwoven with snippets of the director’s own work, which not only demonstrated an extremely imaginative sensibility, but also highlighted that sometimes a quirky, low-fi approach is just as effective as ploughing loads of money into projects and relying on state of the art equipment to realise your vision.
In the afternoon we were split up into groups of five and handed a small box of props, before being asked to devise and shoot our own 30 second superhero adverts with the proviso that the Innocent Smoothies bottle (replete with it’s own red cape) be centre-stage throughout.
It was a fun and creative day for all involved and culminated in a screening of the team’s efforts from the afternoon, the results of which really illustrated a considerable amount of talent from everyone involved – particularly given the time, material and budgetary restraints!
You too can enter Innocent Smoothies superhero competition. Details can be found on the company’s own YouTube page.
