Artem were approached by Mallinson Television Productions to come up with a way of making people appear as though they had been crushed like beer cans for Tennents Lager commercial “Black Magic”.

The commercial, conceptualised by Newhaven, features a scorned girlfriend who, armed with a beginners guide to Voodoo, collects objects washed up on a beach (including a Tennents can) to make into a likeness of her ex-boyfriend.

However, instead of having the desired effect on the intended recipient, everything she does to the Tennents Voodoo Doll causes a sympathetic reaction from Tennents drinkers.

The can suffers various tortures including having nails stuck into it and being thrown around before finally being crushed under a wheel. 

Artem designed and fabricated special costumes that enabled actors to appear as though they had been crushed like a concertina.

Raised platforms and green screen filming techniques were used to achieve the desired effect.  Two of the performers were able to use their own arms, while having their legs puppeteered.  The other performer - who was required to walk - used the arms of a green clad technician, whilst using his own hands to move the feet of his costume. 

Phil Ashton, Artem SFX Supervisor, commented:

“We were asked to produce costumes that would reduce the height of the performers to only 3ft. The costumes had to look like the performers had crushed bodies, yet still allow them to move comfortably, while masking the lower half of their real bodies. It was a tricky problem to solve in the short deadline.”