Greenpeace

Some briefs arrive with a grin already baked in. When Greenpeace, Elvis and The Kite Factory came to Irresistible Studios with a project about legacy gifts in wills, the idea was already rich with attitude. They wanted donors who would not rest in peace. They wanted coffins, graveyards and ghosts. Most of all, they wanted a film that would feel true to the bold, uncompromising spirit of Greenpeace

Legacy giving is often presented in very soft, careful ways. This campaign takes the opposite path. Our donors are dead and delighted about it. From beyond the grave they are still causing trouble for plastic polluting, tree chopping and oil spilling companies, thanks to the gifts they left in their wills. Funeral flowers shout We Wont Rest In Peace. A hand punches up through the earth to point at the message. Skulls chat, urns sneeze and a tiny worm pops out to say thanks.

To bring that world to life we teamed up with directing duo The Nott Brothers. Together we designed a fast paced, montage style film that ping pongs between domestic life and gothic ritual. One shoot day in a house and one in a church gave us both intimacy and scale while keeping the schedule tight and achievable. We looked for locations with strong natural character so that every frame felt rich before we even rolled in the lights.

From the start this was a visual effects led piece, but our approach was always to do as much as we could in camera. Our stained glass window began as artificial intelligence generated artwork, transformed in post with three dimensional light so that coloured reflections travel across the church interior. The urn on the beach used treated stock material that sits comfortably in our slightly heightened world. Throughout, our post team worked closely with art department, camera and lighting to make sure all elements would join together cleanly.

The fun of the job came from mixing that digital craft with practical tricks. The team at Artem, along with our puppeteers, turned props into characters. The urn lid snaps like a mouth, complete with one very satisfying ash sneeze. The skull was set into real soil so that its jaw movement felt grounded, while in post we extended the environment and hid tiny surprises. For many people the star of the film is the sock puppet worm, who delivers a cheerful thank you before disappearing back into the earth.

We were working with a single sixty second hero film on a budget of around ninety thousand pounds, so planning was everything. Keeping to one location per day allowed us to protect time for performance and to give each scene its own rhythm and blocking. It also meant our cast and crew could stay relaxed and creative, which you can feel in the finished performances.

Most importantly, the experience for client, agency, crew and cast was a positive one from first call to final delivery. Greenpeace trusted us to lean into dark humour while staying respectful of real donors. Elvis kept the script sharp and playful. The Kite Factory stayed close on how the work would live across social and online. On set there was a sense of shared purpose, a group of people who know that raising funds for the planet is serious work, even when the props include skulls and worms.

We are proud of the world we built together and even more proud of the cause it supports. If you have a complicated story to tell, or a subject that feels too heavy for traditional advertising, Irresistible Studios can help you find a fresh, crafted way in. Talk to us about your next campaign and let us show how brave creative choices and smart production thinking can live side by side.

ELVIS SAID

"Irresistible were the perfect partner from the get-go for our Greenpeace campaign. They leaned in totally on the project, bringing the film to life with exceptional VFX work that elevated our creative vision beyond what we’d imagined. Having such a dedicated team working alongside us on a project close to all of our hearts made for a very special experience. We can’t wait to work with them again".

Grace Baron | Senior Account Manager | Elvis

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Credits

Client Greenpeace
Creative agency Elvis
Media agency The Kite Factory
Production company Irresistible Studios

Directors The Nott Brothers
Senior Producer Alice Duke
Executive Producer Iseult McNamara
Head of Production Harriet Kate McKean
Director of Photography Charles Mori
Production Designers The Set Sisters
Editor Tom Young
Colourist Dominic Phipps
Sound Design and Mix Jodie Clarke Mattis
Visual Effects Supervisor Pete Welton