How OVO gave life to electrical appliances

Can you walk us through how the work developed from concept to completion?

Will John, Saatchi & Saatchi: It was always a chase sequence, a tsunami of power-hungry devices chasing someone through a city and back home. Some of the beats and details within the chase changed as Jason and Alba added their magic, but the overall arc of the narrative stayed true to the original. 

Things become more palpable, tactile, and magical. Like R2-D2 in Star Wars or Gizmo in Gremlins.

I think as we developed the concept though, it became pretty apparent that it shouldn’t become too nightmarish, dark or dystopian. People worry enough about their energy, how much it costs and how much of it they use. We didn’t want to accentuate that feeling, just recognise and acknowledge the truth that people feel out of control over their energy. And then to deliver that insight in a way that smacks people between the eyeballs and leaves a smile on their face.

You decided to use practical effects over CGI – why was that? How early on did you make this decision?

That was Jason & Alba’s vision from the start and what a great one it was! It certainly helped counter that concern about anything feeling too nightmarish, because it delivers such charm. From someone inside a giant swaying fridge freezer waddling down a high street, to people using fishing rods to create velociraptor-like hoovers or piranha-snapping toasty makers, wires and human wizardry bring these objects to life and makes them move in such a way that feels almost animalistic.

They’re just everyday appliances, and that’s the joke. The comedy comes from the fact that you’re being chased by actual household objects - real, familiar  things - not magical creatures. 

There’s also a bigger degree of authenticity when you have that real-world manipulation and physicality. Things become more palpable, tactile, and magical. Like R2-D2 in Star Wars or Gizmo in Gremlins. As advanced as it is, CGI can sometimes still give you a little too much gloss, perfectly smooth animations, or even a sense of a digital veneer around a scene or a character that stops you connecting with it, vs the janky, tangible and analogue-like world of puppetry. That art form gives you a degree of personality that is hard to recreate.

A project like this must require very close collaboration with the directors and production team – what did this process look like for you?

It’s easy when you have a shared ambition and vision. Then you can fight for the right things together, defend the right things together, and adapt or change certain things together. Having two awesome humans like Jason & Alba also helps. 

We always imagined the appliances a bit like Gremlins - stupidly evil, more funny than scary.

What's the secret to bringing inanimate objects to life and giving them personality? What technical effects did you use?

Jason & Alba (REALITE), CANADA London: We always imagined the appliances a bit like Gremlins - stupidly evil, more funny than scary. That was the tone we were going for. At the same time, we wanted them to feel completely real. They’re just everyday appliances, and that’s the joke. The comedy comes from the fact that you’re being chased by actual household objects - real, familiar  things - not magical creatures.

Most of the objects were brought to life practically: puppeteers, custom rigs, wires, motorised platforms… It was all very handcrafted. We leaned into a kind of B-movie spirit - figuring out the most direct (and most fun) way to animate each object physically. That handmade approach gave the appliances a lot of charm and personality. 

Even though we managed to pull off way more practical stunts than we expected, there was still a ton of work to do in post. 

What’s great about practical effects is that they force you to ask the right questions. Like: here’s a fridge- how do you make it walk? And then you literally have to make it happen. Stick rods in it, move it around, test things out. Somewhere in that process, the personality of each appliance starts to emerge. And weirdly, it just works.

That mindset really influenced the character design. The fridge ended up moving like a heavy animal- slow, powerful, relentless. The vacuum cleaner? We imagined it like a tracking dog with a long, snaky neck - sniffing, hunting. That kind of physical thinking made the whole exploration process super fun.

Were there any times during the shoot that you thought ‘we probably should have just used CGI’?

We definitely had some doubts early on, especially during the planning phase. But honestly, once we got into preproduction, the answer became clear: no. We realised there was no way we could achieve this level of craft, texture, and physicality with CGI alone. That said, we also knew from the start that some shots wouldn’t be possible fully in camera. So we planned for a hybrid approach. 

That’s probably the moment we thought, “okay, maybe we should’ve just used CGI…”

Even though we managed to pull off way more practical stunts than we expected, there was still a ton of work to do in post. Selected Works handled massive cleanups, layers of enhancements, and even full-CGI appliances for some of the more complex sequences. That’s probably the moment we thought, “okay, maybe we should’ve just used CGI…”