“How you start is everything,” says the stoic Pharrell, standing in a white, spaceship-like room. “I start pure — with a blank canvas.”

Featuring his track ‘Truth or Dare’, Pharrell shows us how he creates layer after layer of sound to mix a track. First he adds adds the beat, trying out a round of percussionists, then the “groove”. As Pharrell sleepily points his finger, visions of instrumentalists – personified audio samples – spring to life, filling the room. “Then, the vocals,” he commands, and the white space is transformed into a packed club, its imperturbable creator above, looking on calmly at the crowd. The result: a perfectly mixed, full impact sound. The parallels to a Smirnoff mixed drink are obvious enough.

Directed by Darryl Ward of Curious Films, Cutting Edge had two weeks to create a minute-long VFX heavy piece for Smirnoff and Leo Burnett Sydney, as well as 30′ and 15′ versions. From the architectural pre-vis to the transitions to the rotoscoping and compositing, it was a tight turn-around.
Says Pharrell: “I like how Smirnoff present a pure vodka, perfect for mixing – this is what I try to do with my music, so I agreed to be a part of this campaign.”
http://www.vimeo.com/28286943

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