Above: Martin Granger.





Can you tell us about the casting for this; what were you looking for and how did you know when you'd found the right people?

MG: Casting was a bit of a head scratcher. We needed actors who loved Marmite but could convince us that they hated it. We also needed actors who could really roll with the punches and bring their own something special to their performance. All whilst acting very normal and not seem too 'actor-y'.

I guess we knew we had the right actors when we turned to each other after the actors left the room and we would say, in unison, "I believed him/her". It was a gut thing, really. It was a tough casting, but a fun one too. I had quite a bit of Marmite thrown at me. And my life threatened quite convincingly a few times too. This is how I suffer for my art.

Everybody who worked on the Mind Control project is obviously a lover (now).

How much - if any - of the script was improvised on the day?

MG: All of it! All that really existed prior to the shoot was a bare bones outline of the concept and a blueprint for how we hoped to get there. So, great kudos to both the agency and the folks at Marmite for having such great confidence and trust in me and my production team to actually pull this off.





What was the most challenging aspect of pulling this campaign together?

MF: Well, to begin with, we didn’t even know if it could be done! The whole idea rested on our ability to re-programme Marmite haters, and it was only after many discussions with professional hypnotherapist Rory Z (who collaborated with adam&eveDDB on the project) that we realised we might actually be able to pull this off. Once we knew the science behind it was sound, we worked with Ewan Jones Morris at Friends Electric to add the mesmerising visuals to Rory’s mind-control commands.

I guess we knew we had the right actors when we turned to each other after the actors left the room and we would say, in unison, "I believed him/her".

MG: I think keeping the actors away from too many choices or actions that felt too forced or artificial. We really let the cameras roll while the actors performed, so we got a lot of impromptu moments when the actors thought we had cut or that we were just rehearsing. Very fun way to work!

Above: The two-minute taster film that aims to turn any haters into lovers.





And the most rewarding?

MG: Several really. The creative team hadn’t got round to making the genuine mind control film when we started shooting. So, we went back and forth on whether it was worth our time to shoot a rough 'hypnosis video' prior to the shoot. In order for the actors to have something to watch and listen to, rather than having them staring at a blank screen.

Finally, we decided to shoot something very temporary as a sort of guide track. So, before we started the casting callbacks, we shot a two- or three-minute video with Alex Babic [the actor who stars in the mind control campaign] in a black turtleneck against a black background. Very much influenced by Big Brother of 1984 fame. It turned out so well and we loved his read so much that his 'temporary guide track' turned into the basis for the actual video.