Squash’d

To celebrate the launch of SQUASH’D, Robinsons and iris challenged Framestore to prove the drink really can be made anywhere by mixing it in zero gravity. So, unlike when making Gravity, which saw Framestore simulate the effects of weightlessness with their feet firmly on the ground, the crew took a trip up in a Go ZeroG plane to capture it for real.

The film was directed by Framestore Creative Director Mike McGee and the production team was led by David Hay. “The challenge from Robinsons was definitely daunting” says Mike. “When we were inside the 'vomit comet', things got out of control pretty quickly: bits of our equipment floated away, cables floated up in front of the camera, cameras pointed in the wrong direction and the crew spun around uncontrollably feeling nauseous.”

two astronauts in zero gravity as water floats amongst them

two astronoauts in zero gravity drinking squash that is floating in air

For this advert, Framestore had a team of eight up on the plane with a Go Pro camera each, along with two high-speed cameras shooting at 2K, which allowed for the slowing down and zooming in on the all-important mixing shot. With only 12 takes to get everything needed and only 15 seconds of weightlessness at a time, it was a formidable task, but as you can see, Framestore managed it!