There’s been more than a few tenpin bowling videos in the past, but none of them have managed to put quite the, er, spin on proceedings as Sam Pilling does for Two Door Cinema Club’s Handshake.

Starting with a wild-eyed individual using a butcher’s chopper to ominous effect, we soon discover the purpose of his work: he needs the head of TDCC frontman Alex Trimble (and those of bandmates Kevin and Sam) for his big upcoming bowling contest – they are the bowling balls.

What follows does to some extent owe a debt to the other great Nineties film featuring tenpin bowling that isn’t The Big Lebowski – we’re talking Kingpin, of course. First off, Sam has pulled together a great cast of bug-eyed weirdos – mainly Ian Virgo and Martin Hancock as the rival bowlers – who turn the dial to 11.

And then there’s the added ridiculousness of the band as bowling balls which keeps getting better, as the trio are subjected to a variety of indignities – right down the final glorious throw. The VFX work by Tim Keeling is excellent – Sam explains below how they achieved the rolling heads FX – and that ‘lick’ shot at the end is priceless…

Sam Pilling on the making of the video for Two Door Cinema Club’s Handshake

“I was really excited to make this idea so thank you to the band, their management and Kitsune for really believing in the project!

“The real challenge was working out how the hell we were physically going to make the heads roll. Tim (the VFX supervisor) and I worked closely together trying to find the best way of achieving all the different VFX shots.

“We had some great advice from some VFX specialists, but its always easier said than done and putting the theory into practice proved to be a problem – one which ended at midnight, the evening before the shoot with pieces of polystyrene littered all over the floor, foam stuffing ripped out of the office sofas and Tim wrapped in a entire 60m roll of bubble wrap, then almost passing out!

“The shoot itself was great fun with a lot of laughs, despite trying to squeeze a 70+ shot list into one day! This was really a testament to the great team of people we worked with so thank you to all involved! You know who you are!!! It was an absolute pleasure working with such talented actors. Ian & Martin completely nailed it and made the stressful experience just that bit easier!

“A massive thanks to the band for being so up for it on the day. They had just played a gig in Brussels the night before, then travelled over night to get to London in time for the shoot. I’m sure the last thing they wanted to be doing was rolling along a hard wooden floor with a cushion stuffed down their backs!

“Everything weird that I asked them to do, they did with a smile! Yes, Alex did lick the bowling pin and Kevin was actually dragged along with his head in the gutter! As for Sam, he just got away with a stern talking to and Ian’s fingers rammed down his throat!”

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