Welcome to the world where only futuristic humanoid robots exist, and everyone worships the greatest humanoid robot racing driver: Crashtag.It's the latest blockbuster for Pink Noise directed by Kim Chapiron, and here co-directed by Paris VFX-studio CG supervisor Jehan Bouazza, based at top Paris VFX house Mathematic.Bouazza led Mathematic’s team of skilled artisans and animators throughout the nine-month production, encountering challenges in developing a modern and first of its kind music video world, solidifying a unique character design for Crashtag, and managing a high volume of assets required to create the racetrack arena.Lead Character Artist Camille Gurruchaga oversaw the creation of Crashtag, crafting the character’s background story and psychological profile to inform design decisions, while concept artists simultaneously developed the look of the environments, including the racetrack and larger arena. Once 'lookdev' was finalized, the team set out to produce the five-minute animated sequence, using Zbrush for modeling, Maya for animation, Substance Painter for textures, Nuke and Flame for compositing, Resolve for color grading, and Arnold for the final render.To bring the anthropomorphic Crashtag character to life, Mathematic motion captured a performance by Ladj Ly, the acclaimed French director of the 2019 film Les Misérables. Ly’s performance imprinted humanlike qualities – including a distinct personality and emotional warmth, when it comes to the crunch. And there is a crunch.

Little Mix aspire for domestic bliss in Fred Rowson's playful promo for No. Fed up with housework? Need help trimming the grass? Well look no further, your prayers have been answered by the all-action, all-smiling HUS-BOT!When the artists take home their own versions of a new 'mandroid', there are a few kinks getting them up and running, but then, all is well. For a while...The video was shot back in early July at the height of Covid, when Leigh-Anne and Perrie were in the later stage of their pregnancies. So the girls certainly needed a bit of help around the house.In his first video for Little Mix, Rowson brings a bit of a twisted edge to proceedings - especially when things start to go horribly wrong. Turns out it was a mistake to even rely on a robot male...

Dom&Nic are back, with another tour de force for The Chemical Brothers. And for the directors who have been making videos for the Chems for over two decades, this one for Free Yourself spins another twist on the theme that has occupied them several times before. Yes, the robots are coming - but this time, it's different. They've come to party.When the nightwatchman arrives at work, past a crowd of protesters, angry that robots have taken their jobs, he is unaware that these artificial workers, packed away in boxes, about to be sent far and wide to their appointed roles, are breaking out of their boxes. What follows is an ensemble piece, as the androids do en masse what you'd least expect. They want to have fun.Having collaborated with The Mill in London on their previous Chemical Brothers video, 2016's Wide Open, Dom&NIc (that's Dominic Hawley and Nicholas Goffey) have gone back to the visual effects studio to achieve something of similar magnitude. But this is also been a quite different challenge from Wide Open, where they were turning a human into an android.This time it's the sheer volume of different characters, all brilliantly achieved by The Mill's VFX artists and animators, that make the Free Yourself video something to savour. In fact, it definitely takes a few views to get a complete handle on everything that is going on. And, arguably, the fact that this is essentially a lighthearted, even comic, piece.What's clear is that Dom&Nic's 23 years of experience making Chemical Brothers videos - including the dancing skeletons of Hey Boy, Hey Girl, the killer robot of Believe, and the android of Wide Open - has all gone into making this one.