A collaboration with London Creative Agency Hijinks and Caleb McDuff, an 18-year-old Welsh racing driver who has made history as the UK’s leading deaf competitor in high-performance GT racing.
CALEB
McDUFF
WORKFLOW: FILM + TRADITIONAL VFX + ENHANCED AI
SILENCE WAS
HIS COACH
“I think it helped me focus more on what’s ahead of me than what’s surrounding with the sound.”
- Caleb, BBC News
"Until last year he was driving in silence"
BEHIND
THE FINAL SPOT
WORKFLOW:
FILM + TRADITIONAL VFX + ENHANCED AI
AGENCY: Hijinks
CLIENT: Caleb McDfuff
DIRECTED BY: Lee Ford (SWEETSHOP)
Driving in silence comparable to the most remote places in the universe taught Caleb to focus and master every other sense he has.
Our narrative progression comes from hooking people into this cinematic abstract environment at the beginning that mirrors his unique way of learning motor racing, before bringing him back down to Earth at the end.
With a creative like this, the combination of traditional special effects, live studio footage, archival family-sourced material, and AI felt like the right approach to deliver a high-quality visual spectacle without sacrificing authenticity. A question we ask ourselves at every stage of production. One of the earliest decisions was around consistency and brand control: every element had to feel like it belonged in the same world.
Bringing together the creative vision of film director Lee Ford, the team built a like-for-like model of Caleb's racing Porsche to place across a series of silent environments, including the vast expanse of outer space.
The AI components were deliberately integrated into an existing production pipeline rather than replacing it, this is where the combination of human craft and AI capability genuinely earns its place.
The project ran from start to finish in two months. Every tweak along the way was made in service of one goal: a completely authentic car and a completely authentic story, paired with Caleb's own voice recording as he takes us through the journey. The result is a film that audiences can feel was made with intention
