“Sledgehammer” broke all records! The approximately five and a half minute long party quickly became the most played video on MTV. Stephen R. Johnson is the name of the director who pulled out pretty much every technical stop that could be pulled out in 1986.
Clay figures and chickens were brought to life using the stop-motion process, and in a 16-hour session, during which Peter Gabriel had to wait patiently behind glass, all the stills were filmed, the effects were first added and then put together on the editing table became.
Although work was already done on the computer, the majority of it was actually made as a live-action film. The angular, strobe-like movements harmonized perfectly with Gabriel’s heavy soul, his animated roller coaster ride, the dancing chickens and, last but not least, Peter Gabriel made of plasticine, who slams the “sledgehammer” on his skull, are small icons of the MTV age.
Incidentally, the young Nick Park, who would later achieve his own great feat with “Wallace & Gromit”, was involved in the work.
By Uwe Schleifenbaum