Ray Ban 'Cow Birth'

Viral directed by Minivegas, produced by Agile Films for San Francisco based agency Cutwater.

Minivegas came up with the idea of a cow giving birth to a man! To work, the piece needed to feel authentic and home made, with the edginess and off-the-wall sensibility that Ray Ban is famed for. The farm setting had to be authentic to create a real surprise when the newborn entered the world.

But how do you make a man appear from inside a cow? Using a motion control rig, and two videos spliced together. The first shot was with a real cow, laid down on the ground and apparently in labour. For the second shot we had the rear end of a cow – anatomically correct of course – built by Jim Henson’s Creature Workshop. Then it was a simple case of pulling our hero out from inside, with some placenta-like goo covering him to complete the effect. Hey presto – man is born of cow.

Now this isn’t something you see every day, so understandably the video racked up the views on YouTube – two million in just four weeks – and an assortment of bewildered comments from people who wanted to know just how it was done.