Rascal Wins Gold at The Creative Circle Awards for Mesmerising V&A Campaign

Rascal has scooped up another Gold Best Sound Design award for Victoria & Albert Museum, “Creativity. It’s What Makes Us”, at the Creative Circle Awards 2023. 

Synchronised to a haunting original soundtrack by FredWave, Rascal coordinated the sound design for the contemporary campaign. Led by audio creative director Neil Johnson and sound producer Jai Mhach Durban, the film appeals to a younger demographic, hinting at the exhibitions that the museum has on offer through a stylised, creative lens. 

Created by adam&eveDDB and directed by Georgia Hudson through Park Pictures, the enchanting two-minute visual tells the story of a mannequin encountering incredible art, design and performance inside the museum's iconic London site. From fashion and jewellery to photography and sculpture, it's the boundless creativity within the museum walls that brings the masked mannequin, dancer and lead choreographer Max Cookward (BBC Young Dancer 2019, Contemporary Finalist) to life. 

With Oscar-nominated cinematographer Seamus McGarvey as director of photography, the campaign film explores key themes of self-expression and youth culture to champion the belief that creativity is what makes us human. 

Georgia Hudson, director at Park Pictures says, “I first worked with Neil on my documentary Temper - which was when I realised that he really loves what he does and is down to forge an experimental score. Neil is a great collaborator as he is responsive and open minded as well as having a great sense of creativity, I like that he is a bit of a rhythm rebel and up for throwing things about.  So when V&A came round it was very clear to me Neil was the man for the job - we had an opportunity to create something artistic and unusual, there was a hell of a lot of back and forth between the composer FredWave, myself and Neil - it became a mad tapestry of ideas and efforts anchored by Neil’s craft and dedication to getting us into form.”

Neil Johnson, creative director of audio and sound designer at Rascal, comments, “We are immensely privileged that adam&eveDDB, Park Pictures, and Georgia approached us to be part of this truly fantastic project, entrusting our talent at Rascal. Now, a year later, the remarkable output of quality work from our team at Rascal speaks volumes. As we continue to flourish, we take great pride in adding yet another award-winning project to our reel!”