Peter Gabriel

Sledgehammer (1986) makes Gabriel's face and body material for animation rather than simply objects for a camera to admire. Stephen R. Johnson directed, with contributions from animators including Aardman and the Brothers Quay. Gabriel's willingness to submit to the painstaking process is central to the result. Watch the small movements of his eyes and mouth as objects and textures transform around him. It is a model of star performance built through collaboration with visual craft, humour and deliberate physical limitation.