The director of a documentary about Pharrell Williams has said he could not imagine making the film without the use of Lego due to the way the US musician sees the world.
says that due to the way the US musician sees the world he cannot imagine making a film about him without the use of Lego to cover his life and career.
The biopic Piece By Piece, which sees Williams portrayed in Lego animation, was screened at a gala at the Royal Festival Hall to close out the BFI London Film Festival (LFF) on Sunday.
On the red carpet, director Morgan Neville told the PA news agency that using the Danish toy was Williams’ idea.
(left to right) Ben Roberts, Jill Wilfert, Caitrin Rogers, director Morgan Neville, Pharrell Williams, Brent Palmer and Kristy Matheson attend the BFI London Film Festival closing gala screening of Piece By Piece at the Royal Festival Hall in London (Jonathan Brady/PA)
He added: “He felt if he could tell his story this way, it could reach not only his own children, but a lot of children too, and it’s a film really about the power of creativity and imagination.
“And I didn’t realise just how perfect the Lego was going to be for the film, but Pharrell sees things in his brain, and because we were doing animation we could actually kind of go there.
“And he sees colour when he hears music. He has synaesthesia, is what it’s called. And so we were able to actually animate all that, which you couldn’t normally do in a movie.
“I can’t imagine making this film in any other way at this point.”
Williams has spoken about having chromesthesia, or sound-colour synaesthesia before, and how it allows him to see colour when he creates music.
Neville, who controversially used artificial intelligence (AI) in his film Roadrunner to generate the voice of the late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, was also asked about the technology.
The Oscar winner, whose music documentary 20 Feet From Stardom won an Academy Award in 2013, said: “I think it can be creatively used in a lot of ways, and I think generative AI can be good but I think it could also be very lazy.
“So I think it’s (going to) be a double-edged sword like these things are.”
Pharrell Williams stands next to a cut-out Lego figure (Jonathan Brady/PA)
Neville also told Williams that the next film should cover him becoming creative director of Louis Vuitton last year.
He said: “This (documentary) took five years, so nothing soon. I would say, no matter what, it’s (going to) take a while, but as I was finishing this film, he started working for Louis Vuitton and moved to Paris, and he said, ‘Well, should that be part of this film?’.
“And I said: ‘Pharrell, that’s the next film.’ So the sequel would be Pharrell goes to Paris.”
The end of the LFF also saw the animated film Memoir Of A Snail, starring Succession star Sarah Snook and musician Nick Cave, win the best film award.