The Mill created a CG snail race for this Guiness ad campaign entitled Bet on Black. Courtesy of Guiness and The Mill.

It didn’t take long for Mill Film to catch the eye of the Hollywood studios, and before long visual effects for films like Cats and Dogs, Enemy of the State, and Babe: Pig in the City were being completed in London. By 2001 Mill Film was responsible for work on more than 10 high-profile feature films, including Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, both of the Harry Potter films, and Black Hawk Down.

But Mill Film will go down in history for its work on Scott’s Gladiator, for which it won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. London-based artists worked on hundreds of shots for the highly acclaimed movie, ranging from simple composites to complex sequences utilizing hundreds of CG characters. For such a complex project to be completed by a British VFX house is a monumental achievement not often seen, and thus Mill Film is the only British studio to be honored with an Oscar for visual effects.

New York, New York
The Mill had dabbled with a few commercials for the U.S. market, but founders Shenfield and Joseph knew that to really get their foot in the door they needed a stronger U.S. presence. In 2001 The Mill New York was launched, and to date the company has completed an impressive number of projects. Amongst Levis and Land Rover spots, The Mill New York was responsible for the Pepsi Twist ad featuring Mike Myers (as Austin Powers) and Britney Spears. Recent projects include a brilliant Nike spot for Wieden & Kennedy in which flame artists digitally enhanced shots of Michael Jordan’s finest moments to allow the viewer to see them in more detail. The Mill New York is now an essential part of The Mill group and more investment is planned.

Controversial director Tony Kaye and The Mill came up with feature production values for this Twister campaign for Volvo. Courtesy of Volvo and The Mill.

The Big Change
In November 2002, much to the shock of the VFX community, The Mill announced that it was closing the doors to Mill Film in an effort to once again focus on its core commercial work. Shenfield, Mill co-founder and ceo, admits that although Mill Film was, “a creative and commercial success…film is a volatile business that requires both scale and continuous investment. It is hugely dependent on U.S. studios bringing work to the U.K. to take advantage of tax breaks. The opportunities in advertising are too good to pass up, and need 100% focus and commitment.”

Getting Back to its Roots
Today at The Mill work is going steady, and has been since the beginning of the year. Artists have recently completed work on a number of impressive commercials, including German building Society Badenia's Baby, in which The Mill’s 3D department created a CG baby inside its mother’s womb. The 3D department also created a group of CG skeletons for Murphey’s Dying For a Drink commercial, and The Mill’s flame team have completed work on, among other things, one of Vodafone’s Go Live campaigns featuring David Beckham.

This refocus has also allowed the company to delve more into TV work, and Mill artists recently completed work on the BBC’s period drama, Daniel Deronda, in which they digitally reconstructed old London. Mill TV has also created CG strands of DNA for Channel 4’s new five-part documentary, DNA. For director Andrea Vecchiato’s new feature film Luminal, Mill TV worked on a number of blue screen composites and unusual 3D elements for the project. This was The Mill’s first hi-def feature film project.

Yet throughout this change The Mill has managed to keep a loyal client base of some of the best ad agencies and directors in the world. People keep coming back to London for The Mill’s unique style, attitude and commitment.

Paul Younghusband has been writing about all things visual effects and animation related for around five years, having served as editor of Visual Magic Magazine. He recently dyed his hair bright red for Comic Relief and now believes this could be an excellent plot for his animated short film...which has been in development for around 36 months...