Friday, December 23, 2011
After one too many mince pies and festive toasts, put your feet
up this Christmas season and settle down to enjoy one of three BBC
dramas featuring VFX created by our BAFTA-winning Mill TV team.
First up on Christmas Eve is the final episode of this series of
Merlin. With the Kingdom
of Camelot under the control of the evil Morgana and Helios and our
heroes on the run, wizard Merlin must do everything in his power to
convince a disheartened Prince Arthur that he was born to
rule. But will he find the strength to fight for his kingdom
before it is too late?
No Christmas Day is complete without the much-anticipated Doctor
Who Christmas Special! In this year's outing featuring
Matt Smith as the intrepid Time Lord, it's Christmas Eve 1938, when
Madge Arwell comes to the aid of an injured 'Spaceman Angel' as she
cycles home. He promises to repay her kindness - all she has
to do is make a wish. Three years later, Madge escapes war-torn
London with her two children, but is crippled with grief at the
news her husband has been lost over the channel. The Arwells
are surprised to be greeted by a madcap caretaker whose mysterious
Christmas gift leads them into a magical wintry world. Here, Madge
will learn how to be braver than she ever thought possible. And
that wishes can come true...
Finally, on New Year's Day, the perfect hangover cure: A new
episode of the hit detective drama, Sherlock. Co-created by Steven Moffat and Mark
Gatiss, the contemporary remake of the Arthur Conan Doyle classic
stars Benedict Cumberbatch as the eponymous Sherlock Holmes and
Martin Freeman as his loyal friend, Doctor John Watson. The
new series kicks off with 'A Scandal In Belgravia'. When
compromising photographs and blackmail threaten the British
establishment, Sherlock and John find themselves battling
international terrorism, rogue CIA agents and a secret conspiracy
involving the British government. This case sees the great
detective embark on a long duel of wits with an antagonist as cold,
ruthless and brilliant as himself.
Don't miss all the action this Christmas…
Merlin, Saturday 24th December at 8pm,
BBC One.
Doctor Who Christmas Special, Sunday
25th December at 7pm, BBC One.
Sherlock, 'A Scandal in Belgravia',
Sunday 1st January 2012 at 8.10pm on BBC One.
We'd like to wish you season's greetings from everyone at The
Mill... see you in 2012!
Monday, May 09, 2011
Mill TV and Film are over the moon at winning this year's BAFTA Craft
Awards in the VFX category for their work on 'MERLIN SERIES 3,
EP 2: The Tears of Uther Pendragon part 2 for the BBC.
Will Cohen, Group Director of TV and Film said: "The team
here are all obviously elated to win for their work on
Merlin. This is our second BAFTA for Visual Effects and our
fourth nomination in as many years. The standard of work in
our category gets higher every year so it is a real honour for us
to be recognised by BAFTA".
We would like to congratulate everyone that was nominated or won
at last night's BAFTA ceremony and a big congratulations to all
involved in the making of 'MERLIN SERIES 3, EP 2: The Tears of
Uther Pendragon part 2.
Click here to view the
team collect their award and an interview straight after
their win.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
We are delighted to see that our Mill TV team have received two
nominations for this year's BAFTA Craft Awards in the Visual
Effects category for their outstanding work on both the BBC's Merlin and Doctor Who!
In a shortlist of only four programmes - which also includes
Sky1's 'Terry Pratchett's Going Postal' and BBC Two's 'Wonders of
the Solar System' - this is a marvellous achievement of which we
are all really proud.
We're keeping our fingers crossed for when the winners are
announced at a star-studded event on Sunday 8th May.
Congratulations to all those nominated and to see the full
shortlist for the 2011 BAFTA Craft Awards, visit:
http://www.bafta.org/awards/television-craft/nominations,1081,BA.html
PS: If you are as excited as us about the new series of
Doctor Who coming soon to BBC One, check out the latest cast
interviews, pics and trailers online now!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
With three series of the hit drama under their belts, our Mill
TV team's work on Merlin could be considered something just short
of magical itself!
From epic battle scenes both inside and outside the castle's
walls, to the mystical creatures that regularly threaten to wreak
havoc on the Kingdom of Camelot and its famous residents, our VFX
team have their work cut out.
Series 3 has been no exception. In our special behind-the-scenes
making of video, VFX
Supervisor Barney Curnow lifts the lid on some of the key
challenges the team faced bringing the show to life.
Friday, November 05, 2010
We are now over halfway through series 3 of BBC One's Merlin and
have done some really exciting stuff already. Battling skeletons, a
huge army attacking Camelot, lots of action with the Great Dragon
and a fully CG talking Goblin to name a few.
Last week's episode - The Eye of the Phoenix - had a large variety
of stuff too. We created some great digital matte paintings
of the Perilous Lands and the Dark Tower, the home of the Fisher
King. There had to be 3 views of this so we did this in 3D.
Below is an original storyboard for the shot:
From this, we created this initial concept for the Dark
Tower:
Which became:
And in close up:
Here is the final shot as it appeared in the episode:
We also created the Wyverns, nasty black dragon-like creatures
with glowing red eyes.
This is an early concept illustration:
They were based on the Great Dragon model initially but become
something unique quite quickly. Really lithe and evil as they chase
Arthur into the Dark Tower where, as usual Merlin saves the day,
this time with the help of Gwaine.
Here is how the textured model looked:
These were also quite a challenge but we were all really happy
with the results.
The episode culminates in Merlin's encounter with the Fisher King
who disappears in a whirlwind of rags and dust. This was based on
an effect we had done before with CG rags and cloth with CG
swirling smoke, and practical wind-blown elements, but was closer
up and more drawn out than before.
Check out the BBC's official Merlin website to catch up
on any episodes you might have missed (how could you?!) and to
learn more about the magical kingdom of Camelot and its
residents. And look out for more of Mill TV's magic in this
week's episode (in particular the Manticore!) tomorrow at
7.40pm on BBC One.
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