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BFI Future Film Festival

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Last weekend Mill London's 3D scheduling guru Ben Burdock attended the 6th BFI Future Film Festival, which took place at London's BFI South Bank Centre. He brings us his roundup of a weekend of fresh new films and obscenely creative up and coming talent…

> > The festival was founded with the ambition to champion young talent in the world of film, and has gone on to successfully launch the careers and bring attention to rising stars from across the UK. This year's festival was no different and offered a wide selection of events and screenings, ranging from past winners through to Oscar nominees. The festival was spread across 3 days, with each day focusing on the areas of fiction, animation and documentaries respectively.

Day 1 of the festival showcased a fantastic selection of work from blossoming film makers, with a particular focus on successful micro-budget features that had done extremely well in 2012. The first feature was Rob Savage's BIFA award winning debut, 'Strings', which he wrote, shot and directed at the age of 18 with just £3000. The film follows the path of a German exchange student and her relationship with a British boy, charting their troubled youthful romance before her return to Munich. Rob screened his film, which was followed by a Q&A with a keen young audience eager to hear how they could go about making a film of this depth and scale themselves.

The next feature to be showcased was Sally El Hosaini's BIFA and Sundance award winning debut, 'My Brother The Devil'. The film follows two brothers from the heart of Hackney whose lives are changed forever after a series of unfortunate events, testing their relationship as they try to survive the perils of gangland London and featuring fantastic breakout performances from a young cast destined for success in the future. The screening was followed by a Q&A with Sally and the cast of the film.

The festival also showcased an amazing selection of BAFTA nominated shorts amongst many other talks and Q&A's on the first day.

On the Sunday I returned to the festival for a day of events and screenings focused on animated films and the VFX industry. First up was a screening of Oscar nominated feature film, 'ParaNorman', followed by a Q&A with the director, Sam Fell. The film itself was an incredible mix of stop-motion animation and CGI, coupled with a gripping storyline about a young boy who can see ghosts that unexpectedly had me rooted to my seat throughout. The Q&A with Sam was even better, it started with him telling the audience how he became a Hollywood director followed by an impressively detailed breakdown of the film. Sam's story was definitely an inspiring one for anyone looking to get into world of animation, whether it be traditional animation or CGI.

Next up was the 'Breaking into VFX' talk, featuring a VFX masterclass from our very own Matt Mckinney! The speakers - including artists from DNEG and Framestore - took the sold out crowd through all aspects of the VFX industry, mainly focusing on the best ways to break into the industry. Though I have already been through that stage of my career the talk was extremely insightful and it's always interesting to see the pace at which the quality of student work increases year upon year. There really are some amazing student films out there at the moment. The speakers also took us through their favourite projects they had worked on, including a walkthrough of Matt's fantastic work on Doctor Who and Merlin to name but two. If anyone reading is looking to get into the VFX industry, then I would highly recommend that you get hold of a recording of this talk if you weren't able to attend.

To finish off my weekend at the festival I attended the Future Film Animation Awards, which showcased some fantastic animation work from students across the UK. There were films made across all mediums, but it was the hand drawn short, 'The Honey Plot', that really caught my attention. The film was created entirely through the use of highly detailed hand drawn animation by students from The Arts University at Bournemouth. As well as striking character and layout designs, the film's narrative worked really well within the time constraints of a short film, with the comedic elements of the story working hand in hand with the characters and world in which they had created.

All in all I had a great weekend at the festival and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to break into the world of fiction, animation or documentary film making. As well as catering for young audiences the festival continues to launch the careers of fresh film makers, so I sincerely hope the festival will be around for the long haul! A list of the events and films can be found here."

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FITC Festival 2013

Friday, February 22, 2013

FITC stands for Future. Innovation. Technology. Creativity. Which according to FITC, captures the essence of what their conferences are all about. With global events at various locations around the world (including Tokyo, San Francisco, Seoul, Toronto and New York) this week was the turn of Amsterdam to host the latest FITC. London Marketing Manager Victoria Poole attended, and brings us her round-up of her first FITC experience.

> > I attended the 2013 FITC Festival (18^th - 20^th Feb) in Amsterdam held at the creative venue of Felix Meritis, alongside The Mill's Business Development Director Andy Orrick and Head of 3D Tom Bussell, who were invited to give a talk on day two.

Their talk was titled 'If only we knew THEN what we know NOW' and took the format of sharing 4 key creative lessons that the business has learnt over the last 23 years, each lesson illustrated with some of our most iconic and unexpected VFX work, alongside some really interesting Mill+ projects.

We were thrilled with the turn out, as we virtually filled the venue space, despite being the first talk of the day at 10am. It also followed the opening night party and three other talks going on at the same time! Andy and Tom received such positive feedback both from the FITC organisers and audience members so it felt like the talk kicked off day two with a bang!

FITC Amsterdam hosted a variety of really creative and technical talks, of which Anrick Bregman working with Unit9 stood out. His day two afternoon talk featured some of his best 'cult web' stories and campaign work. A highlight was hearing about his work on the Stella Artois Black Diamond campaign.

I was also really engaged by GMunk's unusual presenting style as he meandered through recent design, direction and galactic crusading projects including designing all the FITC 2013 collateral and print campaign. The strong typography for Gmunk's FITC opening work was also created by Mill designer Brian Gossett.

The location of the venue really was a highlight of the festival, as it was situated in the centre of Amsterdam by the Keizersgracht canal which allowed easy access to a host of nearby cool bars, restaurants and shops.

We congregated for drinks and food before and after the talks at the Foyer bar in the venue and enjoyed popping into various nearby eateries including Cafe Luxembourg, which was a great local find for delicious steaks and fries and one of the best burgers I have eaten in a long while!

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Tomas Wall takes on every role in a sci-fi brand video

Monday, February 11, 2013

After hearing people throughout his career claim that if they'd directed/produced/written etc. a project they'd have done it "better", Tomas Wall (Nuke Artist) decided to put this common claim to the test and took on a project which he wrote, directed, produced, D.O.P'ed, post produced AND did the VFX for. Here he talks us through the highs and lows of this ambitious and inspirational under-taking…

"Throughout my career I have many times heard others complaining about directors, producers and ideas. "If I was the director I would do a way better job than this" is a common theme. I have also heard lots of people talking about doing their own project, then claiming the reason they don't is that they don't have the time.

I had an idea about making my own thing. I decided to do what other people want to do but don't have time for doing: a personal project. The first thing I did was to call my friends David and Nazanin, who at the time lived in Oslo. They had started a company together with two other friends, Hampus and Marcus: A touch screen gloves brand. You know, those kind of gloves you can use to navigate on your phone, without having to take them off on a cold winter day. The very first thing they were very clear on was that they couldn't pay me a penny. The very first thing I was very clear on was that I didn't want any money, I wanted to do this project as an experiment to myself. I was the writer, director, producer, D.O.P, post-producer and VFX Artist. How much could I do on my own?



We decided my friends would provide me with references that fit in the frame of their brand. The references I got were quite clear - they wanted something modern and futuristic: Matrix, Tron and Harry Potter shots were the major part of the references. Their brand "Tatchies" represented the good side, the new fresh brand with new ideas. All other big fashion brands represented the dark side who fight for people to dress like they want us ordinary people to dress. Inspired by the first chase in The Matrix, when Trinity is being chased by agents and policemen, I created a storyboard. Everyone liked the idea: Tatchies is the hero being chased by other fashion brands, and gets away. We started to do casting among our friends and connections and found four girls and one guy who were perfect for the spot.

I made a deal with my former employer in Stockholm. I could borrow the entire 400sq/m green screen studio, a RED One, all lights I needed, styling area and two full time employers for the shoot. But: only for 4 hours on a Saturday. I got a crash course in how to operate a RED for an hour by the camera supervisor at the studio. Two friends of mine did the styling of the actors in one hour while the rest of us prepared the studio. Since we only had the studio for 4 hours I decided that we could only go for one light set up on set, and then match the light to the CG created backgrounds in post. We all worked like crazy and finished on time!

After the shoot I flew back to London and started working as a Nuke Lead Compositor for The Mill. During the following weekends in October 2011 I edited the spot. I had realized by now how much work a 1 minute green screen spot actually is. At the same time I had work way above my ears at The Mill and had to pause my personal project. Over time I wanted to do more CG than I had initially planned to do. I got in touch with a CG Artist, Daniel, in Stockholm who was really hooked on the idea. Luckily, he was also prepared to do it for free.



In the middle of all this I got sent over to The Mill New York, to work on some of the Super Bowl commercials. In New York I continued to work on my project. I even bought a new computer so I could work from home. Also, one thing was missing: we hadn't had time to shoot the evil boss back in Sweden. So 5 months after the shoot in Stockholm, I borrowed all the equipment I could from The Mill New York and shot the last scene, the evil boss. I did it in the reception on the sixth floor one night after work!

By mid summer I was still missing a few backplates for some of the shots. I decided to do it the old fashion way: I was on holiday for a weekend in Sweden and took my Canon 7D with me. I went out with my girlfriend to parking garages around Stockholm and took snapshots of all the missing plates. I later stitched these together and modified them in Nuke to match the CG plates I had already had been given by Daniel. By now I also had a few almost fully or nearly fully CG shots rendered for me. In a few shots I imported the models from Maya straight in to Nuke and then projected shaders my self. About 30 percent of the spot uses shading rendered from Maya, the rest are projected shaders all done in Nuke.



One week before delivery I still had loads of work to do. I even had to redo two shots from scratch since they were lost from a formatted hard drive. All the final grading had to be done in Nuke. I used 7 days of time I had in lieu and worked 08:00 - 24:00, for 7 days straight, in my kitchen on my PC. Still starting from scratch to finalizing each comp, in one day. When I felt a comp was almost done, I played it to myself two times. If I couldn't see any clear mistakes no non-VFX-person would either, and I signed it off as done.

During the last week I had a friend in Sweden working on the sound design. He ended up composing a song for me, plus doing the sound effects and foley. During the last weekend I flew over to Sweden for a final check of the sound. Another friend of mine who runs a sound studio, Cutting Room, mastered the final track for me only 3 hours before deadline. Me and my friends had booked White Room, a night club in Stockholm, where we had a kick off party for the brand video on a big screen for our friends and colleagues in the business.

& What is the conclusion of this project?
Don't do everything yourself if you want everything to be perfect. Do it to see what you're capable of doing. Push your own limits in areas of a production where you normally don't work."

// Thanks Tomas for this fascinating guest blog. To view the film in full, you can do so here and a 2 minute behind the scenes film here.

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Guinness 'Cloud' honored at the 11th Annual VES Awards

Wednesday, February 06, 2013

It's one of the biggest nights in the visual effects calendar, and last night Mill attendees from Los Angeles, London & New York dug out their sharpest suits and finest gowns and headed down to the Beverly Hilton Hotel, Los Angeles. Having had one of our strongest years nominations wise, The Mill were thrilled to hear that Guinness 'Cloud' continued its award roll, taking home the gong in the Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation in a Commercial or Broadcast Program category.

Huge congratulation to Tom Bussell, Neil Davies and all those who involved in the winning spot!

The 11th annual VES awards was attended by over a thousand filmmakers, producers, artists and celebrities. Ceremony highlights of the night included director Ang Lee being honored with the VES Visionary Award, presented by Dennis Muren and Richard Edlund awarded with the Lifetime Achievement, presented by Harrison Ford.

Here is the round up of the rest of the night's big winners.

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Ravens won the game, but who watched where?

Monday, February 04, 2013

After the last few weeks of long days and dry eyes in the final Super Bowl countdown, where did people from The Mill choose to sit back and watch the nail-biting nerve-grinding game and the hotly anticipated commercials play out? It certainly is an eclectic offering with just a touch of healthy fightin' talk…



Jillian Lynes (Library & Dispatch, LA) AKA Our Very Own Athlete
"An early start at 5:15am on Super Bowl Sunday; I fueled up and slipped into my running gear.  My wonderful father drove me from my parents' home in Newport Beach to the already bustling city of Huntington Beach (the full marathon started at 6:30am!  But thankfully my start time was a more reasonable 7:45am). He dropped me off near the Hyatt on Beach and the Pacific Coast Highway, and I did a little warm up jog and guzzled down a couple last minute tangerines.  This was my fourth half marathon race - a gorgeous day and a huge turnout of 20,859 runners!  Nothing says sports celebration like secreting liquid awesome with 20K strangers!  It wasn't my fastest nor my slowest race (time of 2:28:29) and I ended up walking a bit.  But I had an amazing time running up and down PCH, and then I went to DISNEYLAND to celebrate the rest of the day!!  I powered through the whole game and the best part of course, THE COMMERCIALS!!!, at the ESPN Zone in Downtown Disney. "



Nora Barlow (Marketing, LA) AKA In It For The Half-time Show
"I'm a fair-weather sports fan - someone who picks their team right before the finals, can never seem to remember the rules of the game, and exudes enthusiasm for players as I learn their names. Though I may not be a football fan, I'm definitely a Super Bowl fan. Rather than following the players and referees I rally on Sunday for the topnotch commercials, delicious food and general fanfare. This year I stayed home with a fresh batch of guacamole, The Mill's Twitter feed and plenty of commercial breaks. I felt all-American walking around my apartment to the sound of butting helmets and cheering fans. I sat glued to the TV for Beyoncé (and Destiny's Child! Bootylicious!!) and made a mental note to record her HBO documentary. I clearly have a lot to learn from this woman. Hence my Queen B inspired power surge photo shoot (say that five times fast!). Poor photoshop skills aside, it was another terrific Super Bowl on and off the field. There's nothing more enjoyable than participating in an event that unites so many, that connects millions with a shared narrative - especially from the comfort of your own couch!"



Tomas Wall (Nuke, LDN) AKA Flew To NY Especially
"Tired from a not too smooth flight, with delays and cancelled trains I arrived in New York on Sunday afternoon. As a London representative I am here for a few meetings over the next weeks, with my New York colleagues, and saw the chance to book an early morning flight which would allow me to attend Super Bowl Sunday in the US. I was here last year over Super Bowl, and I have no problems at all making this a yearly tradition! The Mill NY always books the back part of Sláinte Bar on 304 Bowery. It's amazing to see people pay attention to both the game AND the commercials breaks. To have worked on a Super Bowl commercial works like a bridge between foreigners and US citizens. You get a chance to see your work, and automatically learn about a big part of American sports culture. The party was a blast with lots of food and drinks! I stayed long enough to watch the Ravens win. However, at the very end, after 24h of staying awake, I didn't finish like a rock star: I crashed in my bed - looking forward to next year. I love you New York."





Gail Hilton (Beam, NY) AKA Mardis Gras Baby!
"Rumor is that the west coast is the best coast but I beg to differ. Once again the east coast has brought it...not only because the Ravens were kickin a to the double s but because I decided to theme my housewarming/Super Bowl party all things New Orleans! From homemade gumbo to dirty rice with a touch of pimms n beer slushies, the French Quarter found it's way to Manhattan! The trash talk truly began when two of my old roommates were reunited who are both die hard fans of opposing teams! They managed to end the night with hugs though, helped by a few pimms by that point. Another surprise guest of honor was my friend's colleague who flew in from Austria that afternoon and bought along a vintage 1970s Austrian dessert wine! It wasn't all about the drink (although we did have so much beer that we had to put some on the fire escape to keep it all cold!), themed sustenance was also key in the shape of gumbo, jalapeño cheddar corn muffins, nachos, wings, lamb meatballs, cheese, cheese and more cheese… .chocolate banana bread and even a chocolate cake shaped like a football. What a night!"



Tom Gentry (Engineer, LDN) AKA The Lifer
"I've been a fan of the NFL since I was very young because my Dad used to be an OB engineer for NBC and would work on the matches and bring them home on (NTSC!) VHS tapes. Being in the UK it can be quite difficult to watch games and stay on top of the leagues etc but the Super Bowl, in my book, is always the night that you make an exception for. Me and my friends went to Road House in Covent Garden where our local team London Blitz (we do have American Football teams in the UK, albeit few and far between) were putting on their annual Super Bowl party. The place was buzzing with everyone wearing jerseys for practically every team in the NFL with a strong leaning towards the 49ers (you could tell by the boos and hisses when the Ravens were on screen). The atmosphere stayed alive right the way through the game and even during the power cut that held up proceedings at the beginning of the 3rd Quarter! I'm a Giants fan but was backing the Ravens for the evening as they're much more interesting to watch with a much more exciting Quarter back and wide receivers. As it happens, that was the right team to back! Although to give the 49er their dues they came back very strong in the 3rd/4th quarters. Hopefully I'll be able to make it to one of the matches at Wembley this year, if not, until next year, Super Bowl!"

Bethan Barker (Social Media, LDN) AKA The Tweeter
"Given that #SuperBowl is THE biggest thing to happen on Twitter all year, I knew it was vital that I positioned myself in the thick of the atmosphere, conversation and debate around all things sport, commercials and Super Bowl. I was fortunate enough to bag tickets for the NFL Super Bash at Koko, Camden. The event was BIG, free beer, free soft drinks, free hot dogs, jambala, nachos and pizza, the Jacksonville Jaguar cheerleaders (although their mascot was also there who had some serious moves to rival the girls…) a host of NFL players, break dancers, huge screens playing out the game and most importantly? Foam fingers for all! It was a big year for me as a Social Media obsessive. Whilst the Super Bowl is still ALL about the commercials, for the first time ever this year it felt it was equally about the social media buzz. It was exhilarating to see how so many brands tied in social media and hashtags to their campaigns; a key example being Lincoln's first ever Super Bowl spot that gave viewers the change to write the script using Twitter hashtag  #steerthescript or Oreo who used the 'blackout' to their advantage, quickly tweeting a new ad reassuring users they could still "dunk in the dark".  It's this type of instant, reactionary behavior and shared global experience that highlights the power of Twitter. I also had a chuckle at the millions of Bane references (Dark Knight Rises fans will understand!) when the blackout hit. On the field, in Koko and on Twitter it was certainly a nail-biting, truly historical match and I absolutely loved being a part of it. Even if it meant a 6am bedtime. I also really don't want to take my foam finger off. Do you think I can attempt bring them into every day fashion?"

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