Our global studios get creative with ‘Learning At Work Week’ #1
Pre-Post with Simon Chaudoir
Renowned Director of Photography Simon Chaudoir stopped by The Mill to discuss the process of shooting and why the rushes you deal with are brilliant or downright awful. Our team was hooked with humorous stories and project insights throughout.
Creative Show & Tell: Winter Olympics w/ Ross Urien & Will MacNeil
February 20th 2022, saw another first for The Mill. Working for the Italian Olympic committee, the Mill produced over six minutes of content for the Flag Handover section of the 2022 Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony. Creative Director Ross Urien and Design Director Will MacNeil sat down to talk about the highs and lows of this epic project. From the glamour of workshops in Milan to the panic of buffering 5G downloads in the freezing basement of the Beijing Stadium, our audience got a sense of what goes into making content for the world’s largest LED screen for one of the world’s most complicated broadcasts.
Screen Time with Abby Siegel
Our production coordinator Abby Siegel, based at our LA facility, sat down to speak about her passion for screen printing and walked the team through how they can make their tee or tote bag. Needless to say, the team got stuck in and designed some brilliant pieces.
Craft and Graft with Craig Black
Craig Black is best known for his ‘Acrylic Fusion’ technique creating artworks, murals and installations for brands, galleries and art collectors worldwide. He took our audience through his projects, speaking about how they unfold, the challenges he faces and how he overcomes them, and diving into the importance of self-initiated projects. This was an insightful and entertaining discussion that provided rich knowledge to the teams that attended.
Drink & Draw with SIGGRAPH
Hosted by London ACM SIGGRAPH, Drink & Draw was a chance for everyone at The Mill to share their art with other professionals and aspiring creatives in the industry. The event was all about building new creative connections, learning from each other, sharing techniques, meeting other talented artists and enjoying pizzas and drinks whilst they did so! No matter the level of experience between our team, this workshop will go down as one of The Mill’s greats!
Nuke 101 – Raising the Bar with Adrian MonroyDiaz
Adrian is a legendary 2D lead working at The Mill. He has an impressive portfolio and has been involved with numerous high-end projects over the past several years. With his diverse background, it only made sense that he gave a lesson on the fundamentals of Nuke. Providing his audience with tips on mastering templates, good practices, quality control and procedurals vs direct method, we are sure that everyone who attended with an enriched knowledge of all things 2D.
Cheese Please
The owner of Milkfarm Artisan Cheese Shop in LA hosted a class about Parmigiano Reggiano! In the session, she explained the cheese-making processes, affinage, and the rules & regulations that govern our delicious cheeses. After the presentation, the teams got together to indulge in some of these luxuries, including an 85lb wheel!
Characters & Creatures Chat w/ Kris Costa
Kris Costa provided our attendees with a thorough and fascinating talk about character work and the processes of bringing a CG character to life. Covering everything from shaders and facial expressions to intention, “soul”; Kris left everyone in awe and wanting more.
Echoic Audio – Why Sound Matters
David Johnston is one of the founders and lead creatives at Echoic Audio, a music and sound design studio working across commercials, film and art. David joined us at The Mill to introduce Echoic’s work, which included details behind their working processes and recent projects. David highlighted the importance of quality audio across moving images and how you should never underestimate the power of sound.
2D/CG Encyclopedia – Department Breakdown
Tim Gathercole, Key Artist and Toya Drechsler, VFX Supervisor, dove deep into how the VFX sausage gets made. Giving insights into production and scheduling, they provided the attendees with a greater understanding of the departments at The Mill. This breakdown was collaboration at its best!
Using Blender at The Mill with Alfie Vaughn
2D artist at The Mill, Alfie Vaughn, provided a one of a kind overview on how an open-source 3D software can be utilised to solve problems and create unique solutions in the hands of a 2D artist. The talk covered some of the different scenarios on how Blender has been implemented on previous Mill projects. With plenty of demonstrations and examples given, Alfie provided an insight into his work which was a real treat for all who attended.
Interested in joining our team? Check out our careers page here.
