The Mill

Another Studio which some of us were able to visit on London was massive Post Production Agency, The Mill.

The Mill is a large organisation with studio's in London, New York and Los Angeles. This enables a 24 hour process where the work can pass through 3 time zones and have someone working on a project 24/7.

The Mill was a complete contrast to 'We are Seventeen' as the company is of a much larger standard with constant projects and little rest period. It was good to see such a difference in companies as it showed both ends of the business whilst both being successful in what they do.

The Mill is spread across 4 floors and every possible bit of space is being used. The amount of business they had at the time meant every possible bit of space was being used up. Corridors and offices has designers working away whilst runners attended any needs they had. This, however, wasn't the same for the Flame suites.

'Autodesk® Flame® software is the ultimate visual effects system for high-speed compositing, advanced graphics, and interactive client-driven design. Autodesk Flame offers outstanding performance and Academy Award®-winning tools. From national television commercials and music videos to blockbuster films, Flame gives visual effects artists the interactivity and flexibility to tackle projects successfully.'

These areas of the building felt like a high-end hotel. Each Flame suite has its own set of desks which include 1 to 3 people. The Flame operator, and 1 or 2 flame assistants. The room also comes with a comfortable sofa, big screen TV and a high grade surround sound system. The reason this part of the building is so different is because the client usually comes in to these suites to look at the work that is being done on the video. As the clientèle is important and expects high end productivity, this area needs to be of a high standard.

The rest of the tour was also good, including insight into the the jobs in which the Runners have to do, as well as the jobs of the designers. The main thing that impressed me about this visit was that the entire creative team on each floor seemed to work like a well oiled machine. Each person has their own job to do, and once that is complete it is passed on to the next in the line. This reminded me of a construction line where everyone had his or her own specialist area.

The main thing which impressed me about the visit was one of the original conversations we had. Within this, the head of PR explained that The Mill isnt just a company which caters for big time directors and designers, but instead, they also take on jobs from smaller clients and put as much time in as needed to allow that product to come out of a decent standard. This frame of mind wasn't what i expected when i first learnt about The Mill and was something which i feel will allow them to continue to bring in a large amount of custom.

http://www.the-mill.com/