The Mill: Ollie Allgrove

Our lesson was of high relevance and constructive influence as today we were introduced to Ollie Allgrove, an individual immersed in the music industry. Allgrove is an executive producer of ‘The Mill’, a VFX and Creative Content studio. The studio is headquartered in Soho, London, alongside three further offices in the United States, including, a studio in New York, Los Angeles and an office in Chicago. The Mill is famous in the world of media for its talent for visual effects.

Luckily in 1990, Robin Shenfield and Pat Joseph made a brave, bold and successful decision of starting The Mill; it is admired for its attention to visual effects, moving images, design and digital projects. This has resulted in the studio creating numerous products, including the film ‘Gladiator’ in 2000 which effectively accounted to winning the first Academy award for ‘Best Visual Effects.’

From the talk, I gained some important and significant information. For example, Allgrove primarily began by explaining how creatively and commercially a promo is a great way to start the process of producing a music video. Allgrove clarified the music industry is a competitive environment and one has to fight for successful outcomes, therefore he unraveled the importance of having a big idea. For instance, for the spread of a product, there needs to be a moment in the film which hooks someone to believing in it. This is achieved by a director having a simple but effective image. He simply told us the best results are achieved by practice and our own experience’s.  

I learnt once a basic and outlined plan is created; a treatment is crucial and visually important. For example, Allgrove explained when pitching or presenting an idea, a long written essay wont particularly drive you to success but balanced images might. For instance, he told us images can sometimes speak more than words. Allgrove also mentioned story boards are very useful tools, and an essential part of the production process.

Allgrove told us it good to be inspired by others work as it helps people understand where one wants to go with their idea. Therefore, Allgrove showed us some of The Mill’s work for us to be inspired from. For instance, ‘Jolene and the Jing Jang Joo Jong’, the ‘Chemical brothers’, a video for ‘SSE Airtricity’, 'Coldplay's' videos in reverse. These videos include simple settings, concepts, props and costumes but they rely a lot on the performer which drive them further. The products are also on a low budget, showing successful results can be achieved with a low budget. These videos are also successful due to the mass of organisation and planning.

Lastly, I also distinctly remembered pre-production is extremely imperative in the making of a music video. For instance, Allgrove made it clear to get to know the artist and cast before the shoot day, in order to make them feel comfortable and to build a method of trust. He prominently explained to overdo the preparation, such as being over organised, over think the concept, over story board and further over shoot it. He gave us some inspirational information on how to achieve a successful product, for example setting our own rules. He advised us the rules should be as follow: to keep the concept simple and to get the performance out of the performer.