Digit 2005-04 - Clevernotions.com

team, and smooth communication between
the BBC, writer/producer Russell T Davis,
and producer Julie Gardner.
“We have 20 people working full time
on the project,” says Will, and he’s obviously
impressed that he's pulled together the top
talent from The Mill to work on it. “Each
team member works on their own shots
– pretty much to completion – rather than
the traditional way of doing it which is to
break down shots into tiny segments and
people work on a small part of a single shot.
It means people own the shot they’re working
on and sometimes you’re working on a new
shot every day. There’s tons of creative scope
for the team – someone won’t just work on a
shader – it’s very collaborative.”
For communication, The Mill made use
of BeamTV – a broadband, hack-proof closed
network that can literally squirt HD footage
(Doctor Who is shot with Beta SP) to members.
"BeamTV was great. It meant that we
could work on an effect, or composite a CG
character into a live-action scene, and then
the episode director could complete a day’s
filming in Cardiff, go home and over
broadband download and view the scene,”
says Will. “It made for instant feedback on
our work – decision making and sign-off was
much quicker. With so many shots, the ability
to decide on a shot, then move on, is vital.”
Feedback on the project has obviously
been limited: “security reasons,” cites Will.
It means that peers have not had a chance
to evaluate the project, but Will beams when
we start talking about feedback from the BBC.
“When the client sees it, it’s a nice experience
– you can sit back and enjoy it. Julie and
Russell were like kids in a sweetshop
when they saw the completed episodes.”
So, with the clock counting down, and the
Tardis confined to the small screen, the only
way for The Mill is to head into the future. With
the expectation of the fans, the BBC, and the
viewing public, the prime-time series will no
doubt be a major water-cooler topic from the
end of March. Touch wood, of course.
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