Mill+ Goes Guns Blazing for the Launch of Respawn Entertainment's Apex Legends
Mill+ collaborated with Respawn Entertainment on the launch of their bold, new game: Apex Legends. Set in the Titanfall universe, Apex Legends shakes up the battle royale genre with a cast of unique characters, squad-based gameplay, innovative mechanics and more.
The Mill+ team crafted an action-packed trailer and an immersive opening cinematic for this massive game launch, co-directed by Mill+ directors Lisha Tan and David Lawson. Together they created a unique ‘Moving Concept Art’ look, drawing from their different disciplines. Tan’s background is in fine art and animation, having previously directed high-profile projects including Jay-Z ‘The Story of O.J’ and Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation ‘Losing Your Hair’. Lawson’s legacy in award-winning and complex CG includes co-directing the recent Marvel ‘Strike Force’ campaign. The look was inspired by archive gaming concepts and the existing Titanfall universe. Mill+ applied a fresh new aesthetic approach, blending both director’s creative visions, resulting in the illustrative painted effect.
Drew Stauffer, creative director, marketing of Electronic Arts / Respawn Entertainment comments: “The best part about the project was that very early on we found our north star for the visual look. From there it was all about figuring out how to bring that style to life and make it as compelling as possible.”
Performances, from the actors who bring lead-characters Mirage and Wraith to life in the game, were shot using motion-capture technology. The design and CG teams worked with a vast quantity of independent elements to create the stylized world. The Mill’s Creative Technology department developed a complex texturing process, experimenting with neural networks and algorithmic solutions, to give all the CG assets a hand-painted and brushed look.
To define flashback content, present-day narrative, and maintain a holistic vision, Mill+ co-directors David Lawson and Lisha Tan took the unusual step of developing a colour script, setting a palette for each scene. Mill colourist, Matt Osbourne, took this script and applied a final grade that separated the colours and elevated the look.
Lisha Tan, director, comments: “It was a privilege to immerse myself in a world that I already found creatively inspiring, to showcase the backstory and personality of these characters for this huge launch. The seamless creative collaboration with an extraordinary team, my background in design and illustration, and David’s award-winning CG experience enabled us to create a new way of telling the complex characters’ stories, whilst honouring the legacy of the Titanfall universe.”
David Lawson, director, comments: “Apex was such a fun project to direct, it was a great script and challenge set by Respawn and also it gave myself and Lisha the chance to really express ourselves with an action-packed story. It was so amazing to have the team at The Mill, the actors and all our other creative partners pour themselves into this. Telling exciting stories with CG characters like these is always a great journey for myself and co-conspirator Lisha.”
Stauffer adds: “The collaboration between Respawn and Mill+ was incredibly smooth and fluid. The constant communication, honesty and trust on both sides was a key to our success.”
Full Credits
APEX Legends – Launch Trailer Credits
Client: Respawn Entertainment
Executive Producer: Drew Mccoy
Creative Director: Drew Stauffer
Senior Writer: Manny Hagopian
Narrative Lead: Mohammad Alavi
Audio Director: Erik Kraber
Senior Producer: Steve Brooks
Production: Mill+
Director: Lisha Tan, David Lawson
Executive Producer: Elizabeth Newman
Senior Producer: Gabriel Blanco
Shoot Supervisor: Jacob Bergman
Creative Development: Robert Lewis
Mm Ep: Michael Dudek
Mm Ep: Rob Mackler
Line Producer: Alicia Haldenwang
Assoc. Producer: Chad Adams
Script Supervisor: Jena Bodell
Editorial: The Mill
Editor: Nathaniel Park, Zak Kinzinger, Victor Jory, David Nitzsche
Edit Assist: Ryan Burbank,
Additional Editorial: Chris Messier
Emerging Technology
Technical Innovation Manager: Tawfeeq Martin
VFX Production: The Mill
Senior Producer: Ben Foster
Producer: Daniel Beldy
Production Coordinator: Jena Bodell
Vfx Creative: The Mill
2d Lead Artist: Timothy Crabtree
3d Lead Artist: Tom Graham
3d Lead Artist / Lighting Supervisor: Chris Bayol
Vfx Art Director: Ed Laag
3d Modeling Supervisor: Joel Kittle
3d Fx Supervisor: Peter Claes
3d Animation Supervisor: Jacob Bergman
3d Rigging Supervisor: Nole Murphy
2d Artists: Ben Smith, Remedy Huynh, Katerina Arroyo, Dag Ivarsoy, Evan Langley, Brett Lopinsky, Abigail Riegel, Greg Vanzyl
3d Artists: Derrick Sesson, Dustin Leon, Sophie Quagebeur, Troy Barsness, Alison Roberts, Samantha Pedregon, Daniel Soo, Lanli Su, Michael Kash, Ziming Liu, Chin Tin, Chris Goodrich, Daniel Stern, Jason Kim, Jae Jun Yi, Stefan Kang, Lamarcus Harvey, Monique Espinoza, Noah Schnapp, Omar Taher, Brian Lee, Amit Das, Dinesh B, Lavan Kumar, Ramesh Bandi, Ramki T, Shashi Kumar Dakoju, Sivasubramanian, Somesh Tiwari, Sudhir Verma, Vittal Kuntla, Robert Vignone, Sharlene Lin, Valentin Erbuke, Anthony Thomas, Robert Laplante, Alessandro Baldasseroni, Steven Zhang, Cameron Walser, Raphael Protti, Jason Lin, Hannah Josepher, Herman Kim, Walker Kennedy
Matte Painting: Itai Muller, Bill Lu, Andy Wheater, Chris Glenn
Animation: Jeffrey Lee, Katie Yancey, Juan Zavala, Nicole Herr, Mike Di Nocco, Jason Jansky, Jonah Austin, Justin Murphy, Javier Zumaeta, Michael Bahurinsky
Design: Cell Animation: Mikhail Pakhomov
Art Department: Kevin Moran, Misha Oplev, Kirk Shinmoto, Kevin Sutton, Joe Sanabria
Storyboard: Vince Lee, Marcus Park, Mark Alan Yates
Colour: The Mill
Colourist: Matt Osborne
Executive Producer, Colour: Linda Jackson
Colour Producer: Liza Kerlin
Production Coordinator, Colour: Jessica Amburgey
Colour Assist: Gemma Par, Zack Wilpon
Apex Legends – Opening Cinematic Credits
Client: Respawn Entertainment
Executive Producer: Drew Mccoy
Creative Director: Drew Stauffer
Senior Writer: Manny Hagopian
Narrative Lead: Mohammad Alavi
Audio Director: Erik Kraber
Senior Producer: Steve Brooks
Production: Mill+
Director: Lisha Tan & David Lawson
Executive Producer: Elizabeth Newman
Producer: Meg Scarcella / Daniel Beldy
Production Coordinator: Estelle Matranga
Additional:
Editorial: The Mill
Editor: Natalie Wozniak
Edit Assist: Ryan Burbank
Vfx Production: The Mill
Executive Producer: Elizabeth Newman
Producer: Meg Scarcella / Daniel Beldy
Production Coordinator: Estelle Matranga
Vfx Creative
Vfx Creative: The Mill
Creative Director: Lisha Tan, David Lawson
Vfx Art Director: Ed Laag
2d Lead Artist: Ben Smith
3d Lead Artist: Michael Comly
3d Modeling Supervisor: Joel Kittle
3d Fx Supervisor: Peter Claes
3d Animation Supervisor: Jacob Bergman
3d Rigging Supervisor: Nole Murphy
3d Artist: Chris Bayol, Derrick Sesson, Samantha Pedregon, Patrik Lindkvist, Chris Goodrich, Phill Mayer, Jeremy Ramirez, Chin Tin, Noah Schnapp, Raphael Protti, Luis Sanchez, Valetin Erbuke, Alessandro Baldasseroni
Finish Artist:
Matte Painting: Bill Lu
Cg Animation: Mike Di Nocco, Jeffrey Lee, Michael Bahurinsky, Blake Guest, Javier Zumaeta
Design: Hyoyeon Lee
Concept Artists: Misha Oplev, Kirk Shinmoto
Storyboards: Vince Lee, Marcus Park
Ae / C4d Animation: Justin Sucara
Colour: The Mill
Colourist: Matt Osborne
Executive Producer, Colour: Linda Jackson
Colour Producer: Liza Kerlin
Production Coordinator, Colour: Jessica Amburgey
Colour Assist: Gemma Par, Zack Wilpon
