The Mill Brings a Touch of Magic to BBC Music's Star-studded Film

BBC Music launches with ‘God Only Knows’, a star-studded film featuring the Impossible Orchestra

The BBC, working with Karmarama, has brought together some of the world’s most revered artists to officially launch BBC Music, creating a truly spectacular 'Impossible Orchestra' for their pan-channel broadcast of ‘God Only Knows,’ an extraordinary re-working of The Beach Boy’s classic song.

The promotional film, directed by Francois Rousselet, was created in collaboration with The Mill to celebrate the launch of the BBC's renewed commitment to music, which includes an ambitious wave of new programmes, innovative partnerships and ground breaking music initiatives.

Twenty-seven musical stars were filmed on a green screen, before The Mill’s 2D team seamlessly brought them together to appear in the majestic Alexandra Palace.

The orchestra was then enhanced with a host of effects created in 2D and 3D including a crystal particle system surrounding Stevie Wonder, Lorde’s CG wings, and a kaleidoscope of butterflies sitting on Elton John, Kylie Minogue’s CG bubbles and an exotic jungle backdrop surrounding the original Beach Boy Brian Wilson.

The Mill’s Matte painting team worked on a series of ornate Alexandra Palace backdrops, as well as conceptualising and creating the final ethereal cloud scenes from scratch, which feature fully CG clouds, hot air balloons and the final touch, a small animated feather, seen drifting down to gently rest on Brian Wilson’s piano. 

2D Lead Artist Zoe Casey-Hayes comments, "Due to the scale of this project, it required the input of almost every department at The Mill, using a huge array of software including Houdini, Maya, Nuke, Flame, Photoshop and Hiero to bring it to fruition and create the spectacular final result. This was a incredibly creative piece, from Jamie Cullum flying through CG clouds, to compositing a tiger on Brian Wilson’s piano! It was a team effort of immense proportions, involving hugely talented artists and I am very proud to have been a part of such an exciting project.’ 

The 2D artists who worked on the project include Alex Candlish, Richard McKeand, Grant Connor, Gary Driver, Siro Valente, Kirti Dave, Justin Gros-Desir, Anne-Sofie Tholander, Jeanette Eiternes, Eleanor Risdon and Gianluca Di Marco.

The 3D artists were Adam Droy, Yoann Gouraud, Christos Pariaros, Michael Balthazart, Margaux Huneau, Luke Tickner, Adam Dewhirst, Vasilis Pazionis, Philip Maddock, Fabrice Le Nezet, Jules Janaud, Daniel Kmet, Emmanuel Strixner, Ashley Reemul, Hugo Jackson, Giancomo Cavalletti.