The Mill Teams with Universal Pictures on The Huntsman: Winter’s War Closing Titles

The Mill worked with Universal Pictures to create the closing titles for The Huntsman: Winter's War, now in theaters.  The practical and visual effects in the piece were designed to complement the character themes in the new film by producer Joe Roth and director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, the story before Snow White.

With a combination of practical motion photography with CG and motion design, The Mill used ice and gold elements to embody the battle of the warring queens in the film, Evil Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron) and Ice Queen Freya (Emily Blunt). 

The Mill’s Creative Director, Manija Emran said: “We wanted to explore both sides of the sibling rivalry by visualizing the film’s themes of magic versus magic, weapons against ice and fear against gold. Our approach was to use striking contrast to cause editorial jarring as the weapons destroyed objects in both CG and real-world photography.”

Adds Robert Sethi, Creative Director and Head of 3D, “Whilst the titles are based on Cedric Nicolas-Troyan’s insight into The Huntsman: Winter’s War, we were given the freedom to interpret the story symbolically. All facets of The Mill fed into the final product, and our artists expertly crafted every element. It was a pleasure to be involved.”

Full Credits

Production Company: Universal Studios

Director: Cedric Nicolas-Troyan

Associate Producer: Lynda Ellenshaw Thompson

VFX Producer: Roma O’Connor

VFX Production Supervisor: Taylor W. Rockwell 

VFX Assistant Coordinator: Chamblee Smith

Production Supervisor: Sean Stratton

Live Action Production Company: Mill+

Executive Producer: Richard Berman

Producer: Sean Vawter, Lee Buckley

Production Supervisor: April Chludzinski

Director of Photography: Jimmy Matlosz

1st AC: John Scivoletto

Digital Imaging Technician: Scott Stephens

Phantom Camera Operator: Drew Lauer

Gaffer: Stuart Cropley

Best Boy Electric: John Charles Cropley

Key Grip: Rick Grover

Best Boy Grip: Rob Arroyo

Motion Control/ Camera Control

Bolt Programmer: Simon Wakley

Bolt Assistant: Chris Toth

Art Director: GrapeJellyKelly Wasserman

Special FX / Prop Fabrication Flix F.X.

Ice Sculptures ICE BULB

Production Assistant: Erik Artavia

Production Assistant: Walter Donald

Production Assistant: Anthony Sword

Editing Company: The Mill

Editors: Gabriel J. Diaz, Joe Denk, Victor Jory

Edit Assist: Natalie Wozniak

VFX & Design: The Mill

Sr. Executive Producer:  Sue Troyan

Sr. VFX Producer: Will Lemmon

VFX Production Coordinator: Karina Slater

Creative Directors: Manija Emran, Robert Sethi

Art Directors: Ed Laag, Eugene Gauran

VFX Supervisor: Gawain Liddiard, Becky Porter

Lead FX Artist: Hartwell Durfor

FX Artists: Berk Hakguder, Erik Zimmermann, Josh Hatton

Lead Lighters: David Hempstead

Lighters: Chris Bayol, David Hempstead, Katie Yoon, Ziye Liu

Modellers: Cory Cosper, Ekene Nwo, Majid Esmaieli, Richard Bailey, Sharlene Lin

Shot Layout: Bridget Warrington, Matt Neapolitan

Tracker: Martin Rivera

R&D: Andry Jong, Fran Zandonella

2D Artists: Brett Lopinsky, Chris Knight, Daniel Lang, Jeff Langlois, Jon Howard, John Shirley, Martin Karlsson, Narbeh Mardirossian, Patrick Heinen, Sarah Eim, Timothy Crabtree, Tim Davies

2D Type Animation & Finishing: Justin Sucara, Justin Demetrician

Colour: The Mill

Executive Producer, Colour: Thatcher Peterson

Colour Producer: Diane Valera

Production Coordinator, Colour: Jackson Rogers

Colourist: Adam Scott

Colour Assist: Asa Fox, Christopher Obal, Sam Ziaie, Ryan Crane