Working with the team at Take 5, Mill+ director Rama Allen and team were brought in to deliver the opening title sequence to 'Vikings'. From concept art, through to production, edit, compositing and final grade, The Mill immerses viewers into the world of the mighty Norsemen.
"Ritual. Supernature. Memory. Visions. Salt. Gold. Smoke. Sex. Metal. Blood. Gods. Fire. Death. Honor.
Director:
Rama Allen
Production:
Mill+
Agency:
Take 5
Family and the Sea…. are all Viking themes we drew from" explains Rama. "To develop the sequence we sought the haunting, ancient, fearsome and visceral part of us."
"We were given a blank canvas, so we began with music. Fever Ray's 'If I Had A Heart' was the first track we used, and it became the soundtrack to our development, our pitch, and eventually the finished work."
"Our sequence was inspired by a folktale found in The Sagas. That of the 'Nine Sisters' the goddesses of the waves, that would pluck Viking explorers from their ships and pull them to a sensual, dark and watery grave. The Vikings' relationship with death was built on honor, inevitability, sex, and the constant presence of gods pulsing through every grain of sand and swell of the ocean.
"In the titles we follow the separation of a Viking from the living. He slips into darkness amongst ornaments of his life; weaponry, gold and bone. His fading memory flickers throughout before he is consumed by one of the 'Sisters.' He is left a shell below the waves before we learn he is not alone, but one of many sinking below the creeping surge of Viking raiders above. As the titles draw to a close the fiery massive raid assaults a darkened coast line."
Writer/Executive Producer: Michael Hirst
Executive Producer: Morgan O’Sullivan
Executive Producer: Sheila Hockin
Co-Producer: Bill Goddard
Director: Johan Renck
Production: Mill+
Director: Rama Allen
Art Director: Audrey Davis
Head of Design Production: Danielle Amaral
Head of Content: Ian Bearce
Line Producer: Rich Schwab
Production Manager: Jon Simonetta
Director of Photography: Khalid Mohtaseb
Second Unit DP: Adam Carboni
DIT: Nick Midwig
Stylist: Linette Delmonico
EFX Makeup: Jacqueline Valenca
Prop: Joseph Paul Sciacca
Camera PA: Dan Stewart
PA: Chuck Simmons
Talent: Shannon Rusbuldt
Talent: Bruce Raubenheimer
Editing Company: The Mill
Editors: Ryan McKenna, Jessica Ledoux
VFX & Design: The Mill
VFX Supervisor: Westley Sarokin
2D Lead Artists: Westley Sarokin, Danny Morris
3D Lead Artists: Sandor Toledo, Vince Baertsoen
2D Artists: Suzanne Dyer, Robert Bruce(Nuke)
3D Artists: Rubem Vandebroek, Olivier Varteressian