Christmas at The Mill

Published on 25 November 2014 by Mirja Fürst.

There is no point hiding: the first Sunday of Advent is approaching. In the spirit of early Christmas cheer, The Mill revived the legendary wartime Christmas event of 1914 for Sainsbury’s.

Archive notice: This article was originally published on November 25, 2014. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.

For those who do not yet know the legendary wartime event: in 1914, British and German soldiers laid down their weapons and celebrated Christmas together in neutral territory. They even played football until the ceasefire was lifted again.

The Mill’s 2D and matte-painting team transported the cast back to the snowy year of 1914 by creating a series of matte paintings for the football-match setting, into which they composited the live-action material. It was directed by Ringan Ledwidge, the agency for the project was AMV and the production company was Rattling Stick.

Here is the making-of from The Mill:

And for anyone who does not yet know the real story behind the clip: