Artist Portfolio - Mike Hill
ImagineFX|May 2019

Gary Evans find this artist enhances his concepts using story theory, engineering and psychology

Gary Evans
Artist Portfolio - Mike Hill

The Mike Hill method for watching films in three simple(ish) steps: first, pick a movie and watch it. Second, if the movie moved you in some way, don’t just go ‘Yes, that was nice’ and leave it at that; watch it again, slowly, carefully, scene by scene. And, three, take the movie into a video editor, cut it up, colour code the acts, the sequences, the scenes, really get in there, pick it apart, look at the story from all angles, and try to understand the decisions made by the scriptwriter, the director, the editor, even the color grader. The Mike Hill method for watching movies is about seeing “how the story looks from 30,000 feet.”

This is how the British artist likes to do things – all things, it seems… He was emailed some interview questions. Mike wanted to know precisely how long his answers should be if we could give him feedback once he’d sent them, and if we could establish an iterative process to make sure his responses were perfectly clear. We asked Mike to share some pictures of his work. Mike politely requested a proposed layout for the article, showing the images we’d like to use and how we’d like to use them, which he would then review, and, if necessary, make substitutions.

Looking at how Mike approaches those two everyday things – watching a movie, answering an email – and you get a good idea of how Mike approaches concept work on big-name franchises (Game of Thrones, Blade Runner 2049, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare). He has a deep desire to understand how things work now and how they might work better later. He wants everything to be logical, everything structurally sounds and functioning right.

You should also be able to predict the kind of response we’d receive after asking Mike a careless question like this: what separates good concept art from great concept art?

This story is from the May 2019 edition of ImagineFX.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the May 2019 edition of ImagineFX.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM IMAGINEFXView All
A Tribute To Akira Toriyama
ImagineFX

A Tribute To Akira Toriyama

Remembering a legend Artists from across the world pay homage to the influential manga artist and genius creator of Dragon Ball

time-read
3 mins  |
June 2024
First Impressions
ImagineFX

First Impressions

The illustrator reveals his journey through the world of art

time-read
4 mins  |
June 2024
DEVELOP 3D SKILLS FOR CONCEPT ART
ImagineFX

DEVELOP 3D SKILLS FOR CONCEPT ART

Gaëlle Seguillon creates a breathtaking fantasy environment by combining a selection of techniques within her workflow

time-read
5 mins  |
June 2024
DRAW FUTURISTIC VEHICLE DESIGNS
ImagineFX

DRAW FUTURISTIC VEHICLE DESIGNS

John A. Frye uses just a single brush to transform his messy thumbnail into a bold and colourful hard-surface creation

time-read
5 mins  |
June 2024
PART 5: SIMPLIFY THE VALUE SCALE
ImagineFX

PART 5: SIMPLIFY THE VALUE SCALE

Charlie Pickard introduces his top advice for achieving strong values in your artwork to create clear and powerful imagery

time-read
6 mins  |
June 2024
Charles Ratteray
ImagineFX

Charles Ratteray

Page-turner Library meets laboratory in the artist's studio, packed with inspiration and a mix of media

time-read
1 min  |
June 2024
How to tell a story in an image
ImagineFX

How to tell a story in an image

Narrative masters Tanya Combrinck talks to four artists about using visual elements to imbue their work with personal and universal human stories

time-read
5 mins  |
June 2024
ILLUSTRATE A MAGICAL CHARACTER
ImagineFX

ILLUSTRATE A MAGICAL CHARACTER

For this illustration, I was asked to create a fun, bright image with the theme of making artwork magical by the developers behind the digital drawing app Clip Studio Paint.

time-read
4 mins  |
June 2024
First Impressions - Glenn Arthur
ImagineFX

First Impressions - Glenn Arthur

Influences from Disneyland shape the artist’s work

time-read
2 mins  |
September 2023
THE ART OF BRIAN SUM
ImagineFX

THE ART OF BRIAN SUM

Dominic Carter talks to the mech master about honing his cyberpunk visions, character designs, and his new artbook

time-read
6 mins  |
September 2023