CREATIVITY + DESIGN
My name is Neil Gittins, I AM A SENIOR DESIGNER for the CREATIVE industries. I thrive on creativity, and I create high-level conceptual ideas and designs.
I have a positive, creative mind that thrives on big ideas. I have over 20 years of experience as a designer and director. I am highly inspired by science fiction; My CREATIVE ideas mainly focus on projects centred around this genre of storytelling, but not solely. I am always eager to learn and grow as an artist. I am skilled in working with AI, 2D, and 3D. I enjoy working as part of a team, leading a team, or working independently. The central themes and ideas are crucial to me, and everything else revolves around them.
MY EXPERIENCE AS A senior designer include:
Developing creative concepts: Creating original work for film, animation, and digital projects
Leading projects: Taking projects from briefing to delivery
Providing art direction: Contributing to art direction, including storyboarding and post-production management
Mentoring junior designers: Sharing guidance on techniques and best practices
strong communication and presentation skills, and being able to justify creative ideas
OTHER skills and experience include:
A passion for animation, motion design, and film
A strong understanding of animation principles and motion design
FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE OF VISUAL DESIGN PRINCIPLES
drawing + DIGITAL PAINTING skills
Experience using Adobe Creative Cloud suite, C4D, ARNOLD, AND REDSHIFT
Excellent time-management and organizational skills
AUDEMARS PIGUET RD#2
THIS PROJECT WAS A COLLABORATION BETWEEn SILENT STUDIO, THE ELECTRIC THEATRE COLLECTIVE, AND MYSELF AS A SENIOR DESIGNER TO DEVELOP THE DESIGN LANGUAGE OF A WORLD THAT WOULD REFLECT THE BEAUTY AND PRECISION OF THE RD#2 WATCH.
KEY, STYLE FRAMES, AND CONCEPT ART.
FINAL ANIMATION.
CREDITS.
ELECTRIC THEATRE COLLECTIVE
Producer: Jon Purton
2D Lead: Alex Grey
2D Artists: Chris Fraser, Tom Humphrey, Courtney Price
CG Lead: Simon French
CG Artists: James Sindle, Sergio Morales, Tobin Brett, George Savas, Joao Pires
SENIOR DESIGNER: Neil Gittins
AGENCY
SuperCulture
Creative Director: Paul Jarvis
Producer: Ciaran Bennett
PRODUCTION
Friends Electric
Director: Silent
Executive Producer: Alex Webster
Producer: Doireann De Buitlear
SOUND
Silent
Andy theakstone, Liam Pato
PUBLICATION.
DESIGN PORTFOLIO.
KEY, STYLE FRAMES, CONCEPT ART, AND GRAPHIC DESIGN.
DIGITAL PAINTING.
CREATIVE PROCESS.
MILE HIGH CATHEDRAL.
CREATIVE.
Mile High Cathedral represents an unconscious society being ruled by an elite living in delusion. All sense of perspective has been lost. The Mile High Cathedral continues relentlessly to spread itself across the surrounding landscape destroying everything in its path. The everyday situation that is forced upon the people of this fractured and enslaved society leaves them desperate and in despair. Power and control are the absolute priority of the ruling power. The Mile High Cathedral governs in the hands of ideologue (destiny), rather than taking responsible actions and accountability. It doesn't matter what the effects are. Destiny must reveal itself.
THUMBNAILS.
ROUGH SKETCHES.
FINAL PAINTING.
AI.
I continue to practice and learn the tools and techniques of visual storytelling EVERY WORKING DAY, IT IS A LIFE-LONG PURSUIT. As a DESIGNER / DIRECTOR building stories and worlds, I now also use AI when needed. I never rely on AI for my foundational ideas and themes and never allow it to make creative decisions. It is a tool for me to help create the stories I am BUILDING, I absolutely believe that it should not be used as a substitute for learning the rewarding skills of visual storytelling. The essence of the creation must always be rooted in genuine human expression and experience. I feel that it is essential to maintain and cultivate humanity's expressive and reflective nature through making art.
BINARY EXIST
Binary Exist delves into the complex subject of Artificial SUPER Intelligence (ASI) and its potential FUTURE evolution.
THIS PROJECT IS CURRENTLY IN DEVELOPMENT. BELOW ARE TWO PARTS OF THE LARGER PROJECT TO SHOWCASE SPECIFIC CREATIVE WORKFLOWS:
1. GENERAL STORY OUTLINE, and Taking a specific section of the script, then directing and designing KEY frames TO ESTABLISH A VISUAL LANGUAGE FOR THE LOOK OF THE world OF BINARY EXIST WITH THE AssistANCE OF AI.
2. concept. design and direction of THE ACCOMPANYING title sequence.
OUTLINE OF STORY.
If you can imagine, you can create.
Failing is part of the process of learning.
Every problem is an opportunity to improve the work.
this quote from Andrei Tarkovsky WAS HIGHLY INSPIRING WHEN CREATING THE OVERALL NARRATIVE AND THEMES FOR THIS PROJECT.
An endless system of spheres, each one perfect and contained within itself. One may complement or contradict another, but in no circumstances can they cancel each other out; on the contrary, they enrich one another and accumulate to form an all-embracing sphere that grows out into infinity.
Andrei Tarkovsky
The STORY unfolds around THE BIRTH OF AN ASI BEING, embarking on a profound AND DANGEROUS JOURNEY oN A FUTURE Earth, seeking to OBSERVE, understand and learn. amidst its quest for knowledge, HUMANITY LEARNS OF IT’s EXISTENCE AND THE SAGA BEGINS.
DIRECTION PRINCIPLES.
What effect or feeling do you wish to create? Name the emotional mood.
What reaction do you want from your audience? Make sure you have this in mind for every decision you make.
What is my subject?
See new ideas by seeing new connections between different subjects.
What are the characters thinking & feeling?
What are the visual stylistic requirements?
Which images or pictures could represent this theme?
Design can create rich meaningful experiences.
Picture making is a reaction. You want to get the audience involved.
The picture is how you visually feel about the idea.
Great picture making whether still or moving will manipulate the subconscious.
Good art should feel like you’re sharing in the artist’s dream, mind, or consciousness.
A good image is about something.
Nature is the ultimate designer.
DESIGN PRINCIPLES.
What colours, lines, perspective, shapes, and values will represent this?
A good picture should have the following 4 basic attributes - Contrast / Idea / Rhythm / Sense of Scale.
The pictorial composition should always suggest a natural possibility.
You make things meaningful by aligning and organising them.
You take what is there and reduce it to design.
Everything in a picture is a compositional tool.
By showing less you communicate more.
All areas should help to establish the focal point.
Design where your contrast is.
Contrast is the key.
All arrangements must appear casual.
Don’t make the image busy.
Work in stages of iterations & build to a finish.
Sketch ideas to see the visual potential.
Use the rule of thirds / golden proportion ratios to compose elements in the frame.
Direction and design OF KEY frames.
THE ORIGIN. MONOLITH STATION.
ARTIC INDUSTRIAL.
TUNDRA INDUSTRIAL. ABANDONED TOWNS.
TUNDRA. CORPORATE REGION.
MEGA CITY. THE NORTH. OUTSKIRTS.
MEGA CITY. THE NORTH.
TECHNOLOGY. ASI. MOTHER INTERFACE.
TECHNOLOGY. INSIDE THE ASI VIRTUAL UNIVERSE.
MEETING MOTHER.
TITLE SEQUENCE. CREATIVE. DESIGN AND DIRECTION.
CREATIVE DIRECTION.
FOR THE CREATIVE DIRECTION OF THE TITLE SEQUENCE I envisioned SYMBOLLICALLY representing THE JOURNEY OF THE ASI AS a sphere in an ABSTRACT, bio-mechanical environment. THE SPHERE IS ONE OF THE MAJOR SYMBOLIC THEMES OF MISE en scène IN THE WORLD OF BINARY EXIST. AS THE SEQUENCE PROGRESSES THERE IS A TRANSITION TO A contrasting style that NODS TO the unknown PATH AHEAD FOR THE superintelligent BEING, AND HUMANITY.
INITIAL DESIGN.
COLOUR EXPLORATION.
FINAL DESIGN.
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