David Gidali
Episode 13: Till Nowak - German digital artist, filmmaker, and concept designer
Updated: Feb 7, 2019
Originally from Germany, Till Nowak currently lives in Los Angeles and creates concept art for films like Black Panther, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Thor: Ragnarok, The Lion King and The Mouse Guard.
As a filmmaker, he gained international attention with his short films "Delivery" (2005), "The Centrifuge Brain Project" (2011) and "Dissonance" (2015), which received more than 80 international awards. He also is responsible for several large scale public light art installations on historic buildings, such as the Rendsburg high bridge.
A self taught CG artist who does all of his film's VFX by himself, Till’s work stands out with its signature style which merges surreal and complex ("Escherian") constructs with down-and-gritty documentary style live action footage, all cut together with an impeccable sense of pacing and great musical backdrops.
“ In the art departments I animate things a lot. A lot of the concepts are still images, but every once in a while I present something to the director or production designer that’s moving. [...] Ten years ago they were shocked that things were suddenly moving. I didn’t realize it was a big deal.”
Relevant links:
Centrifuge brain project:
Dissonance:
Delivery:
Till’s 2016 showreel:
Window crossing the street:
Show notes:
Children Of Men - Alfonso Quaron
Face Swap
Opening and closing song: "14 Days" by Akın Sevgör.
Stay tuned for episode 14, featuring John Robson, a multidisciplinary VFX artist turned commercial director. Hope to see you next time!