He has shown work at many art galleries and film festivals worldwide. His films have been broadcast on network television in many countries and have won several awards. They have been published in the UK and Japan. His commercial work includes directing music videos and TV commercials. He taught film and video from 1982 until 2002 at the University of Derby becoming a Professor of Film and at Plymouth College of Art from 2004 until 2011.
Tony Hill has consistently applied his interest in space, place, viewpoint and orientation to his practice as an artist and film-maker. His bizarre and sometimes humorous vantage points make us rethink our assumptions about perspective, gravity, scale and movement. Developing his own camera rigs and ingeniously using mirrors and unusual lenses he exploits the great potential for film to see in different ways, to show the world afresh.
I looked at one of Tony Hill's films called "Laban Manoeuvres" (2006) it is described as "Dance with the camera". The film really was like a dance with the camera. It showed so many different angles and perspectives. Often the film was upside down, you would know what you were seeing yet at the same time you would have to think about it because you are not used to seeing the world in this way/ point of view.
Another of Tony Hill's films which I looked at was "Geometry and Gravity" (2001) this is described as "An experiment with orientation movement and shape". Again this film plays with perspective, the camera is not just held still, it shows different view points which confuses the viewer yet makes it visually engaging, if not making them dizzy.
"Laws of Nature" (1997) "An experimental film that looks afresh at landscape". Again this film uses many different camera angles such as filming above the people in the film. He also zooms in and out which he uses as an excuse to change the setting, momentarily confusing the viewer. The 'cameraman' also runs in circles with the camera and at one point treads on the camera. I feel this makes it look kind of home made, like a home movie and so making it familiar with the audience. Hill also uses layers and a one point fades two videos over one another giving the viewer a lot to focus on yet making the piece much more interesting. At times you can also hear breathing of the person supposedly taking the video making the film feel even more personal or intrusive.
"Holding the Viewer" (1993) "A cinematic roller-coaster ride at the hands of a performer". In this film the performer is holding a device with the camera on the end of it, so the audience are able to see the performer and his surroundings. The performer makes the camera spin and is able to make it look up and down on him and what he is seeing. Throughout the film you are also able to hear the screams and laughter of the people who are meant to be on the roller-coaster.
