LOUIS CLICHY/ WALL・E © Disney/Pixar. All rights reserved.

INTERVIEW LOUIS CLICHY PIXAR by Yves D.
[  Hello Louis, how have you been? You are currently working at Pixar in california. It's such a unique experience for an animator's life. But above all, you are director and you worked for many world wide famous agencies. ]

Q.Please can you tell us a bit about your background?

I spent my childhood in Orleans and moved to Paris for university… The goal was to enter Gobelins school, but my drawing skills were so bad, that every year i was failing the test. So in the meantime, I started to study History at la Sorbonne considering I might never become animator. Finally, I get the gobelins in 2000, the same year I get the Licence in History.After my 2 years in the school, I worked as storyboarder or Director for commercials and shorts in London and Paris ( at passion pictures, mac guff, Cube…)

Q.You come from the school “les Gobelins“. In all what you learned there, what was the most important for your future work as animator and director.

Next to the great technical teaching, the school was very good for making our brain “openminded “, we were regularly watching shorts from every periods and styles, analysing movies, etc….Also, they were forcing us to draw all the time, and keeping always a sketchbook in your pocket, which I still do today.

Q.Before Pixar, you worked as director for different agencies like Passion Pictures, CUBE and Passion Paris.

Some of your works were advertisements and some others are your own short movies. Is there any differences in the process of creation? (storyboard, animation) What are theses differences?
The first difference is the freedom you can get on your own short, you are responsable at 100% of the result, which is exciting and scary at the same time. But Working for commercials can be very interesting too, because you discover new fields : you work with the graphic style of the brand, .. but Most of all, your message has to be clear, otherwise the product won’t be sold ! Commercials teach you how to react very quickly and how to be always efficient, sometimes subtile…

"Totoro Forest Project; © 2008 TOTORO Forest Project All rights reserved.

 Q.What are your references, your inspirations when you create a movie? What kind of animations or movies do you like ?

My mind is rather a strainer than a sponge , but I am sure that my unconscious records some stuffs i used in my movies.when you look at A quoi ca sert l’Amour, I guess you can find some Amelie poulain and Miyazaki in it. I grew up with both disney’s movies and mangas, lots of books but surprisingly just a few comics.. Today, I try to watch as many movies and shorts as I can.

Q.Your short movie “A quoi ça sert l’amour” got very famous in France and through the internet. The quality of the storyboard and the rhythm is fabulous. Can you tell us a bit of your process to achieve such a nice pacing?

My grandparents used to have a record of edith Piaf they were playing a lot. I liked A quoi ca sert l’amour, because it has a huge emotional impact.The construction of the music itself is already pretty smart and makes a fantastic base to work on. It’s basically a duet between a girl and a boy who fight on the question of love.This/These antithesis scheme brings some contrasts that were kind of funny to illustrate. All the ideas I put in come from experiences I ‘ve seen around but also my owns !Then the melody was simple and repeted again and again, each time at a halftone higher witch help keeping the tension up through the final shot.

"A quoi ca sert l'Amour" © LOUIS CLICHY

 Q. In almost all your short movies, you only use sketchline and Black&White. Is there a meaning through this choice?

The main reason is that sketchline is very fast, no nead to be clean, no nead to colorize., ..I used for the first time with “Mange !”, a school exercise in which we had to do a short in 2 weeks maximum. Now I feel very comfortable with it.

Q.As director, what is your working style? what is the first step of your work usually?

Do you have a clear idea of what you want from the beginning or do you go with the flow?I guess I do with a little bit of both. I try to find a strong idea and then i work around it, develop it. I hardly find ideas in front of my desk, ( too scary ! ) but rather when I don’t expect them ( bus, Car, While doing my lenghts a the swimming pool ). The hardest is to remember it, So I try to write them down if I can. Even if my ideas are not still clear, I usually draw a few shots in storyboard to motivate me ….

Q.Do you have advices for directors who want to add more rhythm within their movies?

Watching a lot of different style movies. The most I can is a good way to get the tools. Don’t need to make pose or analyses it. I just let my brain getting the information it wants… then the instinct does the rest. Also, I guess the experience of the music might help too ( I play piano, and I am a fan of classical and Jazz music),

Q.How is your experience at Pixar?

My experience here is really great. The studio has a real respect for work and we have a lot of time to do our work. Most of the movies are both entertaining ans smart witch is something I really appreciate. I couldn’t work in a place where we would be asked all the time to find Gags in every shot. I like when Pixar takes the risk to do movies like Wall-e, which brings the consumption topic in a cartoon, and the next movie, UP ,where the main caracters are a old single man and a fat American-Corean boyscout.

"Ratatouille; © Disney/Pixar. All rights reserved.

 Q.Now at Pixar, you are working mainly with CG tools when you animate.

You are basicly a pencil lover, how do you feel with the 3D tool, which medium do you prefer?3d computer makes me nervous sometimes ! Moving curves in a graph editor reminds me the mathematiques and Physics classes I used to hate… This is still a perpetual updated medium and I guess the technic of 3d animation will be very different ( and much more appealing ) in the futur. Though 3d can give you really good things that you wouldn’t even try to do in 2d. But being Honnest, My heart goes straight to 2d !

Q.Is there anyone in the people you met who changed your vision of animation?

Pixar studio is a concentration of huge talents and one of the good thing here is you can pick up feedback and advices from anyone you want. Gaps are very flexible between departements. Tom Gately or Ronnie del Carmel are for me huge inspiration and thanks to them my drawings are improving. In animation Kristoph Vergne, or Jean-Claude Tran ,both old Disney’s 2d animators taught me a lot too.

Q.Is there a Japanese artist that you really like ?

My culture in Japan animation is very aproximative,I have still a lot to discover. I was a fan of Dragon ball when I was kid, and movies like Akira , Totoro, or Mind Game had a huge impact on my art education. Recently I really enjoyed the japanese ambiances in movie like The taste of Tea by Katsuhito Ishii or Novels from Murakami.

Q.Would you be interested to come to Japan to present your works or making conference?

With a huge pleasure ! I would be excited to discover much more there …

Thank you very much for your time Louis.

De rien Gerard !

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Jakob Jensen / Astro Boy © 2009 Imagi Crystal Limited | Original Manga © Tezuka Productions Co., Ltd.

Jakob Jensen, after working 11 years at DreamWorks Animation,  is currently working at Imagi Studios in L.A. on the movie  Astro Boy as animation director….

Q. Can you tell us a bit about who you are, your background…

Well, I was born and raised in Denmark in the suburbs of Copenhagen. I remember wanting to become a comic book artist, but I didn’t have a clue what it meant and what I needed to do to become one. My mom let me ditch school once when my hero Will Eisner came to town to give a talk at the Academy of Arts. I was absolutely mesmerized by his eloquent and passionate ways of describing his process.
When in ninth grade it came time to have a week of what we called “Work experience” I tried phoning a little studio I had read about in Copenhagen. It was basically the shared workspace of 3 comic-book artists. I asked if they would take me for a week to which they promptly turned me down. My hopes and dreams were shattered.
There was a great TV Show about Comics, Games and Animation, which I watched religiously. My dad called the host for some advice as to what to do with me and my peculiar dreams and he agreed to meet me to check out my artwork (which at the time amounted to copies of my favorite comic books and meticulous renditions of Playboy Playmates).
Towering over me, both literally and figuratively (he was the closest thing to a celebrity I had met at the time) he greeted me at his home, attentively flipping through my “portfolio”. He figured that I should go and talk to the boys down at A-Film whom he had once worked with on the animated feature “Valhalla”. Although I had seen it many times I had for some reason never imagined that a film like that could have possibly been produced in little Denmark.
With a trembling voice I called the studio to ask for an audience, which was granted by one of the owners.
I was sold! From the minute I stepped into the studio I knew this was my calling. The smell of pencil shavings alone still haunts me to this day as the first hit of heroin forever haunts an addict (I imagine!). They were working on one of Don Bluth’s later pictures at the time being one of his few outsourcing liaisons (most of the guys at A-Film had started their careers at the Sullivan Bluth Studios in Ireland). While deliberating with the rest of the bosses, he sat me down in front of the TV and popped in ‘The Secret of Nihm”. I still remember the feeling I got watching this for the first time. I was in heaven!
Long story short, they agreed to take me in for a week.

"Sinbad" © 2005 DreamWorks Animation LLC

That was the beginning of my romance with animation. The next year they took me in for a week yet again and the year after that, while I had somewhat reluctantly begun the first year of the most common of higher education in the country, they actually offered me a real job. To my parents credit they let their 17-year old son quit school to pursue his dream for which I am forever grateful. It was March of ’93 and we were in the middle of production on the studio’s feature length “Jungle Jack”
On a trip that summer to London my friend and colleague Rune Bennicke and I visited a real “big-time” studio, Amblimation. They were about to start production on “Balto”. My friend was the real talent (although he will vehemently deny it), but I had brought my portfolio just for the hell of it, never imaging getting a job so far away from the pond. Well, they eventually hired the both of us.
It remains the most inspiring and formative year of my career. It was here I met the “frenchies” (a great deal of the studios workforce was supplied by the immense talent pool of the Gobelins school in Paris: Kristof Serrand, Rodolphe Geunoden, William Salazar, Nico Marlet to name just a few) all of whom became my professors and great friends.  In fairness it wasn’t just the French, but people from all over Europe which made up the fabric of the studio, making it a truly rich experience for a young impressionable animator-to-be.
Eventually the studio shut down after production had ended with the intent to return back to the States. About 100 artists were invited to join, myself included. All of a sudden London didn’t seem that far away from home. America! I had always fantasized about living in the good ol’ USA. Here was my chance.
Amblimation was brought over to LA and seamlessly merged into DreamWorks Animation where I spent the next 11 years.

"Over The Hedge" © DreamWorks Animation LLC

Here, I was introduced to yet more incredible talent, veterans of industry as well as “newbie’s” like myself, your previous interviewee and my very good friend Simon Otto being one.
I also had the great fortune of getting to work under James Baxter, whose mentorship was a true gift. He, more than anyone, taught me how to harness my ideas into clear statements, helping me understand how to apply proper physics to my work and more.
I worked on all of the studios traditionally animated features, ‘The Prince of Egypt”, “The Road to El Dorado”, “Spirit-Stallion of the Cimarron” and “Sinbad-Legend of the Seven Seas”, becoming a Supervising Animator on the last two.
Just as I was beginning to feel comfortable with my craft the entire industry pulled the plug on hand-drawn animated features blaming their failures on the craft itself and not on the fact that our movies were becoming stale in their attempt to replicate previous successes.
We were all trained in the new art of CG. Honestly, it took me a good while to embrace it as I was lamenting my dream of drawing until retirement like so many of my heroes had been able to. But I eventually took to enjoying it very much, after realizing that I could apply the very same skills I had learned in 2D on this new tool. Although 2D will always remain my first love I have to admit that it’s the thought behind a performance that has always intrigued me and less the execution of it.
Still at DreamWorks I worked on “Shark Tale”, “Over the Hedge” (mostly as a character designer), “Madagascar” and “Flushed Away”.
I then decided to take a well-earned break from what had been my home for the past 11 years, taking a few commercials and working with my friend James Baxter on Disney’s “Enchanted” at his studio, returning for a moment to 2D.
It was then that the folks at Imagi Studios offered me a job as Animation Director on their upcoming Animated Feature “Astro Boy”. Like me, many of the people at the LA office (Imagi’s Headquarters are in Hong Kong) were DreamWorks alumni, including the films director David Bowers, our producer Maryann Garger and the Character Designer Luis Grane, a long time friend.

Q. About the difference of 2d and 3d animation.
It seems it will be hard for you to change. What is for you the most important difference about 2d and 3d animation?

I often say that in 2D you’re only a slave to your own limitations, whereas in 3D you’re as slave to your own and everyone else’s limitations, because it takes a lot more crucial steps to fully realize a 3D character. This demands an incredibly symbiotic relationship between many departments and calls for a clearly defined objective. If successful, this can be a very gratifying experience. If not, well, then it’s much easier to blame someone else! In 2D, it’s your ass and no one else’s.

© Jakob Jensen

Q. Do you think that changed your way of thinking about animation and the creative process?

Certainly, when it comes to the creative process I am slowly beginning to recognize limitations as a gift rather than an obstacle. It makes for a much smoother and more pleasant experience as well as creative.

Q. You are working as animation director. What is the big difference about 2d and 3d when you have to manage a team?

There shouldn’t be a difference at all if you think about it, at least to me there isn’t. I approach it exactly the same way I would in any other medium. My role is to help bring a cohesive performance to the screen. You do so by casting to people’s strengths, by communicating as clearly as you can the dictate from the Director in terms of the character-descriptions and basically making sure that everyone knows what they’re working on and how it fits into the big picture.

Q. What are your references, your inspirations when you create animation?

Well, at the risk of sounding highfalutin, the goal should always be to tell the truth about whatever moment you’re working on. But I believe you can actually enhance the truthfulness of a moment by tapping into the vast reference library of your memories, be they from real life, movies, art etc. We all copy each other in real life whether in speech patterns or gestures. We just don’t realize it.  The danger in art is that you copy something that you know has worked before without examining why it worked. It’s extremely tempting. So, the trick to me is to know the history of my craft enough to use it as a stepping-stone to create something fresh. Again, it’s far more gratifying when it’s your own idea that works great.
I’m personally a big admirer of the work of Milt Kahl very much for that reason. He always went the extra mile to fully explore all possible approaches to a scene, never cowering from doing it the hard way if it was the most entertaining way.
Also, it didn’t hurt that he could draw the socks off any of his contemporaries!

Q. What kind of animations or movies do you like?

I often revisit “The Jungle book”, “The Aristocats” and “Sleeping Beauty” because they contain so many great examples of the craft at its highest level.  As I explained earlier, I also have a special affinity for “The Secret of Nihm”. When it comes to live action the list is too long. I have an attraction to anything dark and somber, probably because of my Scandinavian upbringing.

© Jakob Jensen

Q. Can you talk about Astro Boy production a little more?

Well, it would be terribly foolish of me to even pretend to know more than your readers about the cultural impact Osamu Tezuka’s story has had over time.
Our production tries to stay true to the core of the origin-story, taking a few liberties necessary for the drama to function in a feature length format.
Ours is an intercontinental production utilizing talent from our main offices in Hong Kong and our Los Angeles unit. Feature production of this size is relatively new to Hong Kong and therefore Imagi chose to recruit a good deal of industry veterans from LA. It has had the wanted effect of marrying the very different but compatible sensibilities of our two worlds into a hopefully fresh peace of work.
As I said earlier, the film is directed by David Bowers and produced by Maryann Garger, the director/producer team of “Flushed Away”. Sharing with me the title of Animation Director is Kim Ooi, a veteran of the Hong Kong office and with him in Hong Kong is my long time DreamWorks colleague Tim Cheung who now takes on the task of Vice President of Animation at Imagi.
You can take a sneak peak at our teaser trailer here:
http://www.astroboy-themovie.com/

Astro Boy © 2009 Imagi Crystal Limited | Original Manga © Tezuka Productions Co., Ltd.

Q. Do you decide the animation with precise storyboard or animation tests?

Well, the rhythm of the shots is predetermined by the storyboards as far as the story beats go. It then has to go though the process of Layout where sometimes a sequence (especially action) is reinvented to play more dynamically and to follow any established cinematic rules of the film. In essence it remains the same as the storyboard, though.

Q. Do you use 2d animation before beginning  3d animation?

I have on occasion tried something out on paper before going ahead on the computer. It’s been a while, though. It has the disadvantage of getting you carried away into poses that the actual rig may not allow.

Q. How about the animation workflow? How many animators are on the film?

Our department is presented with new sequences as they come out of our LA-based Layout department headed by our DP Pepe Valencia, previously from Sony Imageworks. David, our director, gives us a general launch of a sequence, discussing with us the broad strokes of the acting beats. This is done over a Video Conferencing system so that we are at least virtually in the same room.
Individual shots are then cast to the animators (we have about 60 animators, the majority in Hong Kong and five, including myself here in LA). From here, the life of a shot is no different from anywhere else that I know of: The animator blocks out the shot, quickly throwing in the basic staging of the characters, whatever is necessary for it to read. We then review it in context with other shots and discuss any changes that may enhance the performance. Once approved in blocking it is then a matter of putting the proper flair and love into the actual execution of the animation. This often takes the longest. After it is approved it is sent on to the next link in our production pipeline.

Q. You are the animation director but are you also working on the animation yourself?

Yes, I’m fortunate enough to have enough time to animate as well. It’s challenging at times but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Q. As animation director, what is the best way to separate animation between the animators? By characters or sequence?  Can you explain why?

This has been a tough question ever since I transitioned from 2D to 3D. In 2D we always followed the tradition of character based supervision, since learning to draw more than one character would prove too big a challenge for most animators as well as getting familiar with the specific movement patterns of several characters.
Even if the challenge of “staying on model” was seemingly lifted as we began working with 3D models I was still in favor of having character teams, but for many reasons this proves challenging in most 3D pipelines. Both methods have their strengths and weaknesses, of course.
As an example, in a sequence-based system the animation can quickly become quite general, if you’re not careful. Conversely, in a character-based system, if inventory of a specific character is low you’re stuck with animators sitting around waiting for shots with their specific character to hit the floor. This is not very efficient. So, we try to still cast our different teams to their individual strengths, thereby creating a sort of hybrid system.

Q. You are working in LA. Do you have a special inspiration from the place you are living in?

It isn’t exactly Paris here, you know? But, in a way I suppose LA offers it’s own kind of beauty. It’s a place filled with contrast.
You can find unbearable pretentiousness and awe-inspiring humility, riches and poverty and an obscene amount of superficiality contrasted with a fair amount of wisdom (If you look long enough!).
In that sense, LA may actually pose as an indirect source of inspiration. I think it forces you to make a choice about how you view the world, which I think is a prerequisite for being an artist.

Q. For people learning animation, Can you talk about what is important in animation or give some advice?

In my experience what is crucial in your “formative” years as a young animator is to determine whose work you respond to as being extraordinary and then do your very best to figure out why you think it’s great. If you are lucky enough to be around someone whose work you admire, try to pick his or her brain as much as you can. Don’t be shy! They obviously weren’t. If not, study the masters. There’s so much material out there, in books, on the Internet etc. Get you hands on Richard Williams’ book “The Animator’s Survival Kit”. It is by far the most comprehensive book on the craft out there. But most important of all: Observe real life! Any art form is a means to reflect on your point of view about life.

Q. Is there some Japanese artist that you like? Or are there Japanese animation artists that influence your work?

To me, there’s a general aesthetic in Japanese art that attracts me. It must have to do with the search for simplicity, I suppose. This rings very true to my own ideals in what I try to do (emphasizing the word “try”!). But I must admit that I know very little to talk in length about it.
I am of course a big fan of Hayao Miyazaki’s work. I find that his sense of storytelling is nearly unparalleled in today’s market. I was also completely stunned by the work in “Ghost in the Shell” when it came out, as well as the more recent “Tekkonkinkreet”, although its director isn’t actually Japanese (but I think it still counts as Japanese).
In terms of graphic art, I have for a while been a big fan of Tadahiro Uesugi’s work. It’s extremely bold, I find.
Of course, I feel I have learned a great deal more during the course of the making of Astro Boy, particularly in working closely with our character designer Luis Grane. He truly immersed himself into not only the world of Tezuka but Japanese design sensibilities as a whole, taking inspiration anywhere from Hokusai to Noguchi.

Q. Are you interested to come to Japan to present your works or making conference?

I would love to visit Japan, of course! It’s on my list.

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Simon Otto / Spirit ™ 2002 DreamWorks Animation LLC.

Simon Otto is currently animator at DreamWorks Animation.

Q. Can you tell us a bit about who you are, your background…

Well, I guess I’m one of those kids that dreamt about being a comic book artist or animator since I was very young. I got sucked into reading Asterix and Tintin at a very early age, because my two older brothers were reading them. The fascination for the Disney animated movies started around the same time and so I began drawing little cartoon characters whenever I could.
I grew up in a small village in the Swiss mountains near Zurich and it was not really an option to learn a profession that had anything to do with drawing. Becoming a cartoonist or animator was almost like becoming an astronaut or a Hollywood movie star. It was an abstract idea and so I trained to be a banking clerk, like any good Swiss.

At one point, after years of creating little cartoons and illustrations, I remember saying to one of my friends that I was going to work on one of these animated movies no matter what happened, even if I had to be the guy who just colored the little highlights in the characters’ eyes.

I finished my banking apprenticeship, worked as a snow sculptor for a year and then went to art school in Zurich. My path became more and more clear and I managed to get into Les Gobelins in Paris, which is one of the most prestigious animation schools in the world.
In my year, there were about 900 applicants and after 3 rounds of testing, they finally accepted 20 students into the program.

So, the big Hollywood studios of course knew about this school since a lot of their talent actually came from there. I had a contract offer in my hands about a year later. I came to Los Angeles right after my graduation and started as a 2D animator on “The Prince of Egypt” at DreamWorks.

Reisefieber / Simon, tabletPC, 2007

Q. What are your references, your inspirations when you create animations?  What kind of animations or movies do you like ?

I find inspiration in a lot of artists, but for animation it must have been Milt Kahl, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston at first and then later the guys around me (James Baxter, Kristof Serrand, Rodolphe Guenoden, William Salazar, Fabio Lignini, Jakob Jensen, Fabrice Joubert, Dan Wagner etc….) I don’t know if you’re familiar with any of their work, but these guys are truly incredible.

And of course in terms of filmmaking there are countless inspirations such as the obvious films of Brad Bird, Hayao Miyazaki, Nick Park, Jim Henson, etc.

However, the majority of my inspiration comes from real life. I sketch, paint and observe people constantly, and have a fascination for strong characters and personalities. I carry my own little motion library in my head.

Q. You come from Gobelins. What do you think about animation schools? What was the most important for you during your studies?

The great thing about attending Les Gobelins was that not only were we surrounded by extremely talented students, but it was (and still is) a place taught by industry professionals (at that time Disney Paris and other great French studios sent teachers in for weekly exercises). Most of us progressed extremely fast and were aware of the opportunities granted to us.  We knew we were a lucky few.

But there are a lot of great animation schools. The trick is to find the ones that can expose you to the right people; the people that know how animation in a professional environment really works. Fancy equipment and a great campus doesn’t necessarily guarantee you a successful career. Recently, I’ve seen a lot of great students graduate from the online school Animation Mentor, Supinfocom and Gobelins in France, Ringling in Florida, Cal Arts in Southern California, Academy of Art in San Francisco and the Filmakademie in Germany, just to name a few.

Character design from Over The Hedge of the Porcupines

Q. Your background is 2d animation and now you are using 3d tools. Can you tell us about this? Differences, preferences ?

The transition from one to another wasn’t as problematic as I initially thought it might be. The core approach is the same. In 2D you are a little more in touch with the animation, because you have to handcraft everything from scratch onto a blank piece of paper, which I enjoyed very much. There is something magical about the process, and it was clear to everybody else in the production process that this art form wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the skill of the character animator - to breathe life into a bunch of scribbles.  Also, there are fewer artists that can perform hand-drawn animation at a top level, due to the difficulty of drawing.

In CG animation, there are more top-notch animators and they come from different backgrounds. Some have grown up as stop-motion animators, others as VFX technicians. All the top 2D animators at DreamWorks are still some of the best animators at the studio.

However, it took me a few years to not feel limited by the CG tools to create what I wanted. The medium has come a long way, as has my skills as a CG animator, I think.

Flushed Away™ 2006 DreamWorks Animation LLC.

Q. You have been working about 10 years in DreamWorks and have worked on several movies. Can you tell us about special memories? Work, animation scenes, team…?

There have been many amazing moments. Of course, meeting actors like Brad Pitt, Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Jerry Seinfeld and Andy Serkis is always memorable.

But the real treasures were just working on scenes or movies with people I admire professionally. In one of the first sequences in “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron,” for example, James Baxter and I shared an entire sequence in which he animated adult Spirit and I drew the Eagle chasing each other over the plains.

Working on “The Prince of Egypt” of course was an unforgettable period of time, just because it was my first film and everybody felt like we had a chance to do something historic. There was an absolutely amazing ambiance in the studio when I first started there.

Additionally, working with Peter Lord and the artists from Aardman was also a fantastic experience during which I learned a lot as a filmmaker.  There were a lot of challenges to overcome in the process of adapting to the Aardman style. First of all, just trying to move out of your comfort zone and accept that you’re going to animate differently than the way you had animated before, was a big challenge. It’s very hard to move away from the way you do things you know work. Learning to animate as simplistic as possible was a huge personal battle. Editing, stripping down your ideas to the bare essentials was a difficult process for everybody, but ultimately extremely beneficial to all of us. Anything floaty or meaningless in animation today annoys me even more than it did before. And it is always good to be reminded that the character stands above all other technical rules.

Q. You are working in LA. Do you have a special inspiration from the place you are living in?

Living in LA and working in the movie industry is very odd, but also exciting. You feel like you are a part of this culture that gets created and then shipped around the world. Sometimes I see a location in a movie that I just drove by 2 hours earlier. It’s an odd mix between being motivated by these famous places and “weirded out” by the self-celebrating nature of this city and its people.

The Poetry Of Architectural Clutter / Simon, Sketchbook, 2006

Q. Is there a Japanese artist that you really like ?

Besides a number of Manga’s and Anime’s, as well as Miyazaki’s, Otomo’s, Oshii’s and Takahata’s movies, I also love a number of Japanese painters.

I have always been a great admirer of Gustav Klimt’s body of work. I know that he was inspired by Japanese decorative painters such as Ogata and the artists that were part of the Rimpa school. Hiroshige’s and Toyokumi’s famous prints are also absolutely stunning.

Q. Are you interested to come to Japan to present your works or making conference?

My wife is Japanese-American and we visited Tokyo and Kyoto at the beginning of last year. We both love going there and have already promised each other to go back there soon and visit her uncle’s rice farm and drive around the countryside. Towards the completion of my current movie “How to Train Your Dragon,” I will have a lot of material to show and would love to share it with all who are interested!

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Yves Dalbiez / "Riba" Copyright Supinfocom 2003

Yves Dalbiez est un auteur / animateur francais au studio Aoki Tokyo base a harajuku. Apres 4 annees d’etudes a l’ecole supinfocom en France, et une annee de travail a Paris, il s’est envole pour le japon en 2005. Il a travaille pendant 3 ans chez ludens Co., ltd a Tokyo compagnie japonaise en tant qu’animateur 3D. Et a rejoint le studio AOKI en avril 2008.

Q. Peux tu nous présenter ton parcours ? comment de la France es tu arrive au japon?

En 1998, j’ai decide de prendre des cours du soir de dessin a l’ecole Emile cohl a Lyon. J’ai ete marque par l’univers de l’illustration tres present sur les murs de l’ecole. Apres ca, j’ai decouvert la 3D et Supinfocom dans les revues Pixel magazine. J’etais dingue de ces films et je voulais a tout prix apprendre la 3D. J’ai passe le concours de Supinfocom avec succes en 1999 et j’ai co-realise 4 ans plus tard le Film Riba dont j’ai ecris l’histoire et la musique. J’ai ensuite ecris et realise un tres short film pour TF1 jeunesse a Paris juste a la sortie de l’ecole.

"Riba" Copyright Supinfocom 2003

Pour le japon, c’est un heureux hasard. Lors d’un sejour touristique en 2004 a Himeji, je suis reste deux mois au japon et j’ai ete fascine. Quelque chose en moi m’a pousse a tenter de rester. J’ai pense interieurement que j’avais beaucoup a apprendre de ce pays.Puis j’ai rencontre une personne a Tokyo qui avait vu mon film Riba au festival du siggraph 2 semaines avant. Cette personne etait tellement contente de me rencontrer qu’elle m’a donne des contacts et des noms de compagnies a contacter a Tokyo.J’ai envoye quelques emails et j’ai eu un entretien.3 jours apres, j’ai eu un travail.Les japonais qui m’ont propose un poste connaissaient le film que j’avais realise a Supinfocom par le biais des festivals.Je n’ai pas d’affinites speciales avec le japon si ce n’est la culture du zen et des arts martiaux. C’est donc le gout de l’aventure qui m’ a amene a travailler ici. Et apres 3 ans de vie au japon, je dois dire que j’adore ce pays. Le japon transforme personnellement n’ importe quel europeen a vie.

Q.Peux tu nous parler de l’ecole supinfocom? quelle rencontre t’as marque et quel type de cours tu as particulierement aime au cours de ta formation dans cette ecole?

J’ai rencontre des gens talentueux a Supinfocom. Parmi les eleves,de tres bons dessinateurs et des gens qui avaient beaucoup d’imagination, des gens passionnes.

Je suis la personne typique a qui l’ecole a tout apporte sur le plan artistique. Ma culture de l’Art etait tres pauvre quand je suis arrive la bas. Les cours d’histoire de l’Art, de couleur et de l’image etaient mes preferes. J’ai decouvert tellement d’artistes et de films d’animation que je suis tombe amoureux de ce medium. Ce qui m’a le plus marque, c’est le fait de pouvoir vehiculer des choses tres personnelles a travers le cinema d’animation. Des choses que je voyais dans ma vie mais que je ne pouvais pas expliquer oralement. Une sorte de poesie de l’image qui vehicule plus de chose que les mots.A l’epoque le cursus de Supinfocom etait de 4 ans. Divise en 2 cycles, un cycle preparatoire de 2 ans et un cycle 3D de 2 ans.

Supinfocom est une tres bonne ecole car elle permet a chaque eleve de developper son univers personnel et en meme temps, elle donne l’occasion aux eleves de s’entraider et d’apprendre en groupe. Ce qui est bien plus efficace pour le developpement artistique. La diversite des avis et des gouts apporte une richesse aux films de fin d’etudes et c’est ca qui fait la richesse de l’ecole.

Q. Peux tu nous parler du film Riba que tu as co-realise en 2003 a Supinfocom?

Pour Riba, tout a commence avec la musique, j’ai compose une musique en 2002 au piano que j’aimais beaucoup. J’etais en 2 annee preparatoire a ce moment la et j’ai fais un dessin qui representait un poisson volant avion avec des hublots. A chaque fois que je jouais cette musique au piano, je pensais a ce dessin et inversement. Ca me procurait une tres vive emotion. J’ai donc decide d’ecrire le scenario a partir de ces deux elements: la musique et le dessin du poisson volant. Mon scenario a ensuite ete selectionne au jury des films de supinfocom et j’ai pu constituer mon equipe. J’ai travaille sur le film pendant 1 an avec Laurent Leleu et Elise Garcette. On a beaucoup travaille l’histoire ensemble et les emotions qu’on voulait faire passer a travers ce film.Au final, Riba a fini 2eme meilleur film de la promo 2003 de supinfocom, il a ete projete dans beaucoup de festivals internationaux et a remporte 3 prix.

"Riba" Copyright Supinfocom 2003

Q. Sur ce film, tu avais un rendu qui faisait tres technique traditionnelle, quel rapport entretiens tu avec la 3D et la peinture?

Oui c’est vrai, Riba est un hybride de Technique 3D et de peinture a la main. J’ai ete marque par le monde de l’illustration a l’ecole emile cohl avant d’integrer Supinfocom. Je crois que ca ne m’a jamais quitte. Je me souviens que je voulais faire de l’illustration quand j’etais en prepa a sup mais on ne nous a jamais appris a en faire.

J’ai donc decide de developper Riba avec ce cote peinture traditionnelle et avec la 3D. J’ai essaye de marier au mieux les deux techniques.

Je ne suis pas fan des rendus tres realistes avec la 3D, je les trouve assez froids et il ne me procure que tres peu d’emotion. Je prefere le monde de la peinture, qui apporte un cote plus abstrait, plus onirique.

Toutes les textures de Riba ont ete peintes a la main a l’acrylique et ensuite mappees sur les decors en 3D. Pareil pour le personnage du chat. J’aime beaucoup travailler mes univers en mixant les techniques traditionnelles et la 3D. je trouve qu’elle s’enrichissent mutuellement.

Q. Tu as developpe un univers tres personnel avec ce film, depuis il s’est passe du temps, tes influences et tes envies ont elles evoluees?

J’aime beaucoup l’univers de Yuri Norstein, egon Schiele ou encore igor kovaliov.

J’ai ete tres influence par ces artistes ainsi que par Hayao Miyazaki. Je trouve qu’ils ont tous a leur maniere, cette capacite hors du commun a raconter une histoire. Et c’est ce qui me plait dans le cinema d’animation. J’aime les histoires. J’ai du mal a apprecier les films d’animation dont l’histoire et sans interet ou pas assez travaillee.

Cependant, je dois dire que le japon m’a beaucoup influence dans mon animation depuis que je suis arrive. Je suis devenu animateur et j’aime beaucoup la qualite d’animation de certains studios japonais comme Studio 4C ou gainax. J’adore leur facon d’animer meme si je garde une certaine distance par rapport aux histoires qu’ils racontent.

Q. tu es parfois realisateur, parfois animateur, que penses tu de la relation entre les deux? est-ce interessant pour un realisateur d’etre aussi animateur?

Definitivement oui. Je pense qu’un realisateur de film d’animation y gagne enormement a etre aussi animateur ou avoir un passe d’animateur. D’une part, la connaissance technique lui permet de bien communiquer avec les animateurs et de ne pas les rendre dingue. D’autre part, il peut anticiper les problemes a l’avance pendant la realisation ou le storyboard. De mon point de vue, un realisateur qui a ete animateur est bien plus efficace qu’un realisateur qui n’a jamais anime de sa vie. Peut etre qu’il y a de tres bons realisateurs qui ne sont pas animateurs, dans ce cas, seule une longue experience peut donner cette qualite.

Pour ma part, je ne peux pas me passer des deux. J’adore raconter des histoires et j’adore animer. Si j’arrete l’un des deux, je suis en manque.

"Riba" Copyright Supinfocom 2003

Q. Que penses tu de l’evolution de l’animation aujourdhui?

Du cote artistique, a part quelques exceptions, je trouve que l’animation tourne un peu en rond a l’heure actuelle. Ce qui me derange le plus est qu’il n’y ait pas de films ou de series animees plus originales, plus artistiques a la television, par exemple, pour les enfants. Bien souvent, les programmes se ressemblent, pour un souci commercial. Et c’est vraiment dommage.

Pour trouver de l’originalite, il faut se rendre dans les festivals d’animation.

Par exemple, le cinema de Hayao Miyazaki a un reel impact interieur sur les spectateurs.

C’est quelque chose que j’aimerais retrouver plus souvent.

Du cote technique, Il semble que l’animation 2D soit encore la pour un bon moment. Certes il y a encore plein de choses a exploiter avec l’animation 3D qui la rende tres presente mais l’anim 2D possede son terrain propre et rien ne pourra jamais la remplacer.

Q. En tant qu’auteur, quelles sont tes methodes pour creer tes univers? (musique, livres, experiences personnelles)

Pour ma part, j’ai commence la musique tres jeune a l’age de 5 ans, et j’ai commence a composer vers l’age de 10 ans. Lorsque je joue de la musique, j’ai souvent des images visuelles tres fortes qui me viennent. Et cela se passe aussi lorsque j’ecoute un CD.

J’ai enormement d’inspiration en ecoutant de la musique. Lorsque je dois ecrire un film, j’ecoute de la musique et je vois ce qui vient.

Je suis aussi tres influence par la peinture en general, il m’arrive de regarder un tableau abstrait et d’y voir une histoire. Ou encore, une phrase d’un livre qui me fait vibrer peut me donner envie d’ecrire. Parfois il suffit de rien, juste le sourire d’un petit enfant dans la rue qui court ou bien une fleur coloree seule perdue dans la ville grise, une odeur… C’est le genre d’image qui eveille en moi une foule d’emotions, et qui me donnent envie de creer. Il m’arrive de noter ce que je ressens en correspondance avec ce que j’ai vu dans un petit carnet.

Je me sers aussi beaucoup de mes experiences personnelles, les gens que je rencontre, les gens de ma famille, mon enfance, mes histoires passees, ce sont des choses qui apportent une identite propre a un film quand je l’ecris. Je pense qu’Il faut toujours se servir de son experience personnelle pour ecrire un film, il n’en sera que plus vivant. Lorsque j’ecris un film, je cherche a ressentir d’abord des emotions. Lorsque je les ressens tres fortement, je sais que je suis arrive a destination. Je peux commencer a chercher les elements qui vont traduire ses emotions dans mon histoire. Le but est que les spectateurs puissent ressentir les meme emotions que moi.

Comme le resume si bien Miyazaki Hayao, “dans un film ce qui est important est moins l’histoire que la trace qu’il laisse dans le coeur des gens”.

Q. Sur quels projets travaillent tu en ce moment?

J’ai plusieurs projets en cours.

Avec Aoki, je travaille sur un pilote de serie televisee animee qui mixe la prise de vue reelle et l’animation 3D. C’est un projet tres original dans son traitement. Je m’occupe d’animer le heros et de lui donner un caractere bien special (pour ne pas dire un peu dejante)

De mon cote, j’ecris mon prochain court metrage dans mon temps libre. J’ai vraiment l’univers du film. Mais la phase scenaristique prend du temps avant d’obtenir quelque chose d’impeccable.

J’ecris aussi une serie televisee avec mon ami Bertrand poulain que nous allons proposer aux chaines televisees tres bientot.

Merci beaucoup pour cette interview.

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The Black Heart Gang - Jannes, Ree, Markus/the sea Orchestra" Commercial Film of United Airlines

Q. Can you tell us a bit about who you are, your background…

Before we started Ringo (2004, our first project) we didn’t know each other that well. Except for Markus and Jannes as they are cousins. We wanted to make something special and a type of creative chemistry just developed among us. At the time, none of us had any real experience; we just threw ourselves into it.

Ringo started as a weekend project but we ended up working on it for another nine months. We didn’t plan it, things just developed. This was the basis of our working dynamic and how The Blackheart Gang began. We learnt as we went along with it. We then proceeded to create our next project “The Tale of How”.

"The Tale of How" Copylight The Black Heart Gang

Again this turned out to be a 9mth part time project on which we worked every evening and every week-end.The “Tale of How” is the second part of The Dodo Triology which is a documentation on the Piranha birds, how they came to be, and what the presently keep themselves busy with. In turn the Dodo Triology is a part of a much bigger tale which we call The Household. After the success of The Tale of How Jannes and Ree were approached by Passion pictures in Europe and Duck Studio’s in the States to sign up with them as commercial directors. We wanted to keep our personal film work and commercial work separate from each other and so along with producer Nina Pfieffer, began a commercial company called Shy the Sun.

Our first commercial was the Sea Orchestara spot that we did for united Airlines after BD’M stumbled upon our short film The Tale of How and awarded us the job based on that specific style.

"the sea Orchestra" Commercial Film of United Airlines

Currently Shy the Sun is busy with a new commercial in which they are exploring a new style and direction. The Blackheart Gang on the other hand are in pre-production for ‘he Tale of Then” which they plan to begin next year.

Q. Is there a japanese artist That you really like ?

Hayao Miyazaki / Audrei Kawasaki / Yoko Dholbachie / Takashi Murakami

Q. What are your references, your inspirations (book, painter, music …) when you create animations ?
what kind of animations or movies do you like ?

Inspirational painters: Patrick Woodroffe / Jim Woodring / Mark Ryden / Joep Hommerstom / Ancient eastern art / Medieval Art

Inspirational music: Murcof / Autechre / Xela / Monolake / The Shins / Kings of Leon / Nancy Sinatra

Inspirational movies: Dark Crystal / Wild at Heart / Tekkon Kinkreet / Spirited Away / Hero

Q. You are working in Cape Town. have you special inspiration from the place where you live ?

Living on the edge of the world, on the tip of a continent that allow you to look over vast oceans, envisioning endless worlds and ideas….

"the sea Orchestra" Commercial Film of United Airlines

Q. Are you interesting to come to Japan to present your works or making conference ?

Of course!. Its a country we’ve always been inspired by and wished to visit. We often do presentations, showing our work and the processes involved, so when you’re ready… on top of that we are very interested to see whether the taxis in japan are really rental helicopter backpacks, if you truly do walk around on hover shoes and how close our sushi comes to the real thing.

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Olivier Staphylas (Photograph by Travis Price) /Kung Fu Panda™ 2008 DreamWorks Animation LLC.

Olivier Staphylas est animateur chez Dreamworks Animation a los Angeles. Il a recemment travaille sur le film kungfu panda. Yves Dalbiez est animateur realisateur a Aokistudio base a Tokyo.
Yves et Olivier se sont rencontres pour la premiere fois en 1999 a l’ecole Supinfocom valenciennes en France ou ils sont devenus des amis tres proches.

Q. Salut Oliv, plutot sympa de se retrouver a faire une interview ensemble apres tout ce temps . Aujourdhui on va te presenter a un public japonais si tu es d’accord. Depuis l’ecole, il s’en est passe des choses, tu es rentre aux gobelins et tu as fais le film le building qui t’a projete a Dreamworks. Tu as bosse sur kungfu panda pour finalement etre elu rising star de l’animation 2008 par le magazine animation magazine.Peux tu nous presenter ton parcours ? de tes premiers pas jusqu’ à Dreamworks ?

J’ai commencé à m’intéresser à la 3D très jeune. A 15 ans,je me rappelle avoir regardé l’émission “l’œil du cyclone”. Elle contenait des courts-métrages de Supinfocom et de plusieurs autres sociétés. C’était la première fois que je voyais des courts-métrages en 3d et ça a été un vrai coup de foudre. C’était aussi l’année de sortie de Toy Story et c’est là que j’ai compris que je voulais en faire mon métier. J’ai fai t l’ensemble de la formation à Supinfocom, c’est à dire 4 ans. Je suis sorti en Juin 2003, avec un film de fin d’études qui s’appelait “Bus Stop”. Je suis ensuite rentré en 3eme année en formation “conception et réalisation de films d’animation”  a l’ecole des Gobelins .  Ces 2 écoles (Supinfocom et Gobelins) m’ont énormément appris. Je suis donc sorti des Gobelins avec le film “Le Building” (http://www.le-building.com) en juin 2005, qui m’a valu de recevoir une proposition d’embauche de la part de Dreamworks Animation. Je travaille depuis juin 2006 Chez Dreamworks Animation et j’ai notamment travaillé comme animateur sur le film Kung Fu Panda.

"Le Building" copyright Gobelins/CCIP 2005

Q. Quel est, dans ton parcours avant dreamworks, les chose ou les personnes qui ont vraiment transforme ta vision de l’animation?

J’ai regarde beaucoup de films d’animation, lu beaucoup de livres sur l’animation ( Illusion of Life par exemple ). Parmi mes preferes, je mettrai Nightmare before christmas, The incredibles, The Emperor’s New Groove, ou bien encore Finding Nemo. Essayer de comprendre ce qui en fait des chef d’oeuvres du genre par exemple.
Tous les gens que j’ai rencontres dans ces 2 ecoles francaises ont ete des elements cles aussi. Le travail personnel que j;ai fait chez moi pour apprendre, pour en savoir plus, en 3d, en anim, en cinema. C’est un peu tout ca reuni je crois…

Kung Fu Panda™ 2008 DreamWorks Animation LLC.

Q. Quelles sont tes méthodes de travail pour tes animations ?

Je pense toujours énormément à mon plan avant de le commencer. Je trouve qu’il ne faut pas se précipiter dans le soft et commencer à mettre des clés partout. C’est la meilleure méthode pour s’y perdre. Je préfère penser à mon plan, à la ligne de dialogues, au contexte, à l’émotion à transmettre, à l’état d’esprit des personnages. Ensuite, je me consacre à mon “acting”, à comment je vais essayer de rendre ce plan intéressant visuellement, tout en transmettant tout ce qu’on me demande.Je ne me contente pas d’imaginer, je joue les scènes moi-même devant mon miroir ou ma caméra. ça me permet de visualiser ce que je cherche à retranscrire. Cette phase de réflexion peut durer deux jours. Cela me permet de savoir ou je vais aller avec mon anim. Lorsque je decide enfin de me mettre a animer, tout est clair dans ma tete, et je n’ai plus qu’a créer que j’ai en tete. Mal planifier son travail et se précipiter sur l’ordi ne servirait a rien. Sans réflexion je partirai probablement dans une mauvaise direction, et serait obliger de corriger ou bien de refaire mon anim, ce qui, au final, me ferait perdre du temps…

Kung Fu Panda™ 2008 DreamWorks Animation LLC.

Q.  Peux tu nous parler de l’ambiance en general a Dreamworks?

C’est un immense studio contenant près de 1200 personnes, mais tout est très bien pense et organise.
L’environnement est tres agréable, conçu pour que tout le monde s’y sente bien. Tout le monde est spécialisé. Il y a des départements modeling, rigging, lighting, animation, effets spéciaux séparés en bâtiments différents pour chaque département. L’ambiance en animation est très sympathique et conviviale. , douze nations sont représentées, les liens se créent très vite, ce qui apporte de la fraîcheur, une grande richesse et un côté très cosmopolite au département.Chez Dreamworks, nous faisons de l’animation traditionnelle, de l’animation keyframe, surtout pas de la rotoscopie (fait de décalquer le mouvement d’une vidéo), ni de la motion capture.En moyenne, chaque animateur fournit trois secondes de film par semaine, ce qui nous laisse le temps de travailler les détails.

Q.  Sur kungfu panda, sur quels personnages as-tu travaillé?

Chez Dreamworks,  Chaque animateur crée l’animation de l’ensemble des personnages d’ une scene.
Lorsqu’on reçoit un plan ou un groupe de plans a animer, on est responsable de l’anim de tous les personnages principaux. S’il y a des foules en arriere plan (crowds), alors cette partie est gérée par le département foule. Le fait que je sois arrive très tot au début de la production de Kung Fu Panda m’a permis de toucher a quasiment tous les personnages. J’ai anime Po, Shifu, Oogway (lorsqu’il discute avec Shifu sous le Peach Tree), Tailung (lorsqu’il est suspendu sous le pont, et qu’il se bat avec Tigress, ou dans la sequence ou il se bat contre Shifu), etc

Kung Fu Panda™ 2008 DreamWorks Animation LLC.

Q.  As tu des remarques particulieres sur ces personnages? (Quelque chose propre au personnage et que tu n’avais pas encore eu l’occasion d’animer, une scene particulierement difficile ou une scene qui te laisse un bon ou mauvais souvenir)

J’ai beaucoup bossé sur la scène du pont en suspension. Il s’agit de la séquence la plus chère que les studios Dreamworks aient jamais réalisée. Le travail a duré quatre mois, mais le résultat est excellent. Tous les ingrédients sont réunis pour que ” Kung-fu panda ” devienne un classique du cinéma d’animation. On a vait vraiment envie de le voir réussir.

Q. Combien d’animateurs en tout ont travaillé sur le film et combien de temps  a dure la partie animation ?

On a commence avec une equipe toute petite. Quand j’ai commence sur le film on était seulement 5, dont le Head of animation et un superviseur. Puis l’equipe s’est agrandie au fur et a mesure, et vers le milieu de la production nous avions notre taille finale, d’a peu pres 20 animateurs. La partie animation a mis a peu pres 1 an et demi.

Kung Fu Panda™ 2008 DreamWorks Animation LLC.

Q. Quelle est la relation que tu as eu avec les réalisateurs ?

Nous avions des reunions quotidiennes pour presenter l’evolution du travail.  Sur ” Kung-fu panda “, par exemple, à chaque fois que l’un d’entre nous avait une idée, nous nous réunissions pour en discuter avec le réalisateur et, la plupart du temps, elle était retenue. Les réalisateurs étaient très agréables et ouverts. Notre relation avec eux était facile et ce fut un vrai plaisir de bosser avec eux.

Q. As tu decouvert a DWA de nouvelles techniques d’animation qu’on ne t’avait pas enseigne a l’ecole?

Ce que j’ai découvert a DWA, c’est en fait d’avoir la possibilité de pousser mes anims, de les peaufiner. Les conditions de travail sont excellentes et nous avons le temps de pousser la qualité sans être stresse par la productivité. Ce que j’avais rarement pu faire a l’ecole par exemple était de pousser autant mes anim faciales, mes lipsync. Ici c’est agréable car les rig faciaux sont très perfectionnes et les voix des acteurs sont de très bonnes qualités. Alors animer le visage de Po, avec un bon rig, sur la voix de Jack Black et avec du temps pour le faire, est vraiment quelque chose de super ☺
Ce que j’ai beaucoup aime aussi, c’est d’etre entoure d’autant de gens compétents. Parmi les meilleurs animateurs du monde travaille la bas et c’est super agréable de pouvoir montrer son travail a des « legendes vivantes » de l’animation et d’avoir leur feedback.

Kung Fu Panda™ 2008 DreamWorks Animation LLC.

Q.  Sur quoi travailles-tu désormais ?

Apres KFP, j’ai rejoint le projet « How To Train Your Dragon » , qui est base sur le best seller de Cressida Cowell. L’histoire d’un jeune viking qui doit attraper et apprivoiser un dragon pour être considéré comme un homme par les membres de sa tribu. La sortie est prévue début 2010.
J’ai eu la chance d’arriver au moment du développement. C’est a dire que mon travail a ete pendant 3-4 mois de faire des tests d’animations sur les perso du film, de collaborer avec le département rigging pour m’assurer que les rigs contiennent tout ce qu’il nous faut et fonctionnent bien. C’est aussi a ce moment la qu’on cherche le style d’anim, la personnalité ou le caractère des héros, etc
C’etait une étape passionnante. Le film est maintenant en pleine phase d’animation donc j’anime des dragons et des vikings ☺

Q.  Aurais-tu des conseils à donner aux animateurs qui voudrait développer leurs compétences ?

Pratiquer, être très exigeant, montrer son travail et demander l’avis de personnes autour de soi. Accepter la critique. Regarder les choses avec un œil actif et intelligent afin de les analyser et les comprendre. Regarder le travail de grands maitres de l’animation comme Milt Kahl, James Baxter, Kristof Serrand, Dan Wagner, Rodolphe Guenoden, etc.Je pense que les outils sont importants ; il est vrai que certains logiciels peuvent être mieux que certains, mais au final le plus important c’est de bien connaitre le logiciel avec lequel on travaille. A mon avis, connaître à moitié 2 logiciels ne sert pas à grand chose. Il vaut mieux se concentrer sur 1 et passer le reste de son temps à créer des images plutôt qu’apprendre sans arrêt de nouveaux softs.

Kung Fu Panda™ 2008 DreamWorks Animation LLC.

Q. Y a t-il un animateur ou une personne dont tu admires le travail au japon?

J’adore les illustrations de Tadahiro Uesugi ! J’ai eu la chance de voir une exposition de certaines de ses œuvres dans une gallérie ici a Los Angeles.

Merci beaucoup pour cette interview Oliv. Apres avoir etudie les mouvements du kung fu chinois pour kungfupanda, tu seras peut etre amene a etudier le karate japonais, les dragons sont pas karatekas a dreamworks? d’ailleurs, si l’occasion se presentait, tu serais pret a venir faire une conference sur l’animation au japon ?

Et bien oui oui, j’adorerais venir faire des masterclass au japon, soit dans une compagnie, soit dans une ecole. J’ai toujours beaucoup aime enseigne ou expliquer, c’est peut etre parce que mes parents sont tous les 2 des prof, je sais pas…   J’aimerais beaucoup essayer de transmettre ce qu’on m’a appris et fait decouvrir a des personnes qui aimeraient travailler dans l’animation.
Merci Yves c’etait cool de parler avec toi, comme au bon vieux temps.