He is the father of Asterix 3D version. Louis Clichy, 46, went from Pixar studios to directing the animated film Asterix. The Domain of the Gods and its sequel The Secret of the Magic Potion, with Alexandre Astier. Round glasses on his face, he receives us in the Parisian premises of the independent studio Eddy, where he works on the ” trailer » of a new project. An animated fiction that draws on his own childhood as a farmer’s son, the story of a boy who “doesn’t stand straight”, questioning the question of filiation and the agricultural condition. Between two sketches, the director looks back on his career, which began in Paris at the Ecole des Gobelins, and on the current boom in the animation sector.
How did you come to animation?
When I was little, I really liked animated films, their colorful, sweet side, but, more than the image, it was above all the sound that fascinated me. It has never left me. There is a moment when one wonders if this is not just a fad. I came from a not very well-to-do background, where people thought that this kind of career was far-fetched. But my mother gave me my chance. I started by studying history at the Sorbonne, and each year I tried the Gobelins competition, the most recognized school and one of the least expensive at the time. It took me five years to get it! It was complicated and, to be honest, I wasn’t very good [rires].
How did your studies at the Ecole des Gobelins go?
At that time, the training was done over two years: it was extremely dense but quite brilliant. Much of the time was spent drawing. The computer-generated image started a little, but it was above all the competing school, Supinfocom [aujourd’hui Rubika], which had positioned itself on 3D, with a more geek dimension. We went out with a traditional drawing technique. That was what suited me: I learned to draw again and above all I developed a knowledge of cinematographic language. I was then mainly attracted by acting, directing and editing. As a child, it was the sound-image combination that I liked: I always tell myself that the film should be able to work by closing its eyes.
And your first steps in the professional world?
“Pixar offered me a job as an animator in Los Angeles. It asked me to let go of directing, I hesitated a lot. But a Pixar proposal could not be refused.
Gobelins graduates already left, in my time, with a first business card: the production of the opening films of the Annecy Festival and a two-minute film at the end of the course, which we had to create over two weeks. For me, both, and in particular my end-of-studies project, Eat, had worked quite well. This means that my insertion was done without too much difficulty. After school, the Cube studio offered me to make a short film, which I made from the music of Edith Piaf What’s the point of love ? That’s why Pixar called me to offer me a job as an animator in Los Angeles. It asked me to let go of directing, I hesitated a lot. But a Pixar proposal could not be refused.
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