The Summer of Gobelins
Way back in the late Cretaceous (like, 2006) I saw an animated short called ‘Burning Safari’, which made an enormous impression on me. It was clever and wildly kinetic, had incredibly compelling character designs, and did things I hadn’t seen film do before. I’d been vaguely aware of the animated short film format, but more in the context of trailers and game cinematics than standalone stories.
‘Burning Safari’ was a graduation film made by students at Gobelins, l’école de l’image — widely regarded as the best animation school in the world (CalArts may quibble, but that is nitpicking). As I eventually learned, these graduation films are in a class of their own — regularly winning Annies, student Academy Awards, student BAFTAs, and more. Luckily for me — 17 years later, and finally having found a way to spend my time making animated films — Gobelins has a program they call Summer School, where students from all over the world get to focus on a specific track for a couple of weeks in Paris, and get a taste of the Gobelins experience.
The students (about 90 in our character animation track, of which 11 of us were doing 3D, and the rest 2D) represented over 40 countries, across an enormous age range. While most were in their mid twenties, there were also a couple of incredibly talented kids just out of high school, and of course a few old farts like me. The school provides accommodation at the beautiful Cite U campus, and in shocking news — Paris in the summer is pretty magical.
Learning from legends
It’s pretty great to have every class you attend be taught by an industry legend. John Coven (The Usual Suspects, Jurassic World, Capt. America: Civil War) started us off with storyboarding and visual storytelling. Samy Fecih (Arcane, Avatar, multiple Harry Potter movies) and Yoshi Tamura (Klaus, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, The Princess & the Frog) covered animation principles and character analysis. Nicholas Olivieri (The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Minions: The Rise of Gru) gave a two-part masterclass on character design. And the excellent Nicolas Benoit (the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, The Secret Life of Pets) mentored our 3D group in particular, providing detailed 30+ minute recorded feedback on each iteration of the 5 second animated shots we were each working on.
Their love for the medium, and the dedication with which they approach every minute detail of every shot was both inspiring and infectious. Fun fact: A feature film animator’s weekly quota is about 3.5 seconds of animation of one character. Part of the reason for that is the amount of experimentation, refinement, thought, and iteration that goes into the tiniest eye dart or flick of a wrist. Every element of a character’s design, and every move they make in each shot is informed by character, and debated endlessly.
Everything I’ve done has led me here
It’s no secret that switching to animated film after being an MD at BCG is an unusual choice, and one I’ve had to explain several times since making it. But on the first day of class, Nicolas Benoit opened his lecture with the image below, showing how many different disciplines were brought together in animation — and it was like looking at a map of my degrees, my jobs, and my passions.
I’d argue that Psychology and Physics should be in there too (MECE arguments notwithstanding), but it was the first of many ‘A-ha’ moments for me over the course of the program. Several different elements of things I’ve learned in wildly diverse parts of my life would click together and makes sense. Animation is quite literally about creating the illusion of life, and so it makes sense that it requires and involves a deep understanding of a lot of different fields.
It was so fun to be a student again
Classmates of mine from my Engineering and MBA degrees will attest that my attitude towards classes varied enormously based on my interest in them — that was consistent here. I find everything about animated film fascinating, and so I was at my most diligent and hard-working throughout. I showed up early every day, and stayed late working on the exercises — continuing on my laptop back at the residences.
Getting constant, professional feedback from expert practitioners at the peak of their abilities was a firehose I could not get enough of — and I learned an enormous amount, far more than I would have expected for the short period of the course. I genuinely wish it had been twice as long.
They’re all like me
One of the nicest parts of the program for me was being surrounded all day by a group of people that all spoke the same weird animation language. I didn’t have to explain to anyone why Mike Mignola’s hands in Atlantis are so cool, or how the frame rates in Across the Spiderverse work, or that Treasure Planet still kind of holds up. It was an environment of deep, happy, animation nerd acceptance and belonging.
On the last day, everyone’s projects were screened — 90 different five-second shots of a character picking up a phone. The wild, wacky range of imagination and creativity on display was really something to behold — combined with really impressive technical abilities. For me, working in 3D, the linework and manual timing of the people working in 2D blew my mind.
The program wrapped up with drinks by the Seine and fireworks in the distance (it happened to be Bastille Day in Paris). A number of Gobelins alums dropped by to say hi, and add to the warm communal glow.
Laura and I plan to hang out in Paris for a few days, then ride bikes around the beautiful Bretagne countryside for a week before heading home. I leave inspired and energized, impatient to apply all the things I’ve learned to my new work, and excited to see all the cool things my many new friends will do in the years to come.
