Mar 25, 2016

How did Bastien Dubois turn his award-winning short story into a TV series?

French animator Bastien Dubois, a recent graduate of Supinfocom Valenciennes, set out to make his debut diary-style short film that offers a glimpse of Madagascar's exotic landscape and fascinating traditions.

The 2009 film Madagascar: Annecy and Ottawa won awards and was nominated for an Academy Award and Cartoon d'Or. Clips of the film can be seen below:

Its success spawned a second hand-drawn CG short, Cargo Cult, and a short TV series of the same type, Faces from Places (2013).

Cartoon Brew spoke with Du Bois at the Animateka festival in Ljubljana, Slovenia last December about his signature hand-drawn CG style, his unconventional creative process in "Madagascar," and the anxiety of leading a large crew for the first time.

Cartoonist

Cartoon Brew: Madagascar: A Travel Diary brilliantly captures the organic and natural feeling of travel. Bastien Dubois: I moved to Madagascar in 2006: I spent 10 months in Madagascar in 2006 and prepared some basic technical materials, a visual idea of a travel diary animation, and a six-line script. Instead of writing a script or storyboarding, I first animated three shots and then spread them out on a timeline along with some music. That became the basis for the film.

After each trip to Madagascar, I would return [to Madagascar] and update the film's editing, animating some shots based on new experiences. The film was gradually built around these three shots. More or less before the story structure was solidified, probably 40 percent of the film was already fully animated.

I don't know if I did it this way because I was too lazy to think before I animated, or if I made a conscious decision to make the story as spontaneous as possible. Whatever the reason, if I had developed "Madagascar" in the conventional way, the film would never have been the same.

Traveling to an exotic place like Madagascar to make an animated film sounds like a dream production.

Bastien Dubois: I thought that by combining my two passions I could have a vacation, but I was wrong: out of the 10 months, I really only spent 3 months traveling. The rest of the time I spent in my room, suffering from terribly hot weather, electricity that stopped every two hours, and fleas that munched on my feet.

Did you ever consider making another film in the manner of "Madagascar"? Madagascar" was a film made on a hunch, with a series of wonderful accidents. Now that I am more aware of filmmaking techniques, like point of view, I don't think I can go back to something as spontaneous as that. I'm not the same person I was back then.

At the Festival Animética, you participated in the section devoted to animated documentaries. 25]

Bastien Dubois: My films are generally based on real events and a lot of research, so there is a documentary aspect to them!

In your films, you use CG to create a very hand-drawn style. Why don't you produce your films in 2D? Many people have asked me. Of course, the same story could be told with 2D hand-drawn animation, but then it would not be possible to achieve the comprehensive cinematography of CG. It would be like asking, "Can you eat a meal without a fork and knife?" It is like asking, "Can you eat rice without a fork and knife? Of course you can, but it won't look very good.

The success of "Madagascar" led you to make a French TV series "Faces from Places" with the same look but in a different setting. 2]

Bastien Dubois: After "Madagascar" it was obvious that I would make a series with the same concept but in a different country. But that short film took two years to make and it was impossible to turn it into a full series. Changing the concept to a series of short interviews with talking heads, performed by actors living in Paris rather than natives from around the world, made it feasible.

We also turned the stylistic experimentation of "Madagascar" into a basic recipe consisting of five basic technical steps, and used motion capture techniques developed for "Cargo Cult" to map textures onto CG sets and characters. In this way, he was able to create the 60-minute "Faces from Places" in one year.

Bastien Dubois: Bastien Dubois: It was very big and very scary. My Madagascar team consisted of only four trainees. Due to the personal nature of the film, the story was constantly evolving. Everything was in my head and I couldn't tell it. It was really exhausting and frustrating, and it didn't progress any faster than working alone; imagine how scary a huge project like Faces from Places must have been."

But you did it - what got you through? After assembling a great and talented crew under assistant director Antoine (Delacharlery), I decided to let things take care of themselves. Creating the animatics was my main task as director of this series. Through rhythm, framing, movement, and music, I was able to create all the atmosphere I was looking for as a director. My creative part was over and the animatics were handed over to Antoine. He and his crew made me the happiest director in the world.

Art Brutal, the non-profit organization you are a part of, gives a small grant (1000 euros plus a TVPaint license) to a young animation director every year. This year the deadline for applications is April 1, 2016]

Finding the funding to produce Bastien Dubois: Madagascar was a difficult and long process. Had it not been for the support of the Rotary Club, I would have received a grant of 2000 euros a few weeks after I sent the first email. Small grants that are easy to apply for can make a big difference for young creators. I want to do for others what the Rotary Club did for me. Personally, I find it very exciting to be part of the possibilities of someone else's work.