Cecile Carre
Animator, Klaus SPA Studios, Netflix
French animator Cecile Carre received a lot of attention after co-directing Mary, one of the Annecy opening shorts in 2015. She always loved animated movies as a kid, but didn’t think she could make a career out of it. So she was 24 and working as an engineer when she decided to apply to the prestigious French animation school Gobelins. “I realized that the animation industry was actually full of opportunities, particularly in France, so I decided to take my chance, and studied (and practiced) hard to get into Gobelins and learn the skills needed to be part of this world,” she tells us.
As a young girl growing up in the French department of Réunion Island, Carre loved drawing and was interested in comic books, which are widely loved in her home country. “I grew up on Disney movies and later discovered the world of Miyazaki films,” she notes. “But I didn’t watch any animated shows on TV, because they were forbidden in my house!” She says her favorite movies are Alice in Wonderland, The Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline, and her animation idol is legendary Disney animator Milt Kahl.
These days, the 30-year-old
artist is working on the much-anticipated 2D feature Klaus, directed by Sergio Pablos, which is premiering on Netflix in December. She says she remembers being very impressed by the film’s proof of concept teaser, so she was thrilled when Pablos contacted her to work on the project. “I started working there right after graduating in 2017. At the time, the production hadn’t started yet, so I offered my services as a story artist since I had got a bit of experience working on my graduation film Burn Out. So, I worked on the story for one year and then I moved to the animation team.
Carre says she loves the movie’s character designs, the backgrounds, the animation, the colors and the lighting, as well as the comedic and emotional tone of the overall project. “If you press pause, you will see that every frame of the movie is a beautiful illustration — and I am not exaggerating!” she points out. “But it is hard for me to take some distance and be objective. I really hope the audience will like it. But for sure the animation lovers will appreciate the amount of work accomplished!”
Overall, Carre say animation never ceases to her amaze her. “With storyboards, you can tell so much with a few drawings. There is something more rewarding in the storyboard process in having a bigger influence on the story and more freedom. But you will never see your drawings on the screen!”
She leaves us with a simple piece of advice. “It may sound cheesy, but work with love. What I mean is that I think that it is only by loving and enjoying the process of creating/building something that you can make it really good. And if you love the process, it feels almost effortless, not like a job. So of course you should give yourself some challenges, but allow yourself to take pleasure in it.”