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G4 Media c/o Happy Tree Friends and
Friends
11301 West Olympic Blvd. #501
Los Angeles, CA, 90064
Michel Gagné was born in Québec, Canada. As a young man,
he studied animation
at Sheridan College School of Visual Arts in Ontario, Canada.
In 1985,
he began a highly successful career drawing characters, special effects and
conceptual designs for companies such as Don Bluth Animation, Warner Bros.,
Disney, Pixar, Cartoon Network and many more. Gagné's work has appeared in films
such as The Iron Giant, Osmosis Jones, the Star Wars: Clone
Wars animated short films, The Land Before Time, All Dogs Go to Heaven,
An American Tail, and numerous others. His 3 ½ minute independent short
film, Prelude to Eden, is a favorite among animation students and
teachers, and has played in festivals throughout the world.
In 2005, he
created, produced and directed a series of 12 Insanely twisted Shadow Puppets
interstitials for MTV Networks. The shorts premiered on Nickelodeon's
Halloween
Shreikin Weekend in October 2005, and can be seen on http://www.insanelytwisted.com/.
Michel
was honored by the International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood, with
four Annie Award nominations. He continues to design and consult on major film
projects.
Teaming up with his beloved wife Nancy, the creator made
the jump to print in 1998 with his critically acclaimed first book, A Search
for Meaning: The Story of Rex, and the birth of GAGNÉ International Press. Since then, the
library has expanded to include many more releases, solidifying Gagné's
reputation as an independent publisher. Titles such as The Mystery of He,
The Great Shadow Migration, The Bird, the Spider, and the Octopus, Frenzied
Fauna: From A to Z, The Towers of Numar, Parables: An Anthology, Freaky Flora:
From A to Z, Odd Numbers and the highly popular Insanely Twisted
Rabbits have earned Gagné a worldwide following.
In 2001, Michel's
premiered his ongoing comic series ZED to critical acclaim. A year
later he was invited to write and illustrate a 40-page Batman
story for DC Comics.
His bizarre and highly controversial tale, Spore, was serialized in
Detective Comics #776-780. Michel is also a regular contributor to the
hugely successful comic anthology Flight.
Among his other
creative endeavors, Michel has experimented in on a variety of projects in
various media including video games, art shows (paintings, sculptures and
mixed-media), trading card games, etc. He lives peacefully with his wife and two
dogs, in the Pacific Northwest.
How did you come up with characters for the Prelude to
Eden as well as the idea for the short?
Prelude to
Eden was my great animation experiment. At the time I started this project,
I’d been working for Bluth for over 4 years. Although being there was a
tremendous learning experience, I wasn’t that thrilled with the kind of
animation I was doing. The Bluth style is fine, but what I really wanted to do
was the "Gagné" style, or at least find out what the Gagné style was.
Prelude to Eden was the film that helped me find my own sense of
storytelling, timing, motion and design. It was total artistic
self-exploration.
I started the film in 1991 after coming back to America
from a 4-year stint at the Bluth unit in Ireland. I’d just transferred back to
the LA branch and I was pretty depressed. I was looking for an outlet to give
some kind of meaning to my life. Some people join churches and organizations,
me, I just immersed myself into this project.
At first, I wasn’t sure
what story I was going to tell. I just started. I'd always wanted to animate an
atom with electrons spinning around over a black background. I don’t know why.
It’s an image that stuck in my mind. So the film starts with an energy blast
from which a spinning atom emerges. From there, I went to a purely instinctual
mode. I let the film evolved from my subconscious in a manner similar to a
modern painter improvising an abstract painting.
How long does it take you to make Prelude to Eden?
What was the process?
The film took around 4 ½ years from start
to finish. The basic premise I started with was something like this: before
there was life on Earth, or before there was even an Earth in the galaxy, or
before there was even a galaxy in the universe, or, indeed, before there was
even a universe at all, there was an epic battle between opposite forces. The
outcome of this epic clash created the spark, which triggered the explosion
known as The Big Bang.
I did most of the animation, although I can’t
claim the full credit. Back in 91 or 92, some of my animator friends saw the
pencil test of what I’d done, and they offered to contribute some animation for
it. Those guys volunteered their time and I’m very grateful for it. I think
their input has definitely contributed to make the animation of Prelude to
Eden more powerful. I re-timed, cleaned up and reworked, all the scenes
into my style to make everything fit into a cohesive whole. The entire film was
animated at 24 drawings per second, so it took a really long time to draw the
whole thing.
When I made the decision to go color, I got great help from
a talented art director, named Barry Atkinson whom I met at Don Bluth Studios.
He did a wonderful job, orchestrating the colors of the environments and
creating truly memorable settings. Other people that deserve mention are Shirley
Walker (Batman: The Animated Series), who created a powerful symphonic
piece to perfectly accompany the visuals. I was so impressed with her
composition that I ended up hiring a full orchestra to record the massive score.
Another friend, Joe Campana, created the fantastic multi-layered sound effects
track.
What were some of the challenges in making the
short?
One of the major challenges was trying to get the film
done with my small budget. In 1993-94, when I was ready to ink and paint and
composite the film, the technology was not nearly as advanced as it is now.
Traditional ink and paint on acetates were still used by most studios. Disney
had an ink & paint software called CAPS, and there were a few studios
offering color and compositing services but the price was exorbitant –
especially at film resolution. I knew I didn’t want to ink and paint on acetate.
I couldn’t. It would have taken me 10 years! Besides, I had planned everything
with digital technology in mind.
I was at a standstill until my good
friend Jon Hooper introduced me to a couple of English gentlemen from Cambridge
Animation (UK) who were designing a new ink & paint software called Animo.
They needed a film to test and developed their technology and I needed software
to finish my film. I signed a contract with them stating that they could use the
film to promote their software, as long as they provided me with all the
necessary equipment to finish it. It was a win-win situation. Jon and I started
painting and compositing in his bedroom on his NEXT computer, sending feedback
to Cambridge Animation every couple of days. They basically designed the system
to accommodate me. Eventually, Cambridge Animation got me an office in North
Hollywood and there, I spend about six months painting and compositing the film.
Jon was my guiding light throughout the whole process, sharing all his extensive
computer knowledge with me.
Prelude was the first 35mm film
resolution project using Animo. Once the film was fully colored, I needed to
output all the files on 35mm film. This was an extremely expensive process - way
above what I could afford. At the time, Cinesite was eager to break into the
feature animation market. So once again, I used my win-win argument and gave
Cinesite the right to use Prelude to Eden to promote their new
technology in exchange of free services.
It was shown at Siggraph and screened to various studio
executives. Cambridge Animation started with software that was unusable for
feature film purposes, and thanks to our feedback, they were able to get their
program into shape and sell it to major studios in Hollywood, including Warner
Brothers Animation, Dreamworks Animation, Rich Animation and many more. Cinesite
also used the film successfully to market their Cineon technology. Everyone
benefited from the collaboration. In the end, I was able to complete the film
with roughly $27 000, which was my life saving at the time.
Do
you have any another animated shorts in the works?
In November,
2004, I flew to Los Angeles and pitched a series of shorts animated pieces
called Insanely Twisted Shadow Puppets to the big networks. The idea
was pretty crazy, but I was hoping that someone would be brave enough to give me
financing. To my delight, 6 months later, I had a signed deal with MTV Network.
The interstitials were featured on Nickelodeon’s Halloween Shriekin
Weekend between October 15th and 31st, and premiered on line on November
1st, 2005 at http://www.insanelytwisted.com/. I’m
hoping create more shorts or possibly a half hour piece in that style in the
future.
What are some of your favorite animated
shorts?
I love the films of Frederic Back. The Man Who
Planted Trees is a big favorite. I’m also a huge fan of Oscar Fischinger,
particularly his early black and white abstract films. I like the more
experimental type of animation. I’m not a big slapstick cartoon fan. I’d rather
watch artsy fartsy stuff.
What led you into the
animation?
I really believe that I was always meant to be an
artist. For all I know, I was drawing in the womb. As far as I can remember, I
was always doing creative stuff. I drew, sculpted and built weird contraptions.
I remember my parents would always get pissed off at me because I wouldn’t play
with my brother. I’d rather sit at the table with papers and pencils and draw
all day. I was pretty introverted as a child and I didn’t mind being by myself.
I read comics, watched sci-fi shows on TV and lived in this total fantasy world.
I was 11 years old when I saw the original Star Wars. At that
moment, I knew I would somehow be involved with movies when I grew up. Then at
the age of 16, I saw Lady and the Tramp and that’s when I decided to become an
animator. Animation seemed to combine my love for movie making, fantasy and
drawing.
What advice can you give to a person wanting to make an
animated short?
Build it and they will come. I know that line is
pretty clichéd by now, but it seems to always work for me.