AnimWatch - Pascal Campion - Every Picture Tells a Story - feature

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OGDEN: What inspired all your Boss animations?

PASCAL: AHAHAH. Work. I really hope people smile when they see those films, that's really the main thing. If they could laugh out loud, even better, but a smile is good.

OGDEN: How long did it take you to make each one of those?

PASCAL: It depends. One is called lunch break because I literally did it on a lunch break. Some take about an hour, and others can take up to three hours. I think the longest of the boss ones I did must have taken me a whole day's work (and NO, I did not do it all at work!)

OGDEN: You are very prolific, drawing every day. What is the secret of your incredible output?

PASCAL: Veggies, I eat a ton of veggies! (Laughs) I've always been a hard worker, but I really started getting fast when I was working at Bent, in Portland. We were doing commercials for everything and anything.

The place was a start up when I got there, so we'd go after every single pitch that came our way. I was usually in charge of doing animatics to dazzle the clients. I'd take about a day or two to draw out a thirty second commercial in my rough style. And I kept doing that over and over and over. I was pretty bad at first, but, thanks to the great support of my bosses (yes, these were AWESOME bosses in contrast to the ones in the Boss animations), I got better, faster and more efficient.

OGDEN: How do you go about creating these drawings?

PASCAL: I usually do everything in Flash. The sketches/illustrations I do on a daily basis, I typically think of them just as I am drawing them on my Wacom tablet. I don't always know where I'm going with them. I just sit down, and something happens.

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When I do commission work, I change this slightly. If the client wants something specific, I do sketches on paper, or even in the computer, send it to him for approval then redraw it or animate it.

OGDEN: That's the physical and technical approach to the work. But how do you approach the drawings from a creative standpoint? How do you feed your Design sense?

PASCAL: I look a lot at life actually. And, no, I haven't thrown out my TV.

Actually, before being in the Bay area, I had a TV but it couldn't get any channels at all. I only used it for Movies, which I watch a lot. I ADORE movies, all sorts of movies: indies, blockbusters, action, drama, comedy. I like horror but am not crazy about it. And I like B movies as well. They are always funny to me.

OGDEN: What's with all the birds?

PASCAL: HA! I just love birds. Actually, When I was a kid, I used to read this comic strip called Boule et Bill, about a little cocker and the kid that owned it. In that strip, a lot of time, the paintings on the walls would feature little birds that would react to the situation in the panels. Obviously, this had a great influence on me later on.

OGDEN: What advice would you give to someone just starting out who wants to be an illustrator or animator?

PASCAL: OK..thanks for asking this question. A lot of time people answer that question by simply saying DRAW DRAW DRAW. And, when I was a kid, I'd think, "Sure… but WHAT? And HOW do I draw it?"

What I'd suggest for someone who is aspiring to be an illustrator or an animator is to think seriously about WHY he/she wants to do it. If they're drawn to illustration, is it because they like the way it looks? They like the idea in the image? If they're drawn to animation, is it the way it moves? The timing of the movement? In either case, is it because it makes them laugh or feel emotions?

When the person really understands WHY they want to do either of these arts, then it should be obvious what they need to work on. It will be a lot easier as well.

Drawing needs to have intent. Otherwise, it's a doodle, and doesn't go beyond that.

OGDEN: Some of your daily sketches have turned into several-day sequential works. I'm thinking primarily of the Beanstalk Kids when I ask, but do you have any plans to do anything further with that sequence? I think it would make a nice animated film.

PASCAL: I'd love to. It's a question of time.

OGDEN: Let's talk about your short Clue. What led you to make it?

PASCAL: There was a contest a while ago on a French animation site (Les Fous d'anims). The subject was Clue, and they gave you the soundtrack. That was it.

I only used a limited amount of colors, and a limited amount of animation just to see what I could come up with. Because of my commercial work, where everything is under constraints, I find it much more "freeing" to impose some rules on myself like that.

OGDEN: How long does it take you to make a short like that one?

PASCAL: Clue..hm… It probably took me a bout a week. It wasn't that long at all, working on it after work, and a whole weekend. The hardest thing to do was to find the idea.

OGDEN: Do you have any plans for any longer-format sequential art any time soon? (ie, comic book, graphic novel...)

PASCAL: OH YES! I'd love to. It's just a matter of finding the time. Adam Prosser wrote a beautiful story that I would love to turn into a graphic novel when I get a chance. I'm also trying to develop some TV projects and trying to pay the bills.

OGDEN: With the spots you've done, how did you work with the client?

PASCAL: For the spots, I was represented by Bent Image Lab. Clients come to Bent and ask for a reel. Then, if they liked the reel, they'd allow us to pitch the spot to them. And, you'd be surprised how involved the clients were.

None of these spots are "straight out of the tube" per se. They've all been tampered with by the agencies or the clients themselves. As a rule of thumb, the bigger the budget, the more involved the client was.

I think the spot on which I had the most freedom was the PBS spot. The clients had a small budget and a very limited amount of time. They basically asked us to pitch anything we could come up with to promote four or five of their shows in one spot. So, I sat down one Friday, and animated a very rough spot, and, it's almost exactly what we wound up with at the end! I was really happy about that experience!

OGDEN: What is the next big project you are planning?

PASCAL: My wedding!

OGDEN: Well, in that case, congratulations, and thanks for talking to us.

PASCAL: Cheers and thanks.