Sebastien Bruneau – Mikros Image

01. Tell us brief fly about your professional background up to this day.
I was one of those kids who love drawing all the time, even in class 🙂 I also love sports, but he could not make a career as an athlete 🙂 So I thought it would be good to study some artistic type. Went to school in art program, still didn't know what to do and found a 2d-3d school at the time and graduated then got a first job. I was doing everything, from effect, modeling, texture, lighting … the least did was encourage 🙂 Then I moved to another study also doing general work, but they gave me more responsibility for animation and this is when it really started.

02. Did you work in any other field before animation? Did it help you in anyway in your professional career?
I actually worked at Mc Donald when I was younger and in a garage changing tires, when I was younger and worked at Mc Donald in a garage changing tires 🙂 They were only scholarly works. I guess doing that gave me some structure or methodologies if you will, in terms of working under the pressure and with peoples. I had most of the time to work night shift at Mc Donald and all the clients coming after partying wanna to eat…

03. Before working as animator . what drew your attention to this field?
I think that's a mix of multiple things. First of all I always been drawing, I love watching film and playing video games, so later on, when I was in college in art program, a close friend of mind (we went to high school and college together and we were the same type of person I guess who liked the same stuff). One day he came to me and shown this little pamphlet that he toke from a certain 2d-3d animation school in Montreal that explain the classes they had and everything… I was like “Dang” !!! this is what I want to do and we need to go and visit this school for sure. So I think right after I graduated in Art program, I went to the school with my portfolio and I got accepted. This is where everything really started in the “industry”.

04. How did you first land a job in the industry? What was the key to make it inside?
My first job was in Montreal in that small vfx shop and I was hired as a generalist working night shift (I reminded the Mc Donald 🙂 I think I learned a lot about composition and effects creating ads, tv series or B movieS. It was no too long before I got an other opportunity in a small video game studio and again was hired to do mostly fire and fx. I had to work on these things for less a year and my responsibility did changed quickly and I had to storyboard, model, light, texture, effect and little bit of animation. Someday the art director asked me if I was interested in just animating cause the studio had changed their mindset and want to hire people with specific skills in order to increase the quality of the product. 🙂 accept this opportunity and actually consider myself as an entertainer is what gave the great impulse that made me focus on animation work and look just as an animator jobs.

05. If you had to start froms cratch in this profession how would you go about it?
🙂 honestly do not know my background and I have my own way and have no regrets because this has somehow helped me in everything I've done. Of course I could get online classes and step into animation right away, but I guess I wouldn't have this background, so I don't really know what is better, different time, different option you know.

06. What’s the most important thing your work has contributed to your personal life?
I think I've learned to take the critic and not taking everything for granted, be patient and proactive, not scared of having to redo things 🙂 I like the famous saying the movement is demonstrated walking.

07. What would you change in the animation industry if you had the ability to?
Tricky question cause the industry is constantly growing and changing… Maybe how the money, investment, revenues are distributed among different parties involved. Recently lots of studios having difficulty's and bankrupted…

08. What’s the project you’re the most proud of to have worked on?
I'm proud of almost everything I would say cause they got me somewhere and learned important things. Maybe project such as the 1st Cloudy with chance of meatballs would be a highlight in terms of style of animation. Something like that haven't really been explored before and it was very exiting to contribute to this film. I think it did opened up doors to a complete different style of animation in cg films. Also I would say directing the animation recently on a full cg was very challenging and rewarding.

09. What was the most discouraging moment in your professional career? What helped you overcome it?
I think is to not be able to deliver what I wanted and then telling myself that Ill do better and try to not doing the same mistakes and be humble about it … Animation is not a piece of cake and you have to be ready to fail to succeed or getting better.

10. What part of the working process do you enjoy the most? What part do you enjoy the less?
hink its the creative process of finding a great idea to an animation piece. When the director is looking something you did and not expected, to see a good reaction from him cause it is better then what he would've think originally. Perhaps the least enjoyment are all things that cause this because it is hard work to get something good and probably more pain than reward 🙂 I also think, when you see the reaction of people in movie theater, enjoying the film is amazing too.

11. Do you have any personal projects? Could you tell us about any?
I have personal project with an other friend of mind and he is more oriented in concept art … and no, I can not say anything about the project because it is secret 🙂

12. What advice would you give to someone who wishes to get in to this industry?
I would say go and try to learn from talented people around you, ask questions, tones of questions and don't feel bad about looking stupid. Most importantly fail to improve 🙂