14 MAY 2008
Ice Age - Interview de Peter de Seve. Quand Scrat rencontre Mushu!
Click on pix to see larger
La
sortie de l'AGE DE GLACE en édition Blu-Ray par les studios FOX PATHÉ
EUROPA, ce 2 Avril 2008 est l'occasion révée de vous présenter un
dessinateur à la renommée internationale: Peter De Sève. Il a à son actif
des centaines d'oeuvres, et il a travaillé pour les plus grands groupes:
Nike, Times, The New Yorker, Broadway, mais aussi pour des studios comme
Blue Sky, Dreamworks, Pixar ou encore Disney.
De
Sève’s dark humor and sense for witty characterizations has led him to
become one of the leading character designers for such feature films as
The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Prince of Egypt, Mulan, Tarzan, ABug’s
Life, Finding Nemo, and Robots. He was the sole character designer on the
Oscar-nominated film, Ice Age and it’s sequel, Ice Age- The Meltdown. De
Sève’s illustrations have appeared in most major American magazines,
including TIME, Newsweek, Smithsonian, Premiere and Entertainment Weekly.
He is also a regular contributor of covers to The New Yorker Magazine.Other highlights of the artists’ career include having designed posters for several Broadway shows, and winning a silver Clio award for his work on a NIKE animated television commercial entitled “Destination Moon.” In 2002, de Sève received the distinguished Hamilton King Award from the Society of Illustrators, one of the industries highest honors.
De Sève lives in Brooklyn , New York , with his wife Randall and daughters Paulina and Fia. He is a native of Great Neck, New York , and a 1980 graduate of the Parson’s School of Design in NYC.
Please,
Peter, may you tell us more about you: I was born in the US in 1958 which is still incredible to me. I don’t feel like I’m 49 years old.
And what about your personality: Deceptively cheerful. In truth I’m a cauldron of frustration and anger.
Can you tell us about your background, and your
training?
I took some life drawing
classes at the Art Students League in NYC, a very traditional and at one
time very highly regarded art school. I drew there on Saturday mornings
for a year or two and it was my first experience drawing a nude model. I
highly recommend this as the best way to begin to understand the human
figure. I had a wonderful and eccentric instructor named Gustave Rehberger
who had an over the top ability to create a dynamic drawing no matter how
bland the subject matter.
We met in France, in Sollies Ville last year. What do you think about France, and French people?
What can I say? France in
general has been a wonderful place for me to visit. I’ve been to Angouleme
and Annecy, Aix en Provence and Sollies Ville (which I enjoyed very
much!); but the most enjoyable have been my brief visits to Paris. There
is a myth here in the States, that the French are haughty and unfriendly,
especially to Americans. I found it to be quite the opposite and have met
some of the warmest , friendliest people in my life there. I can’t wait to
return and am always looking for a good excuse!
ICE AGE
How did you worked on the Ice Age saga? And with Blue Sky studios?
Before Ice Age, my experience with all of the California based studios was pretty much the same: I ( and a few other designers) would work separately and simultaneously on the same characters. After which, they would all be presented to the director who would, more often than not, pick and choose aspects of the characters from each of the artists, like an a la carte menu. “ I like the way this guy did this characters nose, but the ears by this guy are great, and this third guy does great feet…” etc. So when the final product unspooled in the movie theater years later, it was often difficult to tell exactly what I had contributed. Working for Blue Sky on the Ice Age movies was a very different experience. I am essentially the art director of the characters and have designed virtually every one you’ve seen in an Ice Age movie. Unlike my previous experiences where I would send a drawing and find out later what it looked like when translated to 3D, I now supervise every aspect of their appearance. From overall design, to modeling in clay, modeling in the computer, skin color, hair texture, suggestions on how they might move; everything. I’ve been working on Ice Age , The Dawn of the Dinosaurs with many of the same folks I worked with on the first film. As a result, we’ve developed a short hand, an understanding of how each other works and how to best achieve what is suggested in my scratchy little drawings.
I honestly believe that visually this film will be the strongest of the three and the story is great!
Before Ice Age, my experience with all of the California based studios was pretty much the same: I ( and a few other designers) would work separately and simultaneously on the same characters. After which, they would all be presented to the director who would, more often than not, pick and choose aspects of the characters from each of the artists, like an a la carte menu. “ I like the way this guy did this characters nose, but the ears by this guy are great, and this third guy does great feet…” etc. So when the final product unspooled in the movie theater years later, it was often difficult to tell exactly what I had contributed. Working for Blue Sky on the Ice Age movies was a very different experience. I am essentially the art director of the characters and have designed virtually every one you’ve seen in an Ice Age movie. Unlike my previous experiences where I would send a drawing and find out later what it looked like when translated to 3D, I now supervise every aspect of their appearance. From overall design, to modeling in clay, modeling in the computer, skin color, hair texture, suggestions on how they might move; everything. I’ve been working on Ice Age , The Dawn of the Dinosaurs with many of the same folks I worked with on the first film. As a result, we’ve developed a short hand, an understanding of how each other works and how to best achieve what is suggested in my scratchy little drawings.
I honestly believe that visually this film will be the strongest of the three and the story is great!
May you tell us some stuff about Ice Age 3?
I won't be able to supply
you with any Ice Age 3 stuffs until the film comes out next year.
THE NEW YORKER
Please, may you tell us how you started working for
the NEW YORKER, first magazine to publish an independent cover image with
no relation with the text inside? Is it easy for you to do that?
Well, I do recall that the
very first time I was called by the art director, Francoise Mouly, to do a
cover, I had to turn it down! She asked whether I would like to do a cover
and I said of course! I had wanted to do one ever since I became an
illustrator, and quite frankly, never believed I would get the chance, and
here I was being offered one. Then she proceeded to tell me the idea for
it. My heart sank. Not because it was a bad idea ( which sadly it was) but
also because coming up with the idea is , to me, the most important aspect
of doing a New Yorker cover. There is no other mainstream magazine that
publishes a cover image that is solely the artist’s idea with no
dependence on any text, inside or out of the magazine. To be handed the
concept, was to me, antithetical to the whole idea of doing a NYER cover.
On a completely unrelated note, I believe I am the first NYER cover artist to feature a human derriere as a subject. (see Beach Bum image)
On a completely unrelated note, I believe I am the first NYER cover artist to feature a human derriere as a subject. (see Beach Bum image)
PIXAR
What specifically did you do on each PIXAR film?
I worked on A Bug’s Life, Finding Nemo and Ratatouille.
I worked on A Bug’s Life, Finding Nemo and Ratatouille.
On Bug’s life I worked only on the ants and the
grasshoppers and although I think I had some influence on the ants, I helped
quite a bit in achieving the final results in Hopper and the other
grasshoppers.
In Finding Nemo, I provided drawings on just about
every non human character and can see whiffs of my work in all of them. At
the same time, however, all of the contributing artists were working from
nature, so it is difficult to take full credit for any.
To me, I see some of my work in the Sea Turtle, the pelican, the angler fish and the two back up sharks. Not so much in the two lead characters.
Remerciements particuliers à Charlotte Lepourry et Guilhem
Crédit photos Peter de Sève par Stephanie Saucez
Merci à Jérémie
Interview réalisée par Christine BLANC pour Inter-Activities. Tous droits réservés.
