'Flow', a European Animated Success Story : Interview with Belgian Producer Gregory Zalcman and Animation Supervisor Pierre Mousquet
As the Latvian-French-Belgian coproduction continues to charm crowds and juries alike, the Animation Belgian spoke with the team about their involvement in the project.
As I brace myself for the upcoming Anima Festival, starting next Friday, the teams behind Flow are no doubt equally anticipating the upcoming days. With Flow being nominated both at the French César (Feb 28) and the US Oscars (March 2), there’s still plenty to expect for this animated gem, with more than a hint a Belgium in it.
To know more about this cat’s journey the Animation Belgian spoke with Take Five producer Gregory Zalcman and Animation Supervisor Pierre Mousquet.
Discover the full interview below.
In other news, I’m happy to say that the podcast I directed for Cinergie, Faces of animation, is now live on all platforms!
The first episode, featuring Production Manager Isabelle Goydadin (Studio Waooh!), can be now listened to. Nine more interviews to come out on a weekly basis, putting a voice (and a face, drawn by Brussels-based animator/artist Rocío Álvarez!) to the people working on the French-speaking side of the Belgian animation industry.
And now, back to Flow, in the words of its team.
How did you get involved with this project in the first place?
Gregory Zalcman: It was Ron Dyens, the French co-producer of the film (Sacrebleu Productions), who contacted me. We had just finished Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds by French director Benoît Chieux, a collaboration where we got along very well. Looking for a third co-producer with Latvian producer Matiss Kaža, they thought of me and sent me the artistic file: I dove into the scenario, discovered Gints's note of intent, watched a first bit of the animatic, then explored his previous film. Less than 24 hours later, I said yes!
Pierre Mousquet: Gregory contacted me for this project by introducing Gints to me as a fairly exceptional director, given that he was already on his second feature film before he even turned thirty.
His first film, Away, was already well-known in the animation world. But it was especially when I saw the animatic that I understood that this new project already had a clear direction. Gints had already completely modeled the setting, placed the cameras and the characters in the frame. There was no longer any doubt that Gints had a very specific idea of what he wanted to achieve and that, as animators, we would be well directed.
How did you divide tasks within the production, and what were the Belgian teams’ missions on the film?
Gregory Zalcman: In Latvia, Gints and his team carried out the concept art, look dev, modeling, texturing, vfx, lighting, music, rendering, and color grading. France took care of the rigging of the characters, 80% of the animation, and the sound design. And Belgium was responsible for 20% of the animation, sound effects, and mixing. On our part of the animation, Pierre supervised 5 animators for 6 months.
Pierre Mousquet: Work was done by sequence, in Belgium we mainly animated sequences taking place on the boat, and we animated the main characters. To summarize for people who ask me the question today, I say that we animated the sequence with the whale jumping. I think it is definitely the one I am most proud of. But it wasn't the jump itself that pleased me as a supervisor, but everything surrounding that moment. Before we get to this point in the film, a lot of things happen that posed real challenges for the animators.
A cat that moves entirely underwater is something that we almost never see. We had to make his movements believable with very few visual references to rely on. Before that, there is also a fight between the lemur and the serpentine. Here too, we had to work harder with the animator to make the movements feel true.
How was the collaboration with Gints Zilbalodis?
Gregory Zalcman: Gints is a deeply caring person, sincerely attentive to others. For him too, working in a team was new, because on his previous films he had always done everything alone. Like the cat in Flow, he had to overcome his fears and learn to collaborate as a team. And he did it brilliantly!
Pierre Mousquet: For my part, I didn't have the chance to meet Gints until long after the film was produced. During production, we received from time to time some comments from him when approving the shots. But he had worked so much in advance that the animators couldn't really get lost in his animation intentions. I think he really protected himself, worked very hard upstream and prepared before the film was left in the hands of all the animators at the studios.
His work, even without character animation, has the advantage of being very clear and his intentions very rarely needed further clarification. There were only one or two times where he intervened in depth on the animation choices, but always referring to his initial work to put us back in the right direction.
As an animator, it's very pleasant to work for someone who knows what they have the right to expect from us. He always felt infinitely more demanding of himself than of those working on the film, and he was able to get the best out of the animators without exhausting them, which is rare enough to be underlined.
What were the biggest challenges of this project?
Gregory Zalcman: At the production level, they are always the same: finding talents, then keeping schedule and staying within budget. To find the animators we had a bit of difficulty at the beginning because many 3D animators were already working on other big productions. But ultimately, and also thanks to Pierre, we were able to convince talented animators to join the project. And in terms of planning and budget it's very simple: we didn't exceed the budget neither by a day or a cent!
Pierre Mousquet: To me, the most complicated thing was undoubtedly the duration of the shots. Some of them exceeded 5000 images (which amounts to 3 minutes and 30 seconds). As a supervisor, this complicates things because we usually divide shots to be able to share them between animators, and so during supervision it sometimes took two days to correct a shot. And by correcting, I just mean annotating the shots before sending them back to the animator so he can apply the corrections.
In animation, 10 seconds already constitutes a long shot. Here, by sharing the shot between all the animators, each received almost a minute to animate at once. It's difficult to keep a cool head and continue to pay attention to every detail when you have so much to animate.
How do you feel about the film’s achievements so far?
Gregory Zalcman: I often repeat it in interviews, but this film was touched by grace. It exceeded our wildest expectations, and I feel incredibly happy and lucky to be part of this adventure. To date [Feb 3], Flow has won 61 awards, including the prestigious Golden Globe. And who knows what’s next?
But beyond the awards, what touches me deeply are the enthusiastic reactions of audiences, young and old. I received many messages from friends and colleagues telling me how much the film had moved them. It’s this kind of feedback that truly warms the heart.
Pierre Mousquet: At the moment, I feel I’m needed everywhere. Not for work but to talk about Flow. I always wish a good career for the films I have worked on but here, it is quite exceptional. Since the Golden Globes, I find myself talking a lot about this film and its production. What makes me really happy is that working on the film was a great experience on my part. And with benevolence on all levels, it proves that not crunch nor the tyranny of a director or a production are needed to propel films to such heights.
What’s next?
Gregory Zalcman: We will soon start animation on Bruno Tondeur's new short Like a Beast. Zoé Hardy will be responsible for the animation supervision. The story is set in a completely devastated post-apocalyptic world. We don't really know if we are there following yet another billionaire's trip into space, or after the winter Olympics being organized in a desert, but in any case the world is dying. There are still a few wanderers, including our main character Régisse, looking for just one thing: electricity to power the battery of his smartphone. And so even when it's the end of everything, we'll still fight for that kind of stuff!
Besides that, we are also producing Nicolas Piret's new short film Venezia Diorama. His previous short Silent Panorama [read our interview here] enjoyed immense success at festivals. Venezia Diorama paints the portrait of a Venice in decline, slowly engulfed by water. Through a series of animated scenes, inspired by historical archives and contemporary observations, the film reveals the fragility of a mythical city, capturing its last moments before it disappears, frozen forever in collective memory.
And then two series will be out very soon. The children's series Nino Dino (78 x 7') co-produced with Folivari, and the teen-adult series S.Irène.S (10 x 26') co-produced with Silex Films.
Pierre Mousquet: I am currently working as an animator for a short in Brussels, at studio L'Enclume, with Rémi Durin. A director with whom things are also going very well :)
Flow is a massive hit in Belgium, where — since its release late October in Flanders, and mid-January in Wallonia — it has garnered more than 50,000 tickets. And as the film now braces for the peak of Awards season, the Belgian teams cross their fingers.
On my part, I’d say this success is already more than a win. Not only have Belgian audiences received Flow exceedingly well, the Belgian press — which has sadly missed the fact that two animated shorts in the Oscars nom’s are either Belgian (Beautiful Men) or coproduced by Belgium (Wander to Wonder) — has been tracking the film’s run with great attention. And in a country where animation still needs every bit of light to receive public and private support, this is the kind of attention you definitely want more and more.
Next week, Anima Festival will offer yet another platform for Flow to be shared. And I will be there, shedding a tear more than once, re-watching this beautiful film, with a bit of Belgium in it.
Let’s meet there! And in any case, have — as always — a great animated weekend.
Kevin
Really cool interview! Thanks for this -- we love Flow over here.