5 Minutes with… Bertrand Bey
To have a big imagination is to possess a bounty of endless ideas. It serves as the spark, igniting the creative process for filmmakers and artists alike. It is the boundless realm where ideas take shape, characters come to life, and worlds are born. Imagination fuels the creation of captivating visuals, pushing the boundaries of expression and inviting audiences into alternate realities. It is the cornerstone upon which creativity flourishes, enabling filmmakers to transcend the ordinary and bring their unique visions to fruition.
Luckily for film director and 3D artist, Bertrand Bey, imagination has never been in short supply. From experimenting with graffiti to studying computer graphics at University, Bertrand has been devising imaginative ways to communicate meaningful stories, messages and motifs since he was young. Sitting down with LBB’s April Summers, he discusses the ways in which the autodidact schooling of cinema from his youth helped him find his feet in the industry, his long-standing admiration of stop motion, and his biggest accomplishments since joining Mathematic Montreal’s formidable roster of talent.
LBB> Hey Bertrand, let’s go back to the start! Where did you learn your craft?
Bertrand> Before animation and making movies, I was drawing caricatures of my friends and teachers during lessons at secondary school. It started with a notebook but I quickly became “famous” and began receiving requests from the other students. I was fond of the animated series Dragon Ball, and I used to make copies of the best pictures of the manga of the month. I even added colours with POSCA pencils and again, many other students ordered drawings.
A few years later, I discovered the world of graffiti and dived into it. I don’t know if I was a good graffiti artist, but graffiti was the kind of art that required a lot of work and imagination to be the best and the most famous. It’s also very expensive, and I spent all my pocket money on spray paint because unfortunately my parents were not okay with funding my “illegal activities”. In the end, though, I convinced them that I was interested in artistic studies and I ended up in Supinfocom Arles in the south of France. It was here that I started to learn about 3D animation, while keeping up my graffiti with my new friends there. After that I spent two years at Buf Company in Paris working on a Luc Besson feature film as a generalist artist, which was very good training for the industry.
LBB> When did you realise you have a natural affinity for storytelling and world building? And how did you act on this?
Bertrand> I actually discovered this quite late, during my graphic studies at Supinfocom. I was not one of these kids with a camcorder who edited short films at eight years old. Instead, when I was younger, I was obsessed with movies on TV, especially American action, Spaghetti Westerns and horror movies, but it was more about listening to the stories. I used to call my grandmother every Sunday to ask her to record on VHS the movies that were on TV during the next week, then watch them on a loop.
By the time I arrived at Supinfocom I had this niche knowledge of cinema “culture” which I would tap into. We would be given exercises like “make a short film in shot/edited style with a digital video camcorder” and, for me, it was very easy and a real pleasure to find and imagine original ideas, while others were struggling for days to imagine something. It was at this point that I realised I have an affinity for storytelling.
LBB> Looking back at these early stages of your career, who or what would you say were some of your biggest creative influences? Where did you look for inspiration?
Bertrand> Thanks to the people I met during my artistic studies, I discovered plenty of new things because they were all from different places than me. Some of them already had a broader cultural understanding of animation or music and these were big influences for me. For instance, discovering the art of Miyazaki, Tim Burton, and Katsuhiro Otomo was a game changer for me. Of course, watching the old Walt Disney from a new perspective was very enlightening too. This was also a great time for the music video world and the films of Michel Gondry, Chris Cunningham, or Spike Jonze were a great source of inspiration and motivation. In terms of French influence, I was inspired by the movies of Jeunet et Caro, Jan Kounen (Dobermann) and Mathieu Kassovitz.
LBB> And how about now? Who or what has inspired you most recently?
Bertrand> In general, the work of Pixar is a constant source of inspiration for me in animation or storytelling. Even if some of their movies are better than others, I think they are the best at creating strong and original concepts, always pushing graphically and narratively in very clever directions. As an art director, I always look for some references and my research has led me to the work of motion designer and art director, Ash Thorp, and Alberto Mielgo, director of the short film “Jibaro” from the Netflix series, Love Death + Robots. When I first saw that, I couldn’t tell how it was done which was so frustrating but very inspiring too! He has also worked on the early stages of Spider-Verse.
LBB> You’ve been making films since the early 2000’s, but which pieces of your work do you feel shows what you do best? And why?
Bertrand> Without hesitation, it’s “La Detente”, a short film I made with my friend and co-director Pierre Ducos. It was released in 2011, so a long time ago, but it’s a personal project we self produced. It took five years to finish because we did it during our spare time between two commercial projects. But it was a great experience because, as it’s self produced, we were able to do what we wanted and we did it for us – the ultimate dream for any artist! The film represents the way we like to tell stories and how we design it. And I think if we would have done another one today we would do it the same way. The film had a long life in festivals so not bad for a homemade animated short!
LBB> Having worked on all kinds of creative projects, what aspect of filmmaking would you say you like best? And why?
Bertrand> I really like all the pre-production processes. From the writing, the storyboard and concept art to the design. There are some very exciting and important steps of a project, and they drive it until the end. It’s a great moment to share your ideas with other artists and I have the feeling it’s the only moment on a project where you have a bit of time, where you don’t have to rush. During the production, I really like to work on the layout, previz step and work the framing and camera animation. Without character animation you already bring a rhythm and start to tell a story.
LBB> As both a director and an animator/artist, how do you divide your time and attention between both disciplines? What are your key strengths in both domains?
Bertrand> I prefer the artistic aspects over the technical aspects of this job, so I would say I spend more time as a director. I will take time, for instance, to write my script in the best way I can so that when a storyboarder reads it he will do the drawings I have in mind. Sometimes I even take the time to make a pre-storyboard very rough for the storyboarder to catch the idea and the framing quickly. I am not a technical animator. Over the years I gained some experience in animation and I can tell if a character posing is good or not or if the pacing works, but for the characters and animation part I prefer to let it to a real animator who will be more efficient. On the other hand, camera animation is very important to me and I don’t know a lot of people who like this part of the job so I like to do it.
LBB> It’s safe to say you’re a bit of a polymath! Do you have any niche craft obsessions? Was it an obsession straight away or something that has evolved over the years?
Bertrand> Yes I have! Unfortunately I never had the opportunity to work on a project like that. Since the beginning, I have been very fond of stop motion. That’s why I made a lot of 3D projects trying to imitate the claymation style, but I think it’s never as charming as the real stop motion. I went to a workshop in Montreal for two weeks to learn some basics and each time I have the opportunity to sculpt something I do it, for instance using playdough with my children. It’s always in the back of my head, and I am sure I will work on a stop motion production someday.
LBB> How would you describe the creative scene in Montreal? In what ways does your craft benefit from you being based there?
Bertrand> Montreal is full of artistic schools, and is very dynamic in our industry. So a lot of young 2D and 3D artists pop up every year. They bring freshness to the industry, and it’s always great to work with these kinds of people because they have the motivation and are open-minded. They are aware of the latest technologies and technical tips, so it helps me stay aware too. Thanks to the tax credits, a lot of companies came to Montreal and offered a wide range of projects from pure VFX, 3D animation to 2D animation.
LBB> Can you tell us about a recent piece of work you are especially proud of? And why?
Bertrand> Since I work at Mathematic Montreal, I had the opportunity to direct some game trailers. It was something very new for me as I used to work more on commercials. I am pretty proud of the trailer we did for the game “Meet Your Maker” from Behaviour, because it’s a two minute film and we had a very easy workflow with the client. Then I worked with a team based at Mathematic Paris. I was afraid of the distance, but it went well and we had very good coordination. In the end, the client was happy and I felt that all the team in Paris was proud of what they achieved. Sometimes just the way a project ends makes me proud because it’s maybe somehow a bit because of me.
LBB> In what ways did this project help you fine tune your craft?
Bertrand> Before Mathematic, I used to work as a freelancer with my co-director and we used to make smaller projects but always just the two of us. A two minute full CGI trailer with tight deadlines is quite a big project and I had to learn to work faster, with a bigger team. This kind of project helps me to be more organised and as a director, communicate my ideas in a better and clearer way so the supervisor of the project can brief his team in the right direction.
LBB> What are you most excited for in 2024? Do you have anything big in the works?
Bertrand> I hope the effect of the Hollywood strike will fade, and the industry will rise again. I am expecting more game trailers to pitch and direct to gain more experience in this kind of project. In parallel, I am helping some friends to finish their animated films and I always have two or three ideas I would like to develop to maybe make a new animated short.
