This article is also available in:
Français
You might have seen it on social media: this week, we attended the graduation ceremony of digital arts school Creative Seeds school in Rennes, France. This is a significant milestone for the school as it was the first group of students to complete the 5 years curriculum of Creative Seeds.
There are only ten students in the class of 2024, so all of them worked on the same animated short: Ouroboros, a film blending action and science fiction. It is not yet available online, and we will have the opportunity to share it when the time comes. The header image and the one at the end of the article will give you a preview.
The school’s approach is to adapt the films to the goels of their students, not the other way around. Since many students wanted to specialize in art environement, the film features numerous settings ranging from lush forests to deserts and a quarry with industrial elements. Conversely, only one student wanted to focus on character animation, so the team relied a lot on motion capture (done at Motion-Up studio). Fourth-year students also provided occasional but crucial support for this part.
The team was able to detail their work during a presentation followed by a Q&A session.
The jury really appreciated the film.
It was chaired by Christophe Courgeau (MPC) and also included Jérémy Tissier (Superprod), Baptiste Lemonnier (Illumination), Guillaume Parra (The Mill), Raoul Barbet (Capsule Studio), Carine Poussou (ARTFX), Guillaume Robert (Androïds Associés), Vincent Aupetit (Framestore Preproduction Services), Grégory Ginsburger (The Yard), Loïc Lombion (Fortiche Production), and Benoit Rogez (3DVF – also the author of this article).
Of course, this jury was also an opportunity for students to meet face to face with studios representatives. Even though the current situation in the animation, visual effects, and video game industries means that studios do not always have immediate opportunities, the students seemed satisfied with these initial contacts.
We also discussed the school’s future with the teaching staff. The next class is larger, and they should be able to create two graduation short films next year.
Regarding the financing of studies, Creative Seeds explained that they will soon launch a scholarship program to make studies accessible to a broader audience. We also learned that some higher-level students are paid by the school to act as mentor/teachers within the school, for example with first-year students, or during the workshops and internships organized by Creative Seeds for middle and high school students.
We will revisit this scholarship system in due course. Similarly, we will share the animated short film Ouroboros when it is available online.
In the meantime, feel free to check out the profiles of the students, who are now open for work.
- Benjamin Haslé (previs artist/mocap editor – Keyframe animator/editing)
- Hugo Dreux (character artist/ lighting /compositing / grading)
- Axelle Bontems Avedissian (rigging artist & Python dev)
- Mathilde Verget (Rigging artist/python dev)
- Thomas Dornier (Character Artist/environment/FX)
- Emilie Gaillard (Environment/Compositing/Lighting Artist /FX)
- Louis Marie (Environment/Compositing/Lighting Artist)
- Sylvian Primped (Environment/Compositing/Lighting Artist /FX)
- Estelle Gilles Ferron (Environment/Compositing/Lighting Artist/FX)
- Typhaine Auvray (Environment/Compositing/Lighting Artist)
