First steps in working life – Philippe Nurdin & Yann Orhon

Meeting with Philippe Nurdin, co-director of the film Last Groove, and Yann Orhon, co-director of the film Donjon & Cie. Two new interviews with young graduates of CG Animation and FX Master Degree who tell us about their start in the professional world.

HOW DID YOUR JOB SEARCH GO?

Philippe Nurdin (P.N.): When we finished our training at ESMA, the Covid impact on our field of activity made the job search more complicated than expected. With a significant number of productions having been put on hold or slowed down, a certain number of studios were, at that time, not necessarily looking for new people to reinforce their teams. I spent the 3 months following the end of the training applying to as many studios as possible that interested me. I finally found a job at Inthebox in Annecy for a start in January in lighting / compositing on a cartoon series.

Yann Orhon (Y.O.) : The very beginning was complicated, for very specific reasons. With my partner, we refused to go to Paris, London, Los Angeles… We needed the countryside and to stay close to our families and friends. It is a real life choice, clearly handicapping to start a career. Also, most of the time, despite the covid, the studios preferred to have someone on location. I think this is especially true for special effects, even more so for juniors. Nevertheless, I quickly found some freelance work in special effects, especially at noOne Studio.

WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT JOB AND WHAT ARE YOUR MISSIONS?

P.N.: Currently, I work as a lighting TD for the Framestore studio. The Lighter has several objectives that can vary depending on the project. The main ones are to direct the viewer’s gaze towards the subject and the action, to retranscribe the chromatic ambiances decided in pre-production, to integrate CG subjects in filmed shots or to optimize the parameters of a scene and all the lights present to reduce the calculation time of the images as much as possible.

Y.O.: Today I work at Ellipse Studio, on the Smurfs, that you can enjoy on Sunday morning on TV! My mission is to spot bugs before the lighting stage, then, depending on the problem, to fix them myself, or to pass them on to the relevant department. It’s quite interesting, because I have daily interactions with several departments (asset, rigg, lighting, production, pipeline etc.) I work on two time scales; the scenes have to work as fast as possible to move forward in the production chain and I try to find permanent solutions with the different departments so that the same bug doesn’t come back anymore.

CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR FIRST STEPS IN THE PROFESSIONAL WORLD?

P.N. : My very first professional experience was at the end of my second year during an internship in texturing and shading at MacGuff Belgium in Brussels on the animated feature Samsam. I remember, the first days, being a bit apprehensive because it’s difficult to gauge one’s level on a “real” production when our only experience with CG is in course exercises. In the end, this first experience went very well, both professionally and in terms of relationships with the rest of the team.

Then, since I left school, I had a rather peculiar start in the sense that I have already, over this short period, been led to change studios several times. Originally, I was supposed to work on several seasons of the project on which I had been hired in Annecy. Finally, at the end of my first season, for budgetary reasons at the client’s level, the production was, from one day to the next, put on hold for several months to the great dismay of the studio and the team. Having recently moved to Annecy, I couldn’t afford to be out of work for so long.

So I urgently started sending out resumes and demos again. Finally, after 2 weeks of searching, I found a job as a lighter at Mathematic, this time to work on a video for Coldplay. Moreover, the studio allowed me to work remotely without having to move to Paris during the contract. Not knowing if the studio would extend my contract, I continued to apply from time to time when I saw offers.

So, while I was working on a second project at Mathematic (advertising this time) I was contacted by Framestore who offered me an interview for a lighting job. As I don’t feel like moving to London for the moment, the studio offered me the opportunity to work remotely until the end of the year before seeing at the end of this contract if I want to continue with them, this time on location. Framestore has its own rendering engine and a pipeline that is quite complex at first, so my first week was dedicated to training before I could start working on the project I was hired for.

Y.O.: My very first freelance assignment was for noOne Studio. I was in charge of special effects. In this case, the explosion of a wall and the furniture of a small living room by a dragon (a Pokémon). The curious can find it on youtube (Pokémon Dark Edition)! It was great! A good first experience. After that, starting remotely is not the most desirable, the atmosphere of a studio or the discussions with more experienced colleagues are really missing. However, the team was friendly, with good advice, and everything went well.

The period being not obvious, and adding obstacles to me by refusing the big cities, I must admit that the beginning was not obvious… I thought that telecommuting would be more present with the covid, but finally, in FX, as a young graduate, it was not so obvious. But if you look hard enough, you’ll find it and now the future is looking pretty good! Things are accelerating quite quickly: from job to job and therefore from meeting to meeting! The network and word of mouth is an essential engine in the job search.

HOW DID YOU EXPERIENCE THIS ENTRY INTO THE PROFESSIONAL WORLD? DID IT CORRESPOND TO YOUR EXPECTATIONS?

P.N : Apart from the stress caused by these different changes (unlike those who were able to find a long-term contract from the start), I was lucky enough to be able to link up different projects and experiences with very few periods of inactivity between contracts. Professionally, I am lucky enough to be able to work in the specialty I wanted to specialize in since my second year of training.

Y.O.: My case is quite particular… I have studied for ten years, from cabinet making to animation, through architecture. You can easily understand the relief of becoming a professional, of finally getting a salary, of making long-term projects. And finally, what you do in the studio, the work atmosphere, the problems, everything is very similar to what you experienced at ESMA, especially in your last year. Replace the school’s management with production, the teachers with supervisors, and you’re in the middle of a studio! Although the very first steps into the professional world are intimidating, I soon found myself quite comfortable and confident.

WHAT IS IT LIKE TO WORK ON PROFESSIONAL PROJECTS?

P.N.: It’s definitely very rewarding to be able to work on projects for an audience. Whether it’s a film, a series, or a video clip, knowing that people are going to spend a moment of relaxation or entertainment in front of our work is a source of motivation. It is also the finality of our training and the huge amount of work done during these 5 years, having done the MANAA at Esma before going on to the CG training.

Y.O. : It’s very pleasant ! When I saw the first episode of the Smurfs on TF1, it made me very happy, even though I hadn’t worked on it! I can tell you that my family, especially my nephew, have become big fans of the series. The work itself is interesting and, as I said before, it’s very close to what we experience in school.

AFTER THESE FEW MONTHS POST SCHOOL, WHAT DO YOU LOOK BACK ON ? ON YOUR TRAINING AND THE ESMA?

P.N.: A very rigorous and enriching training. You don’t always realize it when you have your head in the classroom, but you leave the school with all the knowledge you need to start your career, even if, given the number of different tools and the speed at which this profession evolves, continuous training is an integral part of the job.

Y.O.: These four years are memorable! Especially the last one. The training is dense and with hindsight I realize the astronomical amount of things we have learned. I sincerely believe that we were well prepared and, in any case, I felt comfortable and equipped from my first mission. The generalist aspect of the training is, in my opinion, a real plus, even if everyone specializes in one or more areas of animation.

WHAT ABOUT COVID?

P.N. : Apart from the drop in recruitment when I graduated, the situation allowed me to work from home for different studios without having to move permanently during these first months. That, I think, is about the only positive thing about Covid.

Y.O.: As far as the covid is concerned, it was indeed a brake at the very beginning of my career. Meeting professionals, finding opportunities, is not easy without leaving home. Moreover, telecommuting has not developed as much as I had hoped. Several times I missed a job because working remotely was impossible. If the situation should continue for some time, don’t get discouraged! With time you will always find a job and if you are willing to go to Paris, London or another big city that hosts studios, there will be no problem.

AND YOUR NEXT MONTHS, OR THE YEAR TO COME, HOW DO YOU PROJECT YOURSELF FOR THE FUTURE?

P.N. : This contract with Framestore will allow me to familiarize myself with the VFX world and to gauge if I like it. Given the little experience I have, I don’t know yet if the organization within a big studio will suit me or if I will blossom more on VFX than on cartoon for example. For the moment, what interests me the most is to discover different aspects of the job according to the productions and especially to work on projects on which I learn and take pleasure to do what I do.

Y.O.: The next few months will be very exciting! I am currently preparing the opening of Fokys Studio, an animation studio in Clisson! A few projects are already coming up and I can’t wait to get started. The studio will share knowledge and premises with the audiovisual production company La Tanière. In the short/medium term, Fokys will do subcontracting for other studios, as well as corporate films and advertising. On a longer time scale, I hope to make animated series, short films and, let’s be crazy, in a few years, feature films. I’m thinking, among other things, of developing a series of Donjon & Cie, the ESMA film I worked on for my degree.

Opening a company is very stimulating, and being able to work in Clisson, a very pleasant little town of about 7000 inhabitants, surrounded by nature and crossed by the Sèvre Nantaise river, is a real pleasure. I am sure that many graphic designers would be delighted to work in these conditions, and I hope to be able to offer them work in this idyllic setting. For the record, this is where Le Manège enchanté was shot!

To finish on the year to come, I have the chance to work at ESMA Nantes part-time as a teacher, starting in September. I have always wanted to teach and this allows me, at first, to ensure me an income, and to undertake serenely.

FREE COMMENT

Y.O.: I would like to add a little word for the students. Hang in there! These are difficult studies, probably even more so with the situation we are in, but it is worth it. We have an incredible job, in which we can flourish! See you in production!