Just arrived from Singapore for his week-long masterclass, Thibault GAURIAU (ESRA Animation 2006) was keen to meet students from the school's Animation section. The former student visited the classes and took an interest in the students' end-of-year films and demo tapes. He also took time with the teaching staff to look at the new VFX option for ESRA and ESRA Animation (Image VFX and Postproduction VFX).
On Thursday April 5, students from ESRA, ISTS, ESRA Animation, DHEC and Formation Continue rushed to attend a conference packed with content.
In the 1st part, Eric GOUELLE (ESRA 2010), rigging editor, freelance director and visual effects teacher at ESRA, opened the masterclass with an interview about his career. While still a student atESRA Bretagne, he followed his end-of-year internship as a digital artist at UBISOFT until his graduation when BUF Compagnie recruited him. Two years later, he joined the Moving Picture Company as Technical Director FX, including on Clash of the Titans (2010). In October 2010, he was spotted on social networks to put his skills to work for Industrial Light & Magic Singapore. His career took off on a number of high-profile productions: The Avengers by Joss WHEDON (2012), Pacific Rim by Guillermo DEL TORO (2013), Transformers: Age of Extinction by Michael BAY (2014); then as Lead FX for Star Wars: The Force Awakens by J.J. ABRAMS (2015), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story by Gareth EDWARDS (2016) and Ready Player One by Steven SPIELBERG (2018). It's a job that demands quick learning, a good mind and efficient post-production. His demo reel reflects the artist's quality and expertise.
In the 2nd half, we were all amazed by the anecdotes revealed by the special effects supervisor on the set of Jurrasic World including the long process of pre-production previews (creation of models, articulated models, animatics, real-time 3D visualization on set).
In part 3, he presented the post-production on Rogue One: A Star Wars Storyon which he managed a team of artists as FX Lead. It's often easier to create a virtual universe than to inlay 3D elements onto a real scene.
Thibault GAURIAU was particularly keen to pass on his advice to the students at the end of the conference, as he would have liked us to do it for him. Be critical, know how to work in a team, show determination, be curious, learn, take initiative and get out of your comfort zone.
His solid energy, his desire to share and his gratitude for his 3 years atESRA have forged the man he has become, and make you want to follow his incredible journey.
