….Christophe Vacher.. Christophe Vacher….
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“I always looked at LA like it's a transit city”
The amount of creativity and diversity of talents in the City of Angels is pretty well known in the world – which is one of my favorite things about living here. You can meet the most extraordinary of people in the most ordinary of circumstances!
I met Christophe Vacher at a social event (I actually miss those “in-person” gatherings terribly as Los Angeles offers some of the best gatherings and events from a night at the opera to going hiking in the beautiful mountains with people you just met – you name it, we have it).
After meeting Christopher at one of these LA gatherings, as a big fan of sci-fi and fantasy, I was immediately fascinated to learn about his creative background and especially his animations and paintings, which looked like they were straight out of a story book or a fantasy world that transcended our time– like Lord of the Rings books or Tim Burton movies. That’s why when I found out that Christophe actually collaborated with Tim Burton, I wasn’t surprised at all because their work and creativity are not only rare but also on the same level, very impressively.
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“Los Angeles’a her zaman transit bir sehir olarak baktim”
Melekler Şehrindeki yaraticiligin ve yeteneklerin cesitliligi dunya capinda biliniyor – burada yasamanin en sevdigim yanlarindan biri bu. En olaganustu insanlara en siradan durumlarda rastlayabilirsiniz.
Christophe Vacher ile sosyal bir etkinlikte tanistim (“yuz yuze” katildigimiz bu etkinlikleri cok ozluyorum cunku operada bir gece geçirmekten tutun da yeni tanistiginiz insanlarla grup olarak guzel dag yuruyuslerine cikmaya kadar ne aklınıza ne gelirse her türlü aktivite var burada).
Christophe ile bu etkinliklerden birinde tanistigim zaman, buyuk bir bilim-kurgu ve fantezi hayrani olarak, onun yaratici geçmişinden ve özellikle de animasyonlarından ve tablolarından çok etkilendim, calismalari adeta bir hikaye kitabından ya da zamanimizi asan bir hayal dünyasından firlamis gibiydi – Yuzuklerin Efendisi kitaplari ya da Tim Burton filmleri tarzinda. Bu nedenle Tim Burton ile bir projede calistigini ogrendigimde hic sasirmadim cunku ikisinin de calismalari ve yaraticiliklari hem cok nadir hem de ayni seviyedeydi – çok etkileyici bir bicimde.
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A quick peek at some of his amazing work: Christophe has developed beautiful concept designs for Disney’s Enchanted and art directed DreamWorks Studios’ Jurassic World Netflix animated series.
In addition to working as an art director and concept artist, Christophe also works on paintings for art galleries and collectors from all over the world. He’s originally from France where he started his career in animation and eventually moved to Los Angeles to work and learn more about art and animation.
What is even more impressive is that he taught himself most of his skills. On the side, our fellow Angeleno also travels the world (I am sure he will pick up where he left off immediately following the current covid-19 situation!) and has studied many martial arts like Judo, Chinese Kung Fu, Karate and Savate-Taekwondo, English boxing and French Boxing to name a few – I personally didn’t even know that English or French boxing was a thing. I really enjoy learning all these new things simply by meeting worldly Angelenos like Christophe.
I am so excited to have Christophe as my Angeleno of The Month. Enjoy our powerful interview – as well as his breathtaking visuals!
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Birkac tane ornek verecek olursak Christophe Disney’in meşhur Enchanted filmi icin birbirinden guzel konseptler geliştirdi ve DreamWorks studyolarinin Jurassic World Netflix cizgi serisi icin sanat yönetmenliği yapti.
Sanat yönetmeni ve konsept tasarımcısı olarak calismanin yani sira, Christophe ayni zamanda dunyanin cesitli yerlerindeki galeriler ve koleksiyoncular icin resimler de yapiyor. Esasen Fransa dogumlu ve kariyerine orada animasyon ile baslamis ve nihayetinde sanat ve animasyon hakkinda daha fazla bilgi sahibi olmak ve is bulmak icin Los Angeles’a tasinmis.
Isin daha etkileyici kısmı ise becerilerinin çoğunu kendi kendine ogrenmis. Bunlarin disinda sevgili Angelenomuz dunyayi gezmeyi seviyor (eminim su anki covid-19 durumlari sona erdikten sonra kaldığı yerden devam edecektir!) ve Judo, Çin Kung Fu’su, Karate, Savate-Taekwondo, İngiliz boksu ve Fransiz boksu gibi dovus sanatlari da calismis – bu arada ben İngiliz ya da Fransiz boksu diye kavramlar olduğunu bile bilmiyordum. Christophe gibi değişik deneyimlere sahip Angelenolarla tanışarak boyle yeni seyler ogrenmeyi cok seviyorum.
Christophe bu ayin Angeleno’su oldugu icin cok mutluyum. Etkileyici roportajimizin – ve tabi ki de onun nefesleri kesen gorsel eserlerinin tadini cikartin!
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You are a two-time Emmy Award winner for outstanding achievement in animation and you worked on some impressive projects with world famous companies such as Disney, DreamWorks and Universal Studios. Can you please tell us a little bit about your background and journey as well as how you decided to come to Los Angeles, eventually leading up to all these dream projects?
After growing up in France, dreaming of a comic book art career (which I was actually reaching), I eventually switched to an animation and movie career when I had the chance to be hired for a French animation company that was at the time co-producing The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
After starting working for their studio Angoulême, then moving to Blois and Paris, I finally got hired by the Disney studios that existed at that time in Montreuil.
At that time, the movie Lion King had just been released and was making a fortune at the box-office. Soon, all the major studios were opening animation departments. It was the second Golden Age of animation. For artists, it became very easy to negotiate at that time. I almost left Disney, but they made me a good counter offer and I asked to move to their studios in Burbank, California, pretty much the cradle of animation.
When I look at the big picture, it is still incredible to see how the timing of things happened perfectly. The Disney studios in Paris opened right at the time I moved there, and gave me the opportunity to come to the US. They have shut down since and it will probably never happen again. But everything worked out for me.
After that, I made my way through animation mostly (with a few side projects in concept art for live-action, and continuing doing my own paintings for galleries too) working for other studios like DreamWorks, Universal, Hasbro and a handful of smaller ones too.
At Focus Features, I art directed the movie "9", which gave me my first animation Annie Awards nomination in 2009. Then in 2011 and 2012, I won two Emmy Awards for my Art direction on the series "Transformers Prime" and I also got nominated again in 2012 at the Annie Awards for that same series.
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Animasyon alaninda ustun basaridan oturu iki kere Emmy odulu kazandiniz ve Disney, DreamWorks, Universal Studios gibi dunyaca unlu sirketlerle etkileyici projelerde calistiniz. Bize biraz kendinizden ve yolculugunuzdan bahseder misiniz – nihayetinde Los Angeles’a gelmeye nasil karar verdiniz ve tum bu ruya projelere nasil ulastiniz?
Fransa’da buyurken ve cizgi roman sanati alaninda ilerlemeyi duslerken (bu duse de ulaşmıştım aslinda), sonunda animasyon ve film alanına gectim ve o zamanlar Ninja Kaplumbagalar’in yapımcılarından biri olan Fransiz bir animasyon sirketinde ise girme firsati buldum.
Onlarin studyosu olan Angoulême icin calismaya basladiktan ve Blois’e ve Paris’e tasindiktan sonra sonunda o zamanlar Montreuil’de faaliyet gosteren Disney Studyolari tarafindan ise alindim.
Tam da o siralarda Aslan Kral çizgi filmi gosterime girmisti ve gişelerde rekor kırıyordu. Bunu takiben butun buyuk stüdyolar animasyon departmanlari acmaya basladi. Animasyon ikinci altin cagini yasiyordu. Animasyon sanatcilari icin bu siralarda pazarlik yapmak cok kolaydi. Neredeyse Disney’den ayrilmak uzereyken bana cok guzel bir teklif sundular ve Burbank, California’daki studyolarina – yani animasyonun besigine nakil olmami istediler.
Buyuk resme baktigimda hala daha zamanlamanin ve her seyin nasil kusursuzca isledigini gorebiliyorum. Paris’teki Disney Studyolari tam da ben oraya tasindigimda acilmisti ve bana Amerika’ya gelme firsati sundu. Daha sonra kapattilar ve buyuk ihtimalle de bir daha acilmayacak. Ama benim acimdan her sey mukemmel gitti.
Daha sonra DreamWorks, Universal, Hasbro ve bir kisim daha kucuk studyolarla calisarak agirlikli olarak animasyon alaninda yolumu buldum – canli aksiyonlar icin konsept tasarimi ve galeriler icin kendi tablolarimi yapmak dahil olmak uzere yan projeler de yapmaya devam ettim.
Focus Features'da “9” filminin sanat yonetmenligini yaptim ve bu da bana 2009 yilinda animasyon dalında ilk Annie odulu adayligimi getirdi. 2011 ve 2012’de “Transformers Prime” dizisindeki sanat yönetmenliğimle iki tane Emmy odulu kazandim ve ayni dizi ile 2012 yılında yine Annie ödüllerinde aday oldum.
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If you were to choose three words to describe LA, what would they be?
Crazy, creative, expensive.
This might be a difficult question and even hard to choose from -- but what’s your favorite project(s) that you've worked on during your time in LA so far and why?
Actually, it's not such a hard question. My favorite project has always been so far the movie "9." Because it was a very unconventional kind of animation (Tim Burton was the producer). It was a more edgy and adult kind of animation, and I love that. I was just coming out of art directing the animated segment of the movie "Enchanted", and jumping into "9" was like going to the dark side of the moon. The project in itself got into so much hardship that it became an adventure in itself. I wish there were more projects like this in the US.
It is amazing that you collaborated with some legendary visionaries like Tim Burton. Is there a talent or role model out there that you have been dreaming of working with?
I would love to work with Shane Acker again (who directed "9", with Tim Burton producing), but I'm afraid he is not doing much in animation anymore. Also, I'd love to art direct something for my friend Ken Duncan (veteran Disney animator, who owns Duncan Studios), as we have a similar taste for an unusual, edgy and more European, symbolistic kind of animation.
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Los Angeles’i tarif etmek icin bize uc tane kelime secer misiniz?
Cilgin, yaratici, pahali.
Bu zor ve sizin icin secmesi kolay olmayan bir soru olabilir – Los Angeles’ta gecirdiginiz surede uzerinde calistiginiz favori proje ya da projeler neler?
Cok da zor bir soru degil aslinda. Su ana kadar ki favori projem “9”. Geleneklerin cok disinda bir animasyon (Tim Burton yapimciligini ustlenmisti). Uçlarda gezen ve yetişkinlere yönelik bir animasyondu ve bunu seviyorum. Tam da o zamanlar Enchanted filminin animasyonlu olan kisminin sanat yonetmenligini bitirmistim ve “9” projesine atlamak ayin karanlik yuzune yolculuk yapmak gibiydi. Proje o kadar zorluklarla karsilasti ki kendi içinde bir maceraya donustu adeta. Amerika’da bu tip projelerin daha cok olmasini isterdim.
Tim Burton gibi efsanevi ve vizyon sahibi insanlarla calismaniz harika. Kendisiyle calismayi düşlediğiniz baska yetenekler veya rol modelleri var mi?
Shane Acker ile tekrar calismayi cok isterim – (Tim Burton yapimcilik yaparken kendisi 9’u yonetti), ama korkarim cok fazla animasyon yapmiyor artik. Ayrica, usta bir Disney animasyon uzmani ve Duncan Studyolarinin sahibi olan arkadasim Ken Duncan ile de sanat yönetmenliği yapmak isterim – ikimiz de sira disi, uçlarda gezen ve daha Avrupali ve sembol odakli bir animasyon zevkine sahibiz.
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What are some pros and cons about living in LA and do you have any advice for people who want to move here?
LA is a crazy city. It took me a while to get used to it. And over the past decade, it has become very expensive too.
People say the weather is nice but it really depends on what represents "nice weather" for you. Yes, the sun is here almost all the time, but it gets boring, and it doesn't feel like a sunny day like I have lived in the rest of the US or France. The sky is never really blue. More like blue grey, because of the amount of dust and pollution. The landscape is never really green (one "green" month in the year, when it has rained a little, and it doesn't stay long), in fact, LA is really dry —although not as dry as places like Las Vegas or Phoenix.
There are hardly ever any clouds (I am a painter. I am very inspired by clouds and the change of light, so that's a bit of a problem), and there are no real seasons. When I go back to France, or even to another part of the US in the summer time, I feel like I live again: everything is so green, so alive, everything has a flavor again.
Now, to talk about the nice side, LA is a vibrant and diverse community, with a fleury of multi-cultural foods and artistic creativity. If you like the outdoors (and don't mind the dry environment), the choice of activities is wide open. From surfing, to beach sports to hiking, horseback riding, camping and a wide range of other things to do. Not to mention, of course, the world renowned movie culture.
Oh and, if you plan to come live here, have a car. Do not plan to be able to walk here. Except a few rare areas, LA is NOT a pedestrian city.
Let’s say your friends from France are visiting Los Angeles and you wanted to show them the best time ever and they only have a few days. Where would you take them?
Well, obviously, the sacro-saint Hollywood is a must but be prepared not to be swept off your feet. The Hollywood legend is made of a lot of hype and cardboard. Then, there are places like Santa Monica, the Griffith Observatory (where many movies were shot over the past decades) and Griffith Park.
If you care for architecture, go take a drive downtown LA: some sculpted building facades have kept their historic Art Deco charm, although many of them have unfortunately fallen into neglect and oblivion.
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Los Angeles’ta yasamanin avantajlari ve dezavantajlari neler ve buraya tasinmak isteyenlere tavsiyeleriniz var mi?
LA cilgin bir sehir. Benim alismam zaman aldi. Son on senede iyice pahalandi üstelik.
Insanlar havanin guzel oldugunu soyluyor ama bu tamamen sizin icin “guzel hava”nin ne olduguna bagli. Evet hava her daim gunesli ama bu can sikici bir hal alabiliyor ve Amerika'nın geri kalani ya da Fransa'daki gunesli hava gibi degil. Gokyuzu asla gerçekten mavi degil. Toz ve hava kirliligi yuzunden daha çok mavi gri. Cevre de gerçekten yesil degil (senede bir kere “yesil” bir aya sahibiz – 0 da yağmur yağarsa ve yagsa da uzun sürmüyor), isin gercegi LA cok kuru bir yer – Las Vegas ya da Phoenix gibi yerler kadar olmasa da.
Bulut zar zor gorebiliyorsunuz (Ben bir ressamim ve bulutlardan, isik değişimlerinden etkileniyorum, bu da benim icin biraz problem), ve burada gercek mevsimler yok. Yazin Fransa’ya (ya da Amerika’nin baska bir bölgesine) tatile gittigim zaman tekrar yaşadığımı hissediyorum: her sey cok yesil cok canli sanki her sey yeniden tat buluyor.
Şimdi biraz da hos taraflarından bahsedelim: LA cok canli ve cesitlilik dolu bir toplum, cok-kulturlu yemeklerle ve sanatsal yaratıcılıkla bezeli. Acik hava aktivitelerini seven biriyseniz (ve cevrenin kuru olmasi sizi rahatsiz etmiyorsa) seçenekleriniz ardina kadar acik. Sörf yapmaktan tutun da, yuruyuslere, at binmeye, kamp yapmaya kadar bir suru yapacak sey var. Dunyaca unlu film kültüründen bahsetmiyorum bile.
Bu arada eger burada yasamak istiyorsaniz araba alin. Burada yuruyebilmeyi beklemeyin. Birkac nadir alanin disinda Los Angeles yayalara yonelik bir sehir DEGIL.
Diyelim ki Fransa'dan arkadaşlarınız Los Angeles’i ziyaret ediyor ve onlarin mumkun olan en iyi zamani geçirmelerini istiyorsunuz ve sadece birkac gun icin buradalar. Onlari nereye gotururdunuz?
Tabi ki kutsal Hollywood gorulmesi gereken bir yer ama ayaklarinizin yerden kesilmemesine hazirlikli olun. Hollywood efsanesi aldatmaca ve karton kutulardan ibaret. Sonra Santa Monica, uzun zamandir birçok filmin çekildiği Griffith Gözlemevi ve Griffith parki gibi yerler var.
Mimari yapilari seviyorsaniz Los Angeles şehir merkezinde arabayla gezin, yontulmus dis cepheleriyle bazi tarihi binalar Art Deco döneminin çekiciliğini koruyor - maalesef bazilari ilgisizlik ve bakimsizliktan muzdarip olsa da.
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If you were a neighborhood in Los Angeles, which place would you be and why?
Maybe Pasadena, for its more European charm and for being at the edge of the beautiful San Gabriel Mountains.
This blog is also about shouting out to others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shout-out to in Los Angeles?
My friend Ken Duncan whom I was talking about earlier. He definitely has had a rich and creative life, and probably has lots of stories to tell. Here's his Instagram: @kenduncan9.
In closing:
After 24 years spent in LA, I still don't know how I feel about this city. I definitely would not call it home, because I didn't embrace it for its homy-like feeling. I always looked at LA like it's a transit city, a chaotic mix of ghettos and a multitude of un-matching architectures, where you come looking for the creative spark, love, fame, fortune, whatever you seek, and then leave to find or return to your real home. But what if you never really find what you were looking for, and eventually get trapped, unable to escape the ever-spinning wheel of craze and creative energy, the artificial reality of Tinsel Town?
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Eger Los Angeles’ta bir muhit olsaydiniz hangisi olurdunuz ve neden?
Belki Pasadena olurdum Avrupa’yi andıran çekiciliğinden ve güzel San Gabriel daglarinin ucunda olmasindan oturu.
Bu blog ayni zamanda takdiri ve spot isigini hak eden kisileri de on plana cikarmayi ve tanitmayi kapsiyor. Los Angeles’ta sizin icin kim one cikiyor?
Biraz önce de bahsettiğim arkadaşım Ken Duncan. Kesinlikle cok zengin ve yaratici bir hayati var ve büyük ihtimalle de çok fazla anlatacak hikayesi var. Instagramina bakabilirsiniz: @kenduncan9.
Kapanista:
LA’de 24 sene geçirdikten sonra hala bu sehir hakkinda ne hissettiğimi bilmiyorum. Ona evim demeyecegimden eminim çünkü bu şehri hiçbir zaman ev hissiyatıyla kucaklamadim. Los Angeles’a her zaman transit bir sehir gozuyle baktim, gecekondularin ve birbiriyle alakasiz mimarilerin bollugu esliginde yaratici kivilcimi, aski, unu, serveti ya da aradiginiz her neyse nihayetinde onu bulabilmek icin terk ettiğiniz ya da evinize dondugunuz yer. Ama ya aradiginiz seyi hic bulamayacaksanız ve bu dönüp duran cilgin ve yaratici enerji çarkında, gosterisli sehrin yapay gercekliginde sikisip kaldiysaniz?
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You probably want to check out more of Christophe’s out-of-this-world work? You are lucky because there are many platforms to do so, here are some:
While you are checking out some of Christophe’s amazing work, he also recommends taking a look at the Famous Artists School to learn more about art:
If you want to contact Christophe:
vacherartspace.com/contact
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Christophe’un adeta bu dünyanın dışından olan eserlerine daha fazla bakmak istiyor olabilirsiniz muhtemelen? Sanslisiniz cunku bunun icin cok fazla platform var iste bunlardan bazilari:
Hazir Christophe'un hayranlik uyandiran calismalarina goz atmisken, kendisi bizlere sanat hakkinda daha fazla bilgi sahibi olmak icin unlu sanatcilar okulunun sayfasina da bakmamizi tavsiye ediyor:
Christophe ile iletisime gecmek isterseniz:
http://vacherartspace.com/contact
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