From Vitré to the Walt Disney studio in Vancouver, François Briantais worked on Vaiana 2

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When you type his name on the Internet, search engines list him as a director. “It looks more stylish, but it’s not true,” smiles François Briantaisoriginally from Glazed (Ille-et-Vilaine).

The man whose mother owned the La Cravache bar until 2017 is a 3D animator. He owes his reference to his graduation film in Nantes, An eye for an eye.

“The director entrusts me with a bunch of shots, and my role is to make the characters move », he explains soberly.

For almost a year and a half, he worked for the Walt Disney studio in Vancouverin Canada, on the animated film Vaiana 2released in French cinemas at the end of November 2024.

Host, almost actor?

When a director speaks to us, it’s as if we were actors. We master each articulation, on each character, on each image. The movement must be credible, but also correspond to the intention of the shot and the director. A few minutes on screen is a lot of work.

At Walt Dinsey, the hundreds of animators who work on a production have access to a reference room, which allows them to become real actors for tests before drawing: “It allows you to find artistic choices, sometimes just a simple head rotation. We must ensure that what we do is natural, credible. Know when an eye opens or closes. But also what happens in the thought process of our characters. And the more the characters seem alive, the more the viewer becomes attached to them. »

A first screening with the family

After months of work, François Briantais brought his mother from Vitré to Canada for a first screening of Vaiana 2.

He smiles : “I think she didn’t understand anything because it was in English, but she was next to me in the room, and I was patting her hand when my plans were shown on the screen. »

What happens deep down when his work is submitted to the judgment of a room? “It’s always a bit embarrassing,” he says. A three-second shot, I had it in my ears continuously for a month. SO I know the audio by heart. The moment it happens, it always takes me out of the film a little. You find yourself a little naked in front of everyone. And instantly, you see everything they don’t see, everything that’s wrong with the plan. I have plans that are jokes. And I wait. Will people laugh? »

And when the mission is accomplished, let the audience laugh: “We remember a little why we are doing this, in fact. Not just to make beautiful images, but because it transmits emotions to people. It’s a bit of the essence of the job, to pass on this thing. For example, it’s something quite strange to say to myself that I’m going shaping part of my niece’s childhood, with Moana. That maybe, in twenty years, she will say to herself ‘this film was good when I was a kid’. »

35 seconds on screen

Of the very long hours spent in the studio, only… 35 seconds of the work of François Briantais were retained in the final cut.

It’s a little and a lot at the same time, when you know that one second on the screen includes 24 images, and that even the most experienced animators at Walt Disney hardly exceed a minute.

Vaiana 2 exceeded five million admissions in France in just over a month. Flattering. But this chapter in the life of the Vitrean has already been closed for quite some time.

I often compare it to construction trades. Building a house takes time. Meanwhile, an architect designs another one. And we continue with it when we finish the first one.

In this case, François Briantais continued with another project – which remains confidential for the moment – ​​the second since his recruitment by Walt Disney Studios at the start of 2023.

Good news, because the sector – which operates “on contract” – is relatively precarious. In mid-January, he will fly again to Vancouver, the parenthesis of the closed Vitrean festivals.

François Briantais will speak to the public who will attend the screening of Vaiana 2 from Saturday January 4 at 1:45 p.m., at the Aurore cinema in Vitré. He will answer questions about his job as a 3D animator.

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