Fichado!: Carlos Grangel-English version

We have interviewed with Carlos Grangel, an animation artist who works like designer in "Madagascar" and "Corpse Bride".




1. Name
: Carlos Grangel Gómez.

2. Age: 45

3. Profession: Co-Director of Grangel Studio, and specialized in the design of styles and characters.

4. Artistic training: After high school, I graduated at the Createcnia school in 1989 in the degree of "Animation Techniques"

5. Work done you're most proud of: Probably some personal works that have never been public. At a professional level, "Corpse Bride" was definitely the movie in which our creations were more respected... I speak in plural because I understand that it is entirely a work team. I would not like to forget or to neglect the energy and the experience lived during the first film from Dreamworks "The Prince of Egypt", it was a real challenge for an studio which was just set up from scratch.

6. Work done you're least proud of: I have some in my mind that I'm not proud of, there were my own personal deficits in the early ones, and in the other ones the factors of constant script changes, purely commercial strategy and the lack of style supervision influenced too much in a product lacking artistic ambitions... some examples are "Rex, a dinosaur in NY", "Antz" or "Sinbad"

7. The project you are currently working on and the next one, if any: At Grangel Studio we are currently working for 3 films. We are a very compact group of artists who have been working as a team for years, being versatile, yet also highly specialized in specific areas. Sorry, but we can reveal very little about future films, two projects are at a very early stage and are for U.S. majors, and the third one will be a 100% European product. Just recently we returned from Japan with a future collaboration with an Japanese studio, for us it would be a dream to collaborate in some creations for that country.

8. You are inspired by: The observation of nature and art in general.

9. Favourite artist: Never enough... I admire a lot of them, and are innumerable: painters, illustrators, architects, professional colleagues and certainly sculptors, a plastic technique which fascinates me but I'm unable to handle properly. The truth is that I don't have a favorite, I feel the vital need to learn from all of them.

10. Pencil & paper, or mouse: I come from the old school... pen and paper to begin with, mixed with brushes, watercolors, acrylic gouache, markers and pastels... the mouse only for the basic stuff, Jordi Grangel, my brother, is light years away from what I can get to achieve with a computer.

11. Music you listen to while working: I usually listen to the radio in the country where I am, I usually travel very often and it makes it easier for me to come into context with the country and its cultural adaptation, I like to listen to independent radio stations with news programing, diverse music and debates. I also need moments of concentration without interference of any kind.

12. Curious habits while working: I'm very organized...I need to know where I have the basic information at all times, the script, documentation, notes from the directors, etc...

13. Crazy stuff on your desktop: I'm not very geeky, I started illustrating and making comics but I don't have toys or dolls around, what I do have are a lot of artistic materials, so I can work in different techniques.

14. To work, night or day?: By day, but sometimes it extends well into the night.

15. Three movies to spend a Sunday relaxed at home: "101 Dalmatians" (1961), "Nightmare before Christmas" (1993), "Belleville Rendez-Vous" (2003)

16. Classic animation favorite: That will be two movies, "101 Dalmatians" (1961) and "Sleeping Beauty" (1959).

17. Ancient Art or Modern: Personally, the ancient art appeals more to me, but I would extend it until the end of 19th century and beginnings of the 20th century. Although I'm not a critic of the modern art.

18. Comedy or Drama: Either. It is about having a good script, a good story to tell ...

19. The thoughest moment of your professional career: For me, the beginnings in the world of animation 1989-1990.

20. And the sweetest moment: When you are in tune with a director, the script and the team with which you work.

21. What you see yourself doing in 20 years?: I do not think in the long term, sincerely life offers us unexpected changes for which we will need to find some adaptability. I would like to get there with clarity and to be somehow artistically vital.

22. Finally... tell us which has been the best advice you've been given both professional and personal: "Push the envelope"... nonconformity and self-criticism.


Thanks Carlos for your participation in our blog!
http://the-animation-art.blogspot.com


( Thanks to Pako Bagur for the translation ! )

and Thank you Edu for everything :)

Comentarios