MOPA’s Julien Deparis discusses changes at Supinfocom Arles
Renowned animation school Supinfocom Arles has been producing some of the best CG animated shorts that have been released in the past 14 years: Meet Buck, Machu Picchu Post, A la Française, Omerta, Azúl, Ozo, The Cold Rush, Bet She’an, Home Sweet Home and many others.
The school has recently gone through a number of transformations, including changing its name to MOPA and transitioning into an autonomous institution. We talk to MOPA’s Head of Studies, Julien Deparis, to find out the reasons behind these changes and MOPA’s plans for the future of the school.
Supinfocom Arles has built a top quality reputation through more than a decade of work. What were the motivations for leaving this well known name behind and turning the school into an autonomous institution?
À La Française (2012) : Julien Hazebroucq, Emmanuelle Leleu, Ren Hsien HSu, Morrigane Boyer, William Lorton
For fourteen years we were linked to the school in Valenciennes, which is the owner of the Supinfocom name. It is in order to protect the teaching methods at the Arles campus, our desire to keep our school at a human scale, and to work in a positive atmosphere that allows face-to-face engagement with our students that we have decided to assert our independence from Rubika.
For us, it’s the starting point of a new dynamic; our school is asserting its identity with the same values that have made it so renowned over the last fifteen years. The ambassadors of those values are the 400 Arles graduates that are now working throughout the world.
What changes will this bring for the school and for new students?
Meet Buck (2010) : Denis Bouyer, Laurent Monneron, Vincent Sousa, Yann De Preval
Just like our students, our school’s teaching methods are not static. They question and test issues around the fundamentals that have forged their reputation: passion, commitment and rigor. We have been working for some time to develop new digital tools for our students. Tools that they will use to make their films, but also new educational tools to improve the transmission of knowledge.
It’s the very fact that the size of our school is on a human scale, that it is flexible and reactive, that makes us able to explore new ways of learning. This is the great challenge of the decades to come for all educational institutions, and we wish to contribute our point of view on this vast and exciting project.
The Arles Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) has been supporting Supinfocom Arles since its foundation, what role will the CCI play now with MOPA?
Home Sweet Home (2013) : Pierre Clenet, Alejandro Diaz, Romain Mazevet, Stéphane Paccolat
The Arles Chamber of Commerce and Industry is an important partner for the school. They have confidence in us and are supporting us on this new adventure. The CCI will always play an important role in the school’s development.
Some older students who graduated from Supinfocom Arles have asked questions regarding how this change will be affecting them. Does the new name imply any changes for old students or the diplomas they received?
The new name will not affect our former students, who are proud of the evolution of their school. In fact, many amongst them have retained an active role in the institution. For us, it is also an opportunity to involve them to an even greater degree in the discussions and debates that must take place at the school. We are currently applying for French state certification for the new MOPA degree, which will take over from the Supinfocom degree.
In the past decade, a big percentage of the best animated shorts have been coming from France. Your school has been one of the main institutions where these shorts have been produced. What do you think are the reasons for this trend, from the point of view of your school?
Machu Picchu Post (2008) : Clément Crocq, Margaux Durand-Rival, Nicolas Novali
Perhaps one of the reasons is that the school is not an animation studio; we are a teaching institution. The films that we have made are the fruit of a close working relationship between the students and the teaching staff. We are here to guide them in their choices, and to give them a structure for their endeavours. They are both artists and narrators.
The CG image is at the crossroads of all the arts; it is an emerging aesthetic issue, a place of limitless experimentation. Through its singular nature, it offers a new way of seeing and describing the world. The school allows its students to develop their skills in order to participate in the development of this art, all through their professional life. It’s with the passion for developing this new language that we make films, and we are proud to have witnessed the positive reception that our films have been given throughout the world.
Julien Deparis
Head of Studies
MOPA
www.mopa-school.com
We would like to thank Julien Deparis for answering our questions.
All images are copyright © MOPA.
