Céline Tellier - Artistic and Technical Director

Raymanzone : Could you introduce yourself briefly?
Céline Tellier : My name's Céline Tellier, I'm 27 and I'm artistic and technical director on Rayman 3.

How does one come to be artistic director on a game like Rayman 3?
To begin with, I studied graphic design for advertising on my applied arts course in Paris but, after some experience in this field, I realized it wasn't for me. So I left school in 1997, when I was 21, to join Ubi Soft as a junior 2D/3D graphic designer. I started by spending a year creating characters for a cartoon action game. Then I began Rayman 2, at which time I specialized more in producing decors and graphic finishes: special effects, lighting effects, textures, and so forth. This project was a truly enriching personal and professional experience, and a real springboard for Rayman 3.

So I started designing Rayman 3 as artistic director - with the support of an illustrator, Eric Pelatan - and as technical director, preparing all the tools required to produce graphics. Then, when production had begun, my job was mainly focused on monitoring the graphics team and the end product. I even had a chance to go back and work in production, creating graphic finishes for decors and special effects. It was really great to be able to "muck in" once again!

In a few words, what does your job involve?
As far as the "design" side of things goes, it involves listing and sketching all the different ideas for decors, characters, gameplay objects, atmospheres and specific places. As far as "production" is concerned, the artistic director monitors all the 2D and 3D graphic work to ensure that it's consistent and reaches the desired quality level. He or she also has to act as a link between the team and other professions, particularly the game designers and engineers.

What made you want to work in the video game sector?
Unlike a lot of my colleagues, it didn't start with a childhood passion. It was more of an experience that was tried and tested by chance, which later became passionately interesting. J

What advice would you give to someone wanting to become an artistic director?
This profession is particularly appropriate for graphic designers with experience, talent and a sound knowledge of all the latest creative and technical graphic developments in the video game field. (The best way to gain that is to follow E3, the Electronic Entertainment Exhibition, which is the annual High Mass of video games in Los Angeles.) More generally speaking, it's important to keep up-to-date with the most recent references and trends in movies, advertising, special effects, and so on. What's more, experience is what makes all the difference - and here Rayman 2 helped me out a lot. Otherwise, you need skills that are both artistic and technical, as well as an elementary knowledge of management, which is bound to come in useful. But, above all, you must have a passionate interest in your profession and appreciate your project, and the team that's working on it!

After Rayman 3, what are your future plans?
To continue working on console games and different graphic universes - provided they're not war simulations! - and to push to the limit everything that can currently be done in real time. At present, I'm working on Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

Thank you Céline !