Francois Launet (F), born 1971, attended a 4 year course at the Art School of Toulouse until 1993. Began the M.A.I.S.C.A. at the C.N.B.D.I. of Angoulême in 1994. Training in computer graphics and animations. Fond of painting, drawing, fantastic literature and art history.

"Les Modèles de Böckmann" is an attempt to mix most of my passions, "classic painting", computer art and fantastic literature. The title is a reference to "The Model of Pickman", a tale by H. P. Lovecraft: The painter Pickman produces terrible paintings of strange creatures, but he's not inspired by his imagination, but rather by what is laying in his basement. The movie is a way to dive into the depths of a painter's dreams: there, in a far away „island of the dead", lost beyond the wall of sleep, dwell terrifying models that can impress some receptive minds. This is also a tribute to some stunning images from the past, from Goya to Böcklin, a reference to some masters I admire. I had already worked on the H. P. Lovecraft universe, but this time, computer art gave me a new and exciting opportunity to paint some of his weird visions. Technically, I didn't want to loose the physical contact with the materials. As the computer is a bit frustrating, I chose to paint all of my textures and to build my scenes with a painted background. I think that computer imaging is still young, and we'll always have to learn from a 20000 year old art history. I wanted to build an atmosphere, to show something weird from inside my own dreams.

Technical Background

HW: Silicon Graphics
SW: Explore