On July 7th, 2011, Pixar-Planet attended a masterclass (a type of conference) held by Julien Schreyer, lighting TD at the Pixar Animation Studios. For an hour and a half he told us about his work through various illustrations. While we were there we were also able to see Toy Story Toons: Hawaiian Vacation, and most of all the 2012 short film La Luna.




On Monday, July 12th you will be able to read our review of Toy Story Toons: Hawaiian Vacation at the same time as that of Cars 2. But we shall now briefly tell you about La Luna, the short film by Enrico Casarosa which will be released in 2012 before Brave.

This short is an absolute gem, and is very poetic. At first you are unsure as to where you are heading, and then you move towards a dreamlike atmosphere. The ending then explains the entire meaning of the short film.

We noticed quite soon on that Pixar had altered its visual style and so shows it can do something different. And as if often the case in their short films, the lack of dialogue still reigns supreme here. Thanks to the characters’ body language and their muttering, one easily understands what they are trying to say.





Julien Schreyer grew up in Paris in a family of artists, which affected the rest of his life. He lived in a world of couture, which enabled him to be attentive to the working of texture and its impact on light. By virtue of his grandmother who was an artist and art teacher, he went through various art jobs: painting, sculpture…He continued to pave his way through the art world by becoming a DJ and radio presenter at Radio Montparnasse.

Julien then went to work in French animation studios, but it was only when he left for the United States that he spread his wings: first for 11 years inside the Tippett Studio by working on the film Constantine where he dabbled in a little bit of everything. But he took a great liking to lighting. A friend of his was to recommend Pixar to him, but he at first turned it down, as he was happy where he was.

Eventually, when Pixar got the Ratatouille project off the ground, the native Parisian saw it as an opportunity to be seized and left for the studios in 2006; he became lighting TD.





Julien Schreyer spoke to us about his work through many illustrations. He likened it to "the director of photography of a standard film".

We started off with Cars 2, in which he took great delight working on Paris. Although it was a quick series of shots, each one required months of work. He worked a great deal with his supervisor (John Lasseter, being very busy, was unable to be there all the time) so as to pass on the director’s instructions.

The work starts out with what he calls a pastel painting. This is a shot painting which sets outs the colour shades that are to be put in. He must therefore recreate this lighting effect by computer whilst staying as true to life as possible. The time of day, the type of materials which will mirror the light must be taken into account (and therefore additional, very light colours must be applied to the surroundings)…


Paris was therefore a great challenge for him to take up. He showed us more precisely the “Carifications” the scenery underwent. Such as the gargoyles of Notre-Dame Cathedral which are cars here, or even the Louvre Museum which includes motorized elements on the frontage.



He also gave away an amusing veiled reference intended by the director. Indeed, each time they are in Paris, John Lasseter and his wife go to the Pont des Arts (near the Louvre) and kiss. This scene is recreated in the film where it is two cars that kiss. As they kiss, Julien added a small reflection in the window of the 2CV so as to enhance this sequence a bit further.









Afterwards he went over his work on Ratatouille. Paris was yet again given a place of honour, but he dwelt at greater length on the scenes with Remy under the hat. He was in charge of recreating the lighting when Remy was under Linguini’s chef’s hat. This was a difficult task since he had to find the right balance so as to capture the hat’s transparent quality to see what was happening outside, while having enough light to shed on Remy.

He quickly spoke about the food. The lighting was substantial for he received the instructions whereby he must make the food look “good”. Lighting was then to play an essential part and many observations were made in order to convey this lifelike quality.



Thanks to a progressive scene, we were able to see the various stages of the production process. First of all with the storyboard, a succession of black and white drawings; then comes the layout (3D modeling); then the animation, where you can see the characters’ movements; simulation ensues (particle velocity, hair…), and finally there comes Julien’s stage: lighting. This stage shows the end result of the scene.



Incidentally, we learned that at Pixar University – this in-house training program which enables people to learn, among other things, about all the fields of animation – he learned how to cook.

After Ratatouille he brought up his work on Toy Story 3, mainly the scene where Buzz and the other toys are inside a bin bag. To recreate this lighting effect which is so unusual, Julien and the Director of Photography did not hesitate to go in front of the Pixar film studio and get inside bin bags to take pictures. The camera rendering, however, did not reflect reality. It is therefore thanks to many notes they managed to make the scene realistic.







During the scene where the refuse truck comes to collect the bins at the end of the film, he decided to add a “lens flare”, a lighting effect on the headlights that produces a haze you can find on camera. Julien added that this effect is to be used sparingly.

In the credits scene, when Mr Pricklepants acts on a torch-lit stage, he redid the same thing in his own home in order to reproduce the exact same lighting effect of a torch against a wall.

Through a short extract of WALL-E he succinctly dealt with light animation, which counts for a lot in this film. Among other things he had a lot of fun on the short film BURN-E.



For he worked on BURN-E but also on Presto. On one of the first shots of the film where Alec is in his cage, he told us about the complexity of lighting up the rabbit’s white fur. And to make it clear the carrot is the sought-after item, he added a spotlight above so as to enhance it.

He was asked whether 3D made him work differently on the lighting because of the depth effect. He replied in the negative for they work for a 2D screening, the 3D process coming into play further on. Moreover, when the film is finished and that Pixar throws a big party, they organize a screening with the families where the film is shown in 2D.



He mentioned an anecdote which gave him a big fright. When the film is in production, every now and again reviews are held in the presence of the entire team and the director. This is a stage where everyone carefully watches the scenes so as to correct them. Regarding WALL-E, here was his first review, and he had absolutely no idea what he was supposed to do (as every studio, but also director, applies their own methods). He therefore showed up at the meeting unaware as to how he was to present his work. So he asked one of his colleagues to explain it to him, and he managed to get along in front of Andrew Stanton, who put him at ease so as to do a good presentation.

He, however, did not have time to talk to us about Up, another feature film on which he worked.





The masterclass ended with a "what next ?" Julien Schreyer told us he was to work on Brave in September. Unfortunately he did not say anything about other feature projects.



Editor : Ravnek - Translators : Camilla Jones.

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