On the occasion of the release of his new Showreel, the director and photographer Günther Gheeraert looks back on his journey from his beginnings on Viméo and answers our questions ...
RC. How did film become your profession?
I was trained as an artist at the Emile Cohl School of Applied Arts in Lyon with courses such as anatomical drawing, perspective, sculpture, painting, cartoon, which allowed me to work in the video games field as a concept artist. Afterwards, I joined Vente Privee.com as a motion designer where I learned a lot. It was very formative because I worked with all the media, I create short videos with a lot of freedom for many major brands and about the same time, the Canon 5D MkII was created which democratized access to a cinematographic look & feel in our images. Then I worked in Isobar agency in La Défense (Paris) to learn the marketing and customer side. Along with all of that, I co-created the blacknegative studio. I am now a director / photographer and motion designer.
Musique du showreel : Alexis Dehimi
RC. How do you get your creative ideas ?
My ideas often come from what I can experience in my everyday life. Besides, it's funny how my life as a dad naturally led me to directing commercials for Disneyland Paris. I feel like I always try to guide my projects, even advertising ones, according to my own life. I like to be involved in everything and create films from writing to post-production.
RC. What was your favorite project ?
I'll say my "biggest" project is Nothing Bigger, the most ambitious so far. It is a film for Euromillions, telling the life of a winner and showing how life can change in 2 minutes. A huge challenge ! I spent more than a month abroad for this project, in Spain and also in Thailand, with a large team and my friend, the director of photography, Mahdi Lepart. One anecdote during this project : I was in the post-production phase, and I changed hotels so much that one night, I woke up in a panic, I didn't know where I was. But, it was worth it.
RC. What brands do you work with ?
I think Disney is really my favorite client. Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to work for Disney. I've always been, and still am, a big fan of the Disney world. I am so proud today to be working for this brand on projects that are getting cooler and more ambitious. People are great, very human. I have made more than ten films for them since 2016 and I thank them once again for always trusting me.
RC. Could you share technical tips with us ?
For me, material is not so important. I shot with a lot of different material and I appreciate a film shot in 5D as much as one shot in Alexa. Obviously image is sexier on Arri, but I would say it's secondary. I'm not very technical either. I have quite a lot of knowledge in post-production and filming now, but even when I didn't have much, that wasn't the most important thing. The most important thing for me is envy, affect and the emotion that comes out of it.
RC. Do you have coming plans ?
I took advantage of the confinement to start writing my first short film. It's pretty cool, because until now, I've never been able to settle down to do this. Today, I want to let go and get even more fun going towards new horizons, and I'm very excited with the writing of this first short film ... I hope it will result in a beautiful film.
