La Poudrière

Presentation

La Poudrière is an animated film school located in Valence (Bourg-lès-Valence), on the site of the Cartoucherie, at the heart of an image hub that notably includes the Folimage studio. Created in the late 1990s as an extension of this studio's activity, it occupies a singular place in the French landscape: it does not train "technician" animators, but author-directors of animated films.

Pedagogy and strengths

The program, short and with very limited class sizes, is aimed at candidates who already have artistic or audiovisual experience: it thus comes after an initial higher education program. Admission is reputed to be highly selective and relies largely on a portfolio of personal work and a film project.

Teaching is organized around successive filmmaking exercises: writing and narration, screenplay, storyboard, staging, voice actor direction, sound and music, editing. Students make several short films, including a graduation film often presented at festivals. All animation techniques may be used (drawing, stop-motion, cut paper, digital), with technique remaining in service of the story.

The proximity of animation professionals, the presence of director guest lecturers, and the workshop-based approach are the school's main strengths.

Alumni

Among the directors who trained at La Poudrière are Benjamin Renner (Ernest et Célestine, Le Grand Méchant Renard et autres contes) and Claude Barras (Ma vie de Courgette).