Some directors come to filmmaking with a laser-like focus and sense of predetermination. Others, like French-born Vincent Paronnaud, drift in from other mediums, almost like visiting maestro professors. A key figure in underground comic books (he’s also drawn under the alias of Winshluss) who along with friend and partner Cizo co-created Monsieur Ferraille, the emblematic character of influential magazine Ferraille Illustré, Paronnaud made a number of short films before co-directing the striking Persepolis, which nabbed the Los Angeles Film Critics Association‘s Best Animation prize in 2008. Adapted with Marjane Satrapi from her series of autobiographical graphic novels, the movie charts the story of a young girl who comes of age against the backdrop of the Iranian Revolution.

The latest collaboration between Paronnaud and Satrapi, Chicken with Plums, finds them exploring live action for the first time, in the melancholic story of a renowned musician (Mathieu Almaric) who loses the taste for life and decides to lie in his bed and wait to die. I recently had the chance to speak to Paronnaud one-on-one — well, one-on-two, with the generous assistance of a translator — about his work with Satrapi and the challenges of live action filmmaking. The conversation is excerpted over at ShockYa, so click here for the read. For a chat with Satrapi, meanwhile, click here.