That means we can finally report what 3D Animation & Visual Effects grad and Blizzard cinematic artist Alvaro Buendia was working on when he told us back in April, “I can say with confidence that all the stuff we are doing is definitely raising the bar.”
Alvaro’s handiwork, and that of fellow 3D grad Steven Chen, is apparently all over the gorgeous Diablo III teaser. See it for yourself:
Join us on July 23, 2008 to experience a behind-the-scenes look inside all 13 of Vancouver Film School’s programs: an unparalleled introduction to a one-year education in every dimension of film, TV, games, and design, all under one roof.
This evening is not to be missed.
At this unique VFS Open House you will:
- Hear about our 13 programs: 3D Animation & Visual Effects, Classical Animation, Digital Character Animation, Acting for Film & Television, Acting Essentials, Digital Design, Entertainment Business Management, Film Production, Game Design, Makeup Design for Film & Television, Sound Design for Visual Media, Writing for Film & Television, and Foundation Visual Art & Design
- Meet our award-winning leaders, including the producers, writers, sound designers, makeup artists, and execs behind Zoolander, Three’s Company, The Butterfly Effect, Whale Music, EA’s NHL video games, and countless others
- See amazing examples of student films, reels, and portfolios from all of our programs, including incredible never-before-seen work
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
6pm – 8pm VFS Café
390 West Hastings Street
To register for this Open House, email openhouse@vfs.com or call 604.631.3590.
We began the Vancouver Film School channel on YouTube less than 2 years ago as a way to share our students’ incredible work with the world. In that time, we’ve posted 424 videos, picked up 22,000 faithful subscribers, and seen a number of bonafide hits emerge.
Today, the combined views for all the videos on our channel passed 20 million.
We’re pretty proud of that fact, and so should our graduates whose work has touched a nerve the world over.
Father Fred, a Portfolio Short by Writing for Film & Television graduate Zach Roe, was in the Shorts Nonstop festival last fall — and it’s now screening as part of the National Screen Institute (NSI) Film Festival online. Check it out! There’s even a nifty podcast with the director, Nicholas Humphries, explaining the Port Shorts process. Listen to the podcast here. And congrats, everyone!
“Generally, Digital Design students are given assets to work with to make a small book,” says Print Design and Typography Instructor Robin Mitchell. “In the past, we have worked with local award-winning publisher Simply Read Books. Simply Read Books has allowed us to use professionally prepared images and text for children’s books.”
“[This class] did a special version of the project,” she says: The ABCs of Typography.
The “special version of the project” spanned classes and even terms - the students created the basic assets of The ABCs of Typography in Typography class, and in the next term’s Print Design class, they all drew from that pool of assets to create the books, which were printed at school and bound professionally.
The results are simply stunning. In Robin’s words, they “did an exceptional job of sharing ideas and assets and produced a great array of well-designed books.”
“I think the most important lesson was that we can always learn from each other,” says former student – now grad – Andrea de Mattos Quaresma, “And different styles can always make you see your work in a different way.”
The challenge of housing such a diverse set of designs is one that most designers will face at some point, and the students tackled it head-on. “It wasn’t easy to find a way to relate such variety of styles in one single book,” says Andrea, “But it was fun to find solutions for each page and see how we could make them work together.”
And the students did have some room to breathe. According to Andrea’s classmate Everardo Iñiguez, “We had the option of changing aspects of each other’s work as long as the core concept remained.”
“My book was titled Typographique Abecedarium,” he says of his project, which became part of his semi-finalist entry in this year’s Adobe Design Achievement Awards. “[It] was designed so it could fit every asset without overshadowing the visual importance of each piece, but giving you enough information and a cohesive sense of collection.”
So, what did the students ultimately take away from this term-bridging project, apart from some really beautiful books?
EBMwas proud to have guest speaker Inga McLaughlin visit the Show Production and Touring class last week. Inga has been Production Manager for touring shows like Some Like it Hot, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, and Starlight Express.
A native Vancouverite, Inga told the story of her entry into the world of touring: she was originally a dancer who proceeded to work her way up in stage management. Her lesson? “I got in by being there, and wanting it.”
Inga was generous enough to provide the class with samples of detailed docs such as tour schedules, loading schedules, and tech riders (including the meat and cheese plate that must be in Tony Curtis’s dressing room!). She also entertained with stories of life on tour, including how one gets 36 elephants with the Ringling Brothers Circus across Manhattan to the setup site. (The answer? On foot, through the Lincoln Tunnel, at 2 AM.)
It was clear to everyone in the room how grueling life on the road can be, and how the logistics and management must be top-notch, or thousands — millions — of dollars (not to mention the well-being of elephants) could be at stake.
VFS students and graduates are known for grabbing at any opportunity to create (and build their reels), so we shouldn’t have been surprised to find out that so many VFSers participated in this past weekend’s Diesel Film Racing Tour. Teams were challenged to create an original short in just 24 hours.
A full six teams were led by VFS students and graduates, including:
–”Taking It” by Borrowtime (Darren Borrowman, Filmgrad)
–”The Rock That Looks Like Elvis” by The Incorrigibles (k. Arie Bird, current Writingstudent)
–”A Nutty Dilemna” by The Battery Eaters (Steve Stransman, recent Film grad)
–”Drip” by Firing Squad Productions (Diana Donaldson, Writing grad)
–”Pitching a Tent” by OD Films (Miguel Valdez-Lopez, recent Writing grad)
–”Robogreed” by Patrick Henry and friends (Patrick Henry, Film grad)
Want to go see the results of their weekend? The films are screening tonight at The Ridge Theatre, 3131 Arbutus St., Vancouver - 9pm, for $9.
Congratulations to all the teams for finishing! And thank you to the “OD Films” team for providing some pics from the shoot… this team was chock-full of Writing grads including Valdez-Lopez, Keith Opatovsky, Kurt Hoffman, Rosely Cortes Bolio, Paul Ellington (also a graduate of Film), and Alyssa Ciccarelli, and featured the talents of Actinggrads Nathan Geoblette, Derek Bedry, Sydney Cochrane, Justine Percy, and Mesha Toor.
How could you not be excited about Pixar’s WALL-E? If you’re anything like us, you’ve watched and re-watched every teaser, trailer, and clip.
To mark the WALL-E release this week, and as a way to congratulate 3D Animation & Visual Effectsgrad and Pixar Layout Artist Mark Shirra and his colleagues, we’ll be giving away WALL-E packages to 5 lucky blog readers! Each package includes a 2 tickets to a Wednesday, June 25th screening in Vancouver, a t-shirt, and a poster.
The first 5 current VFS students to email Student Services Manager Liz McDonald will get one of the prize packages - so what are you still reading this for? Go, go!
Maybe you’ve noticed - since late last week, VFS.com has had a brand new look.
We’ve been working hard behind the scenes of late to update and improve the VFS site, bringing you all the information you need while also freshening up the design.
We’re really proud of the results, so we hope you all take a moment to check it out.
Our goals with this redesign were simple:
- Make important stuff more convenient and easier to find. For example, check out the sidebar on the left of the homepage for a quick summary of upcoming events which VFS will be attending, the brand new YouTube carousel near the bottom that includes links to many more VFS channels (click on See more VFS channels for the list), and the clearer navigation menu at the top of your screen.
- Welcome new visitors with a short video introduction to VFS and show what we’re all about.
- Better profile the best of our blog by way of spotlight banners on every page, so that great interviews, Q&As, news items, or announcements never get lost in the shuffle.
- Clearly detail the key elements that make up Our Educational Advantage.
Here are some screenshots to highlight a few of the changes:
We hope you enjoy! VFS.com is always evolving, and we’re working hard to add new features and improve performance and usability. We’d love to hear what you think - so feel free to comment on this post to share your opinion.
A chance like this doesn’t come along every day.
We’ve seen what happens when our 
“I think the most important lesson was that we can always learn from each other,” says former student – now grad – Andrea de Mattos Quaresma, “And different styles can always make you see your work in a different way.”
How could you not be excited about Pixar’s 
Maybe you’ve noticed - since late last week, 
