Monthly Archives: March 2006

LucasArts Recruits at VFS

To most gamers, LucasArts is a household name. Their game titles – from the 2006 release Star Wars: Empire at War to the 1993 blockbuster Day of the Tentacle – have defined the way we play.

Now they’re looking for the people that will define the future of LucasArts – and Game Design at VFS is their first stop. “We’re growing rapidly,” says Matt Omernick, Lucasarts Art Director and one of the visiting recruiters. “We’re rebuilding our studio and in a very different way – and we’re looking for the best of the best.”

Continue reading →

He’s the Man

Clifton Murray wanted to be a star athlete – that is, until the rugby incident. Years later, Clifton – a graduate of the VFS Acting program – has a leading role on DreamWorks’ new film She’s The Man.

A New Direction – Performance

After the knee problem, Clifton made a decision – his new goal in life was to be the greatest actor that ever lived. “In five years’ time I will be the lead on a one-hour television drama and I will be getting offers to green light major motion pictures,” says this confident, self-proclaimed “arrogant jock.”

Continue reading →

The Leap of Faith

Some people know definitively what they are destined to do; others stumble into it along the way. For Acting grad Bonnie Lee Bouman, it has been a combination of both. After graduating from the VFS Acting Program in 1999, Bouman realized that her intuitive sense of a scene deepened when she had some distance from the action, rather than being immersed in it.

In the six months since she ventured out on her own as an independent casting director, Bouman has worked on everything from a Pan African equivalent to The Amazing Race to the sci-fi TV series Charlie Jade, and no less than twenty-four commercials.

“At VFS, I felt that I was acting out a dream in a way – a fantasy that I needed to explore,” Bouman says “but I realized that I could direct and see a scene very differently than when I was the actual actor. It was only natural that I ‘fell’ into this role as a Casting Director.”

Continue reading →

Zhiwen Huang Goes Boom Boom

Zhiwen Huang In middle school, Zhiwen Huang scribbled messages in his crushes’ yearbooks that read, “I wish my job will be full of colour and music everyday.” Even at that young age, Zhiwen knew where he was headed.

His childhood dreaming eventually became reality. After taking design at the Guangzhou Fine Art College, Zhiwen trekked to Vancouver to study Sound Design. Shortly thereafter, he was hired at The Boom Boom Factory in Shanghai, where he performs audio post-production.

VFS: What made you decide that sound designing was the dream profession?
ZH: I’m most interested in SFX design and editing. For me, SFX is very important to a movie. People won’t feel scared if you take the sound away from a movie like The Exorcist. They need to hear the creaks and the screams. I read an article about sound design and it said the audience could only see where the camera points. If it’s pointed at a wall, they can only see what is in front of that wall. There is no visual element that can tell them what’s happening behind that wall. But sound can do that. Sound allows the audience to ‘see’ through walls with their ears…
VFS: That’s true. Sound makes film three dimensional without having to wear those silly glasses. But tell us the real reason you wanted a career in sound.
ZH: I like touching faders on the mixing console. They’re just so cool!
VFS: So what is Zhiwen Huang doing to advance sound design in China?
ZH: I’m working for a sound studio called The Boom Boom Factory in Shanghai. It’s run by an American. We work on music composing, sound design, and editing. We do voiceover (VO) recording and mixing for TVC. I’m a sound designer at the studio. My responsibility is sound design, editing, VO recording, and mixing. So far, I’ve done work for Coca Cola, Toshiba, Mcdonald’s, YKK, Wyeth, and many more.
VFS: And do you have colour and music in your life?
ZH: Of course. I’m a sound designer.
VFS: What do you see yourself doing in the future?
ZH: For me, working on movie sound is the biggest challenge. In China, the TV sound is mono, so there’s not a lot of space for creative sound design. And the China TVC industry cares way more about picture, so my future goal is to work on movie sound. With more and more newly skilled professional people coming back to China’s film industry, sound’s future seems bright.

Death Brings Happiness to Filmmaking Duo

The Death of Theodore Graham has film festival audiences laughing themselves to death. Join VFS Film Production grads Erik Hecht and Celeste Olds on their (successful) search for life after film school.

The Death of Theodore Graham tells the tale of a nine-to-fiver who’s flabbergasted when Death comes knocking. Death explains that Theodore had requested sweet release after a nasty break-up with one of the many loves of his life. His name was briskly appended to the mortal queue, and now – three years later – Death has come to collect.

Continue reading →

3D Grad Daniel Osaki, Emmy-Nominated Cylon Master

BG

Daniel Osaki designs and models spaceships. No, he isn’t a NASA engineer – he’s a graduate of the VFS 3D program who’s busy populating space with Cylon Raiders and Colonial Vipers.

Learn more about his amazing life animating sequences for the best show on planet Earth!
Continue reading →

VFS Feels the Force

Late last year, VFS received word that Lucasfilm Animation Singapore (LAS) was looking to fill a variety of entry-level positions in their brand new Singapore studio. 3D Animation and Visual Effects department Head Larry Bafia was quick to respond and, in short order, a recruiting event was scheduled.

VFS received the visiting recruiters – including Rob Coleman, Animation and Development Director for Lucasfilm Animation and past lecturer at VFS – and arranged a series of one-on-one interviews and student demo-reel showings. When the dust cleared, LAS walked off with a whopping 6 VFS graduates, putting them to work as animation-, modeling-, and texture-oriented Technical Directors (TDs).

Lucasfilm created their California-based animation division in 2003 and expanded to Singapore in 2005. “I’ve been a fan of Asian animation and illustration all my life,” says George Lucas. “Asian cinema has had a particularly big impact on a lot of my work. By having a base in Singapore, we can create a new style of animation that will blend East and West – and offer something not seen before.”

Continue reading →