Channel Frederator, the podcast that collects and compiles online animation into neat little bundles, has included Bobble and Sqweek, the Flash film by Classical Animation‘s Choom Lam, in its latest episode.
It wasn’t so long ago that Frederator – the offshoot of Fred Seibert‘s Frederator Studios - tipped A Great Big Robot from Outer Space Ate My Homework as one of its faves of the year so far. They like us, we like them, it’s a regular like-fest!
So tell us about your character, your relationship to the storyline, and what brought you back to reprise your role?
3D grad Neill Blomkamp is attached as director to the film adaptation of the blockbuster Halo franchise, but with developer Bungie and producer Peter Jackson searching for studio backing, Neill’s been keeping busy directing a series of live-action shorts (with Weta Workshop) as both proof-of-concept for the film and promotion for the upcoming Halo 3 release. The first short – Arms Race – came out earlier this month at E3. You can see it for yourself on Bungie’s site. Three words: Fully. Functioning. Warthog.
When they ask, we’ll know where you were on Sunday. Film Production grad Gregoire Bedard‘s magnificent Alibi, Inc. is representing Vancouver when Student Films Across America pitches tent in town this coming weekend. The student-run travelling roadshow screens three prize-winning shorts (a drama, a comedy, and a documentary), but also highlights a homegrown filmmaker at every stop on the mostly-U.S. tour. The film, a hyper-stylish French thriller about a company whose job it is to construct elaborate alibis, was written and directed by Gregoire and produced by the FP105 class. It’s showing on Sunday night with the rest of the SFAA slate, and you can see the schedule and buy tickets here. Only $7.50! Sunday, July 29th, 7pm
Look for us in Hall A, Booth #618. Be sure to drop by and talk to a rep – and pick up a free DVD of student work. Following the con, there’s a more in-depth info session at the San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina on August 2. And then, from August 7 to 9, we’re back at the Convention Center for SIGGRAPH 2007 (Booth #418, with a “Tech Talk” entitled ‘Training for Careers in Animation’ – on the 8th from 1pm on the show floor). After that, it’s off to Chicago for Wizard World! Then China, and even more dates in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Check out the schedule with all the details: VFS On Location.
We’ll be welcoming Shawn McCorkindale (Associate Producer on the Mattel Barbie series), Martin Kumar (formerly of Weta Digital, where he worked on King Kong) and Chris Buckley (Supervising Animator, Tony Hawk’s Boom Boom Sabotage movie). The presentation will include a screening of the new Rainmaker Animation company reel, and Shawn, Martin and Chris will discuss topics like ‘a day in the life’ at the studio, how they got started, and advice for students trying to get their foot in the door. Tuesday, July 24, 4:30pm See you there!
So how did Upavas get so squelchy with the synth? “Well, I went to Goa, India in the mid-eighties and hung out there for a while, and that was also where I heard purely electronic music for the first time that had some kind of kick and bass over an ambient theme sound. Later in Germany and much later in other countries that kind of sound was to be called ‘techno-house’ and much later on ‘Trance’ as it kept on developing into what it is now.” Do you ever DJ in Vancouver?
Now Melanie, who’s only been out of school for a month, has her first published game review! Check out Melanie’s analysis of SimCity DS, published in TheStar.com‘s Evergeek section. We asked Melanie how her interest in game reviewing was piqued. She replied: “In Term 5, I discovered we could take an elective class in Term 6, Game Journalism, with Jules Grant. I knew the last few weeks of school were going to keep me quite busy, but since I tried to take in as much as I could through the year, I just signed up to give it a try. Throughout his class, I learned about different writing styles, such as new journalism, where the writer details an emotional experience that occurred because of the subject, be it a movie, game or song. I also learned the industry standard: game reviews that explain the good and the bad points of the game according to several aspects (graphics, mechanics, audio, etc.).” And how did you managed to get published so soon after graduation? “Jules is good friend with Shaun Conlin from Evergeek Media, and together, they give the opportunity to students like me to get their words out there — which is quite exciting!” Definitely! Congrats, Melanie… We look forward to your next review!
If you’re a regular reader of the Digital Design Blog – and you should be – you knew that creative Flash technologist Paul Ortchanian was coming to town tonight, July 20, hosted by the Vancouver Flash User Group. What you might not know is that, due to demand, the evening is now taking place at VFS. Mr. Ortchanian will be talking about BitmapData, as well as walking attendees through some flash experiments from his site, Reflektions. The event will be held at the 420 Homer campus. You can find all the updated details here.
The idea of the class is to open up dialogue between sound artists, producers, and anyone interested in sound. The Master Class will be hosted by EA Blackbox, PlayOne and Fusion, and takes place at EA Canada, July 20th, 10:30 AM – Noon. Priority is given to Audio Artists, and VFS Sound Design students have reserved seats. (We know. Lucky them!)
Life on The Dead Zone
Acting instructor Jim Bates is living it up in Montreal right now on the set of Dead Zone, the long-running supernatural mystery show featuring Anthony Michael Hall as a man granted clairvoyance after surviving a fiery car accident and living for six years in a co ma. This past June saw the series go into its sixth season as one of the highest rated shows on basic cable. Jim returns to Dead Zone to play his role as the henchman to a ruthless, sociopathic politician (wait, is there any other kind?).3D Grad’s Halo Films Debut
The E3 hangover might finally be wearing off, but we’re still catching up on news from the game industry show-and-tell. We told you about one grad’s work on Mass Effect, and maybe the only game with more buzz right now is Halo 3 – the 3,000-pound needler-packing gorilla in the first-person shooter arena.Student Films Across America
Vancity Theatre
1181 Seymour Street (at Davie)
Vancouver, BCOn the Road to San Diego
VFS is on the road! More precisely, we’ll be in San Diego when Comic-Con International kicks off this week. The massive convention – which features more than just superheroes – gets into full gear on Thursday, July 26, and runs through Sunday, July 29 at the San Diego Convention Center.VFS Welcomes Rainmaker
It’s true: our rainy week is about to clear up. Just in time for us to welcome Rainmaker! Vancouver-based Rainmaker Animation is giving a presentation to VFS students (with a preference to those in Animation) tomorrow afternoon.
Main Theatre, 420 Homer St.Mpfree Friday: Komplete Disaster
Thought we’d drop some acid-house on your Friday party, MPFree-of-charge, courtesy Upavas A. Hauf, a student in the Sound Design program here at VFS. Beware: The track is a seven-minute electro-monster. Panic symptoms are to be expected.
“Oh, now and then. Next time, probably once I hit term 5 and have a wee bit more time, I’ll play a DJ set at Organix (Fridays) @ 23 Cordova Street!”A Genereux Game Review
You may remember Game Design grad Melanie Genereux‘s love of chickens (and Flash).An Evening with Paul Ortchanian
Master of Sound
VFS Sound Design students have been invited to a Sound Design Master Class with John Paul Fasal, the extraordinarily busy sound designer who has worked on huge (and hugely sound-reliant) films like War of the Worlds, Master and Commander and this season’s blockbuster Live Free or Die Hard.