Game Design Expo 2008 didn’t just bring a community of professionals together. It also made for four days of education, experience, and networking for students in our Game Design program.
The Industry Expo began on Saturday, January 19, at the Vancity Theatre, but the weekend’s activities really got going on Thursday in our very own halls, with a special presentation to students called “How to Build a Mind Blowing Portfolio” by Big Fish Games Art Director Jeff Haynie.
That touched off a day-long series of visits by representatives from High Moon Studios, Threewave Software, Relic, and Crystal Dynamics through Friday. In all, it made for two days of presentations and Q&A sessions that also spilled into classrooms. Haynie, for example, commandeered one student’s tablet pen to demonstrate his technique, and Senior Game Designer Matt Krystek of High Moon, developers of Darkwatch and the upcoming The Bourne Conspiracy, worked with students in the lab.
But student participation in Game Design Expo didn’t end there. The event itself was largely staffed by volunteers from Game Design and Sound Design for Visual Media, 
giving them an opportunity to catch some of the talks and putting them in close proximity to the visiting pros. One of those pros was Don Daglow – President & CEO of Stormfront Studios, a 37-year veteran of game design, and a passionate speaker – who held court in the green room to assembled volunteers.
Game Design Student Nadia Lohan, who volunteered at VFS on Sunday (where talks were also broadcast on televisions in the halls), said, “The life of a game design student is a busy one, but it’s important to establish new connections with people, and I know that’s the number one reason that most people had volunteered.”
Mbuso Radebe, a volunteer at the Vancity Theatre, had attended Game Design Expo 2007 before starting his year at VFS. “It’s interesting to note the difference of viewing all the presentations last year as a consumer and prospective student, where I found them very entertaining, and now as a student and prospective Game Designer, where I found them educational and eye-opening,” he says.
The weekend isn’t just a two-day extravaganza for industry types – like pitch night, it’s a way to bring the industry right into our classrooms. Not bad practice for the students who’ll be on stage themselves soon, showing their completed games to yet more future employers and colleagues-to-be.
Can you explain the significance of this new accreditation? When Maya was owned by Alias|Wavefront they offered multiple individualized certifications in many of the mediums. You could become a certified instructor for modeling, or Animation or Dynamics for that matter. They were always specific to one area. I had certification in something called foundations, which meant that I could teach pretty much the whole package but only at a fundamental level and certify that students knew it at that very basic level. I also held a Character Animation certification so that I could accredit for that too. Now with Autodesk, the certification means that I can recognize students for their achievements up to an intermediate level in any of the disciplines. Much more conducive to my program.
The nominees in the student categories include many familiar names to regular readers of this blog. See for yourself! The awards themselves will be handed out at a gala ceremony on February 15th, with Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane set to host. Until then, here’s the list of VFS nominees: Student Animated or Motion Graphic Production of the Year Student Game of the Year Best Original Sound Design/Musical Score for an Animated Production or Game Best Student Art Direction – Game Production Best Student Art Direction – Animated Production Best Student Writing for an Animated or Game Production “Ready to Rocket” Award (Animation and Games)
The game is described like this: “Four-player party game! Keep the wolf away from your sheep with fences, scarecrows, pits, and decoys.” Well worth a look for Wii owners and anyone who likes sheep – and really, what kind of person doesn’t like sheep?
The second annual Game Design Expo (January 19-20) was a huge hit. Tickets sold out fast, and lucky attendees were treated to talks by 18 of the industry’s best and brightest, including both up-and-comers and veterans like Don Daglow and Kevin Barrett, as well as an expert panel exploring the past, present, and future of games… and a whole lot of schmoozing. At the same time, aspiring game designers packed into our VFS Game Design Open House, where they played games, took sample classes, met faculty, and heard from alumni. In short, the weekend put any doubts to rest that Vancouver continues to be one of the world’s game capitals… and is only getting bigger. To close out the event, VFS announced the Game Design Expo 2008 Scholarships, eight scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $7,000. You can read all about it and download an Application Kit at the Game Design Expo website. And stay tuned to gamedesignexpo.com for highlights from this amazing weekend.
This year’s winners include Jason Goode, who took a producing program at VFS; Kelly-Ruth Mercier, a recent instructor in the Writing program; and Eric Maran (on right in the photo) and his producer, Rob Fernuk, both Film Production grads. Eric’s film, Fragile, is about a woman who enters the underworld of black market human organ trafficking. The script is a short adaptation from Eric’s own feature screenplay of the same name, which has been recognized by a number of major contests: it was a finalist in 2007′s Scriptapalooza contest, won Grand Prize in 2006′s Script P.I.M.P. contest, and perhaps most impressively, was a semi-finalist in the mother of all writing contests — the Nicholls. On receiving the award, Eric says, “Independent filmmaking is incredibly difficult in Canada. To have the DGC select our project for this year’s Kick Start Program is really exciting. It’s validation for the years of hard work I’ve put into my own projects and encouragement for the years ahead. It’s inspiring.” Check out this interview with Eric at 2007′s AFI Dallas Film Festival, where he premiered his first short film Ashes Fall.
The Freeloader article spotlighted a few IGF-nominated games, including a number of non-finalists. Chameleo was developed at VFS by Chad Sehn, Dave Malmberg, Jeffrey Chang, and Kayo Wildman. Dave, who now works at Propaganda Games with several other VFS grads, says, “It was totally by surprise and very cool to see something we worked on in a magazine, especially something so personal as our final project.” Is it weird to see your student game still getting attention well after you’ve moved into the professional arena? “I’m very proud to be working on a AAA title like Turok, but I’ll always have a soft spot for Chameleo. It’s nice to know someone took the time to play and enjoy our game!”
The idea behind cold readings is that actors get the chance to perform and make character choices quickly, while writers benefit from hearing their words aloud — helping them immensely in finding the trouble spots. Here’s the call for actors and scripts from the Writing department: WRITERS Submit a ten-minute short film script or scene from a TV or feature project. Current students and recent graduates of the Writing program are eligible. Preference will go to pages that are in good shape, and that are dialogue-driven and suitable for reading on stage. Scripts will be selected by event organizers Robert Woolsey and Kurt Hoffman. Submit scripts by January 23rd to writeractorvfs@gmail.com in Final Draft, PDF, or Word documents. ACTORS We’re looking for 6-12 actors to participate in the event. Current students and recent graduates of the Acting program, as well as all members of the VFS Sketch Company, are eligible. Actors who participate must come early to the event (6:30) at which time they will be cast and receive script pages. They’ll then read the script in front of a live audience. Submit your name by January 21st to writeractorvfs@gmail.com. Good luck, everyone!
One of David’s first big projects at Terminal Reality will be helping to create the sound for a much-anticipated Ghostbusters title, which will reunite original cast members Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Bill Murray, and Harold Ramis. Terminal Reality is bringing David out to their home base near Dallas/Fort Worth this month, but before he gets swept up in the crunch leading to Ghosbusters’ planned Fall ’08 release, we managed to catch up with him. And if this whets your appetite, don’t forget about the Game Design Open House on January 20th, where attendees will hear a little about sound design for games, and the Sound Design Open House on January 31st! Where are you from, and what was your background before VFS? David: I’m from Washington, D.C. Before VFS, I lived all over the place. All I wanted to do in my twenties was travel, see new people and places, go to school, get into adventures… I wanted to live the examined life and figure out who I was before settling down into anything permanent. The whole time, I had an interest in audio – especially in terms of pure sound rather than music. I would sit at the computer for hours mangling sounds I’d recorded with a basic desktop microphone. I’m a creative person and need to work in a creative environment where different personalities and eccentricities are viewed as assets, not liabilities. Plus, I wanted to do something with audio while still being around computers. So that’s when I began to focus on audio as my career and the schools that could help me. Once I settled on VFS, I quit Budweiser, put all my possessions in storage, packed two bags, and went to Vancouver. What drew you to Sound Design at VFS? David: The biggest factor for me was that it wasn’t another recording arts school. It’s amazing how few schools exist that feature audio-post and sound design as the focus of their curriculum. VFS, on the other hand, was just the opposite: they taught audio-post, design, editing and game audio which is what I wanted to learn, not recording arts. Also, I initially wanted to get into audio-post for film so I was drawn to the fact I’d be learning from [former Head of Department] Bob Grieve. He worked on a ghost/horror film called The Changeling which traumatized me as a kid, partly because of the sound design. I would lay in bed at night and keep hearing the sounds from a particularly disturbing murder scene. So I knew he was doing something right and wanted to learn from him.
DCA: World-Class Faculty
The faculty in VFS’s Digital Character Animation has an incredibly strong reputation that just got stronger. DCA’s senior instructor, Greg Berridge, recently became an accredited Autodesk Maya Instructor – the only one in Canada, and one of only four in North America. We asked Greg to give a little context to that amazing achievement.Elan Nominations
Students from our 3D Animation & Visual Effects, Classical Animation, Digital Design, Game Design, and Sound Design programs were are all over the list of nominees for the 2nd annual Elans, the Canadian Awards for the Electronic & Animated Arts.
Swing – Esteban Azuela (Classical Animation)
Duelity – Marcos Ceravolo and Ryan Uhrich (Digital Design)
Bloom – Adrian Audet, Brennan Massicotte, Guilherme Ramos, Brian Vidovic, Miko Wilson
Chameleo – Chad Sehn, Dave Malmberg, Jeffrey Chang, Kayo Wildman
Seas of Europa – Todd Agnello, David Bowring, Diego Rodriguez, Ryan Stancl
Foamzilla – Johan Eickmeyer, Mark Barazzuol
The Snowman – Steve Bigras
Le Building – Doug Woods
Climber – Jessica Lemes da Silva
Patchwork Playgrounds – Jimmy Steorts, Sean Bosshardt, Brian Chong, Tom Munro
Seas of Europa – Todd Agnello, David Bowring, Diego Rodriguez, Ryan Stancl
A Modeling Reel – Julianna Kolakis (3D)
Documentary – Lawrence Chung (Classical Animation)
Portfolio of Diego Rodriguez (Game Design)Sheep Happens!
The Nintendo Wii has opened up all kinds of possibilities for Flash developers, and our students are right in the mix. Case in point: WiiCade, a site designed to host Flash games specifically for play on the Wii, has featured Sheep Happens!, created by Game Design students Daniel Bittencourt, Davi Costa, Tyler Hitchings, Christopher Savory, and Grayson Scantlebury.Game Design Expo 2008 A Smash!
Two days of talks by some of the best in the video game business, design luminaries from the likes of Bungie, BioWare, Radical, and so many more, and it all came to a close tonight.Alumni Get A Kick Start
2008 is off to a great start for alums! This year’s Kick Start recipients include a number of VFSers. Kick Start, a program supported by the Directors Guild of Canada and BC Film, helps emerging filmmakers make festival-quality calling card films. Recipients receive $20,000 in cash as well as post-production assistance.VFS Game Catches Mag’s Eye
Be on high alert at the magazine rack: 2006 Game Design student project Chameleo got a little write-up in the January ’08 issue of Games for Windows Magazine.Actors & Short Scripts Wanted!
The Writing department is hosting an evening of script readings on Monday, January 28. The event is looking for short scripts or scenes from scripts to be showcased by actors, who will read them on the spot.Mad Men Gets Some Globes
Congrats to Maria Jacquemetton, Head of Writing here at VFS: The cable TV show she writes and produces, Mad Men, won two Golden Globes! Yes, the excitement was lacking in the unwritten press conference that aired on Sunday night instead of a union scripted soiree, but still, even without the usual Hollywood razzle-dazzle attached, it’s very cool to know that Mad Men won Best Drama, and Jon Hamm won Best Performance by an Actor in a Dramatic Television Series.
The Sound of Streams Crossing
Sound Design grad David Kizale knew exactly where he wanted to work, and just before the holidays, he got the good news: he’d been hired by Terminal Reality, developer of games like Bloodrayne and 4×4 EVO 2.